Couponing 101: How to stack coupons at target

Have a seat ladies, coupon class is back in session =)

Its been a little while since I've done a couponing "how to" post (completely my fault I admit it) but its because there have been sooooo many run deals and last minuet deals that I have done and I just haven't had the chance to sit down and write them all out and even if I did by time they would make it to the blog they would probably be over.

And there is nothing I hate more than posting about a deal that you can no longer get and I know you guys would have hated that...so to make everyone happy I just avoided it lol.

Which leads me to my next point I know always say this but REALLY the best way to stay on top of my daily couponing and me in general you NEED to follow me on IG: @Regularasslife. All the stuff that does not make it on here goes on there, that means all run deals and last minute good deals =)

However with that being said this week I'm trying to get ahead of the curve. I'm going to school you guys on how to stack coupons at Target in order to get some great prices on 3 items you can get right now and this will also prepare you for future Target deals.

Now hopefully you ladies have heard of "stacking coupons" before. If your a super newbie and you haven't, no worries I've got you covered. Stacking coupons literally means exactly what it says, its when you use coupons that can be combined or "stacked" together in one transaction to provide you with a bigger discount that you would have gotten if you just used one. Examples of coupons that stack are manufacture coupons, store coupons, in ad coupons ect.

Since I live on the East Coast and in the "North" at that, there are very few stores where you can stack coupons and have it be beneficial. I know a lot of southern couponers have a couple of different stores with a lot of "in ad" and "store coupons" that can be used along with manufacture coupons. Here we are pretty much limited to Target and Walgreens (wags) and maybe Shop Rite if that even counts...but I don't think it does lol.

The reason I'm going to talk about Target today and no one else is because Target is a store that almost everywhere so EVERYONE has access to these deals and they as a company have also up'ed the coupon ante with the ways they allow you to stack coupons and save extra money at their store.
(Thanx Target lol)

First I want to explain the types of coupons or in store savings apps you can use at Target, then I'll explain how to stack them and show you 3 scenarios that you can use right now at Target (pending you read this before May 3rd) if you have the coupons. 

TARGET COUPONS & IN STORE SAVINGS

1) Manufacture coupons: 

We all know that manufacture coupons are coupons that are sent out by companies to give discounts on the products they make, these coupons can be used anywhere coupons are accepted including Target and are found in sunday papers or sometimes on products as hangtags or peelies. These coupons are the base of your savings.

If you are new to couponing and do not understand the lingo please click HERE and check out my previous post on couponing lingo to get up to speed.

2) Target coupons:

Bottom left picture is a Target coupon 

These coupons are exclusive to Target and can only be used in their store (unless another store accepts competitors coupons). There are two types of Target coupons one type can be found on Target's website by typing "coupons" into the search bar which will bring you to a page filled with coupons you can print. There are also Target coupons that can be found time to time in Sunday paper inserts like the one pictured above. The ones that can be printed on Targets website however are always available (although the coupons may change). The Target online printable coupons are a better option rather than waiting for ones to possibly come in the paper. Remember, those coupons must be printed and are often limited to two prints per device.

3) Target mobile coupons:

These coupons are available to anyone with a smart phone. You can receive these coupons by downloading the Target app or texting specific words to the Target text number which is 827-438. Some of the bigger coupons in the mobile app/messages like the 5/25 shoe purchase shown above can over overlap with Targets in ad coupons. The down side to mobile coupons is that the offer may only be used on one time or on item purchased, meaning if you are buying more than one you need more than one mobile coupon which would then mean more than one phone. An easy way around this is asking your friends to text whatever word is needed to the Target number and having them screen shot the barcode that is sent to them so you can use it. Also if it is a big coupon like the 5/25 shown above check the circular for the printed version. If you plan on doing the deal a lot grab a few so you have multiples =)

4) Target circular coupons:

These coupons are found in Targets weekly ad and there are normally one or two coupons every week. This is also an example of what I was just talking about where mobile coupons overlap with in ad coupons. This coupon was available as a mobile coupon but was also in the circular. These coupons are also THE BEST for stacking because they are normally general coupons with a dollar amount off of a specific type of perchance rather than for a specific item. Coupons in ad normally read something like $5 off a cleaning supply purchase of $20 or more. The coupon itself will specify what it can be used on, but again it is a general dollar off coupon and not tied to one item but a group of items. You can either find the weekly ad in your sunday news paper or in target at the customer service desk.

5) Cartwheel:

Cartwheel is Targets way of going beyond just coupons, you download the cartwheel app, sign in with Facebook and then you have hundreds of exclusive discounts at your fingertips. Cartwheel allows you to add 18 percentage based discounts to your "cart" at a time and the discounts offered are on everything from clothes to electronics and everything in between. I have seen cartwheel discounts range from 5% to 50%. The only kicker is these discounts only last for a pre determined amount of days and there is a redemption limit. Once the percentage discount has been redeemed by a certain amount of people it vanishes off of cartwheel. So be sure to get hot items in your cartwheel before they disappear and use them while you can. Also if your not sure if the items you are buying have a Cartwheel in the app there is a section where you can scan items and if there is a Cartwheel for it it will pop up and you can add it to your "cart".
 I LOVE this thing!

