Target to Start Catalina Promos!!!

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Have you ever seen one of those segments on the news where some "coupon mom" (or dad) is at a grocery store and walks out the door with, like, 3 carts FULL of groceries for a nickel? Catalina's (the coupons that pop out of a receipt-like machine at check out) are a big part behind the magic to becoming a coupon queen and I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED to share with you what I got tonight when I went shopping at Target - THIS CAT (the "coupon" lexicon or nickname of "Catalina") explaining a SUPER PROMOTION where when you buy the items necessary/listed, you'll get a Catalina "thank you" from the manufacturer of the products in the form of MONEY OFF YOUR NEXT SHOPPING TRIP.

It's exactly like "Register Rewards" from Walgreens or CVS' "Extra Bucks", only these will be at TARGET!!!!

So, basically, buy the items needed (with coupons, of course), get the Cat for $$ off your next trip, SPEND it before it expires and the amount listed on your "thank you" cat will come off of your next shopping trip, regardless of what you buy!!!

Since the Target Cat program is still in its infancy, I'm going to assume that standard Kroger/Tom Thumb/CVS/Walgreens rules apply here in that you can only get one per transaction (so if you need to buy 5 items to get a cat for "$X off your next trip", don't buy 10 or 15 of those items because you will only get 1 Catalina; instead break your cart up into multiple transactions to get multiple cats. We'll also all have to learn as we go when it comes to "rolling" the cats, but for now I'm just too excited for words!!)

So for now, the only promotion I know about is the one listed on this tape in front of me BUT it reads "Buy Nature Valley Granola Bars between 10/4 and 10/31 and Save Up To $3.50 on a FUTURE TRIP with coupon." And then the totals are if you buy three (3) boxes, you'll get $1.50 coupon, buy four (4) and get a $2.50 q and lastly buy five (5) and get a $3.50 coupon off of your next shopping trip.

EXCITEMENT!!!

Confession!

I have a confession - I love gadgets; anything related to cooking or domestication that I can get my hands on I will find a way.

I couldn't justify spending $40 on a Swiffer Sweeper Vac - since it's kind of like the broom I already have and the $550 vacuum that I want - HOWEVER, P&G are making a commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and have now started to sell the entire Swiffer line (the sweepers, mops and dusters) boxlessly; so now you go to the cleaning aisle and the mop is already put together and hanging on a hook instead of in a bulky box with Styrofoam.

What does that mean for us?

Take your P&G Home Made Simple Booklets with you the next time you stop at Target because all of the "old packaged" boxes are on sale - up to half off - at some stores RIGHT NOW!

It's kind of hard to see but the original price was $38, the clearance price is $19 and change AND after the $5 off coupon from the booklet, I got mine for $14! What what?!

And that's not all - my store had a TON of the duster "extend a cleans" on sale for $3 something AND there were a few wet mops out there as well. Oh, and huge bottles of Dawn with hand renewal - I know you can get them for free at CVS this week with the $1 off from the booklet, but try target first because the free bottle is like, 7 oz vs the clearance 32 oz for $1.72. (and if you don't find it at target, then go to CVS.)

The funny thing? The new packages are two aisles away from the clearance end caps and are still full price. I saw a couple putting the exact same vac in their cart - I told them about the clearance and even offered an extra coupon and they were like "no thanks, we're good." Seriously? 'Cause I'm buying the same thing and saving like, $25 bucks. Suckers.

And with that, I end this post. Good luck to you and I hope you find a P&G bargain of your own!

Free Reusable Shopping Bag at Target

Have you ever run into a store only needing a few things but you forgot your reusable bag(s)? Don't you hate it?

I hate buying more bags because I know i'll just end up forgetting about those too, but I really hate just staring at all of those plastic bags in the junk cabinet, just waiting for me to take them to be recycled. (... sooooo ... lazy ...) ((*my community doesn't have a recycling program; it'd be different if we had one of those bins that you put out with the garbage, because i'm not that lazy; but if I'm the one at the store re-buying more of those damn flimzy totes for $1 because I forgot mine at home you can be damn sure that i'm also the one driving around with a trashbag full of the plastic bags in my trunk because I keep forgetting to take them inside the store, to be dropped off to be recycled.))

