Well before I answer this question, please make your own decision and then see if your choice or strategy changes by the end of my article.
Approximately a year ago a line by line, shelf by shelf comparison was made between Walmart and Target. This Target-Walmart price controversy was the subject of numerous articles by top notch reporters raving that Target came out cheaper, mostly by pennies, on hundreds of items. These reporters added that when you add the savings in, plus make use of the Target Red Card which (a Target Credit Card) which offers 5% cash back on all Target purchases, that Target won the price war competition. So the moral of the article was that if you shop with Target you’ll save more than shopping at Walmart, right? Not so fast!
Between Walmart and Target, Walmart now has the most lenient coupon policy of any big discount store located in the United States. Have you ever heard of Walmart coupon overage? This is a little known secret in the world of Walmart shoppers but well known in the world of extreme couponers! Well, in addition to Walmart accepting competitors coupons (provided they display the final price on the coupon – like $2.99), they accept an unlimited amount of internet printable coupons AND Walmart will give you CASH BACK for coupon overage. Coupon overage happens when you have a coupon with a higher value than the price of the item on the shelf. You can get cash back or apply the coupon overage toward the other groceries in your shopping card.
Now to keep our article fair, we also want to take a look at the Target coupon policy, right? Ok! The Target coupon policy 2012 states that the “Coupon amount may be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied. We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.” Let’s take a look at what that means to the average consumer using coupons at Target & Walmart to save a little bit of money.
Let’s say for instance that you have the coupon for Allegra that came out in the April 1st 2012 Smart Source Sunday newspaper coupon inserts for $7.00. The 5 count package of Allegra runs approximately $5.94 at Walmart & Target. Ok so if you buy the Allegra at Target for $5.94 & get 5% cash back for using your Target Red Credit Card your final price is $5.65. Then you’ll submit your Allegra coupon at check out and get your Allegra completely FREE. Now, let’s buy that same 5 count package of Allegra at Walmart. Ok, we’ll pay $5.94 then submit our $7.00 coupon at checkout and then what happens? Well, you get FREE Allegra just like we did at Target but we’ll also get $1.06 cash back. That’s right – Walmart will give you the difference between the coupon and the shelf price of the Allegra.
With the Walmart deal scenario you walked away with a 5 count package of FREE Allegra PLUS $1.06 cash in your pocket. In the Target deal scenario you walked away with a FREE product and nothing more. So what do you think now? As a frugal living expert, I think Walmart and Target both offer huge saving benefits to the frugal minded consumer so I’d suggest that you scrap store loyalty and evaluate your purchases and the needs of your family from week to week and choose the store that offers the biggest savings for your family at that time.
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