HOW TO STACK COUPONS & IN STORE SAVINGS

Ok now to the good part. Stacking coupons is surprisingly easy at Target, I know all the ways to save that I posted above can make the whole thing seem a little daunting, but with some simple planning you'll be walking out of there paying next to nothing every time.

Basically what you want to remember is that pretty much EVERYTHING can be used together, in some more sophisticated shopping scenarios the order in which you give your coupons to the cashier can make or break your out of pocket, but in general things flow pretty well as long as you know what your doing. When planning your shopping trip it is important to map out what you want to buy. I normally give Target its own shopping day so I can focus on it alone. 

Here we go.

Lets say this week your shopping for Dove deodorant and Target has it on sale for 4.50 with an in ad coupon that says "save 5.00 when you spend 20 on personal care items. You would first check your manufacturer coupons to see if you have one (yes 2.00/1), then you would check Targets online coupons to see if there is one that can be printed (yes 1.00/1). Next move on to cartwheel and search in the beauty section to see if there is a percentage off (yes 10% off dove deodorant) and lastly check your mobile coupons to see if there is a coupon there (yes .50/1). 

Presuming that the coupon Gods have smiled down on you the answer to all of those questions will be yes and your stacking will go as follows. 

Purchase enough Dove to get to 20.00 in this case 5

5x4.50= 22.50

Have the cashier scan your cartwheel 

22.50-2.25 (10%)= 20.25
Have the cashier scan your 5/25 coupon
20.25-5.00= 15.25

Have the cashier take your manufacture coupons

(4 2.00 off q's) 15.25-8.00= 7.25

Have the cashier take your target coupons

(4 1.00 off q's) 7.25-4.00= 3.25

Have the cashier scan your mobile coupons

If you are using one mobile coupon

(1 .50 cent off q) 3.25-.50= 2.75 oop

If you are using 5 different mobile q's because you have great friends

(4 .50 cent off q's) 3.25-2.00= 1.25 oop

The only thing that would make this sweeter would be if it was also a gift card deal where if you buy 5 Dove deodorants you get a 5.00 gift card back. Meaning you would pay either 2.75 or 1.25 for 5 deodorants and get a 5.00 gc making this a 2.25 or a 3.75 money maker.

THAT IS HOW YOU SUCCESSFULLY STACK COUPONS AT TARGET!

***THE ABOVE IS NOT A CURENT DEAL***

When planning my Target trips its always important for me to write down what I'm going to get, exactly how many I need and to organize and clip together my coupons for each deal before I go. Another big tip is to go check prices at your local Target before you get attached to a coupon stacking deal that you saw on instagram or some other blog (like here lol). Target prices vary from state to state even from county to county so although you are able to stack your coupons there may need to be adjustments made to the scenario your using (quantity of items or coupons needed) to fit your Targets prices.

As alway ONE manufacture coupon per item and ONE Target coupon per item. The same applies for mobile coupons and in ad coupons unless otherwise stated.

CURRENT SCENARIOS TO TRY 

Scenario 1: Dr Scholl's DreamWalk

Buy 2 @ 5.99= 11.98

Use cartwheel 11.98- 2.36= 9.62

Use 2 2/1 mq 9.62-4.00= 5.62

Use 2 2.50/1 Target q 5.62-5.00= .62

These are priced in store between 4.50 to 8.99. I would defiantly say to check your in store price  before actually buying because these are also on sale online. If the price of the item you want is higher in store than it is online you can always have target price match the online price to lower your out of pocket cost.

This scenario can get your out of pocket as low as .31 cents per item!!

Scenario 2: Lysol Pourable Cleaners

Buy 1 Lysol all purpose cleaner @ 1.97

Use cartwheel 1.97-.19=1.78

Use 1 1/1 mq 1.78-1.00= .78

Use 1 .50 Target Q .78-.50= .28

Lysol product prices very ALOT from store to store so you will have to double check with your local store.  However in some areas this scenario can get your out of pocket as low as .59 cents (2.32 retail) per pourable cleaning item or .28 cents (1.79 retail) per all purpose cleaner, however you can't use the cartwheel for that.   

Scenario 3: Clorox or light bulb's 

Buy 11 bleach @ 1.89 = 20.79

Use mobile coupon 5/20 20.79- 5.00= 15.79

Use cartwheel 15.79- .78= 15.01

Use 2 5/5 coupons 15.01-10.00= 5.01

Use 3 2/3 coupons 5.01-6= -.99

These scenarios were put together by the great @Jerryascione. The bottom two pictures on the left shows how to get lightbulbs for free with overage that can be used towards the rest of your cart. The other three pictures show how to use manufacture coupons, and target coupons along with cartwheel and a mobile coupon to get maximum savings so that again you end up with overage towards your cart!!

With all the amazing deals and prices Target offers and all the great ways to save you can't afford to not shop there. I know I have heard some people say that they won't coupon at Target and its not worth it but I hope if you have had any doubt in your mind, I have changed that for you. Target it the way to go! As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or contact me via email or instagram I'm always open to helping.  Also I would LOVE to see your amazing hauls from Target so if your on instagram be sure to tag your hauls with #prettygirlscoupon and #regularasslife so I can see them <3

Until Next Time,
XO Deanna