SOOOOO here is a way to get a few for free.

Target is famous for having creative gift cards that are more than just plastic rectangles that hold a store balance. (I have one that is not only a picture of Barbie shopping in a SuperTarget, but it also came with a limited edition Barbie dress. I'm also 25 going on 7.) This gift card in question (can you guess where I'm going with this?) COMES with a somewhat small - yet really sturdy - reusable bag that once folded can be ziped up into itself (like an anorack pullover) and is the size of the gift card - perfect for keeping in a purse or possibly on a key chain.

How to get it for free? If you find them at your store (look for them by the greeting cards or makeup), buy the giftcard in a first transaction (put like, $1 or $5 on the card), then either go and shop or if you've already done so, just turn around and use both the bag and the gift card in a second transaction, much like how one would roll a Walgreens Register Reward or a CVS Extra Care Buck.

Is it worth it to go through the trouble? For some, not so much. For those hung up on freebies and these bags, sure. Just think, you'll also be saving the environment (one plastic bag at a time; although you'll eventually have to deal with the old gift card and the thing in which it comes ... hum ... ) BUT more importantly (for some) you'll get your nickel discount per bag. Score!

Happy Shopping!

~K

PS - here is what the *free* bag looks like once unfolded; the cardboard holder said it can carry UP TO (so not all at the same time) two 2-liters of soda, four loafs of bread, 10 sticks of deodorant, etc etc etc. So again, perfect for light trips.

Target's New POS System

I guess I should point out that in this case POS = Point Of Sale, not the other one. ('Cause that's Walmart's system. Teehee! :-)) ((I also want to apologize in advance for this massive story hour-like post.))

I posted a comment to a question asked after a post that Totally Target made a week ago about using multiple manufacturer coupons to sweeten the current Biore deal that is valid now through July 10th. (Holy crap! That's enough time to buy a lot of coupons if you're missing some of them.) ((Anyway.)) Kerry at Totally Target (which is my FAV Target blog site as I'm addicted to Target) asked if could further explain, so this post is just that.

In short, if you don't want to read this whole post, A NEW SYSTEM IS IN THE WORKS, AND IT APPEARS THAT YOU SHOULD HAND OVER/USE YOUR COUPONS FOR FREE AND OR BOGO (B1G1, B2G1, B3G1 ect) ITEMS FIRST AS TO NOT GET SCREWED BY THE COMPUTER. You should also be hyper-vigilant with your cashier as well.

As of late, I've noticed that cashiers at a few of my stores (I'm in the greater Dallas metro, and if you knew how many Targets I frequent weekly, you'd be signing me up for rehab) have to take extra steps when it comes to using a coupon for a free or bogo item.

There are two ways of walking out of a store with a free item in your bag/cart. The first, which is my favorite, is when a coupon doesn't exclude a trial/travel size or is when the product has been priced at, put on sale to, or clearanced around the amount of the coupon, or when a mrf coupon stacks with a Target coupon. It's pretty easy, it's low fuss, and if you have your target coupon policy with you, all of the cashier's questions should be easily answered without the need of calling attention to yourself by way of getting a manager involved.

The second way of getting something for free is via a "free" or "bogo' coupon, and we all know how much *fun* those can be. Target DOES ALLOW you to use a BOGO coupon - some people have problems with this, but, if the coupon is legit, put your foot down(!), pull out your copy of the Target Coupon policy, and if it comes down to it, call corporate customer service right there in the store. (Anyway.)

This process usually includes the cashier (or manager) punching in a price for the item that is to be counted as free, which means that you and I either kept track of the price while shopping, or the cashier backs out of the price input screen, finds the item on the register screen, checks the price, may or may not ask to see the item in your bags, re-scans the coupon to yet again go to the price input screen - it causes a lot of headaches, wastes a lot of time and creates the perfect opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to fleece the system, thus ruining it for everyone.

To spur people from claiming a bogus coupon amount and also to combat the recent surge of fake coupons floating around the web (did you hear that someone made a coupon for a "free" PS3 game station - easily over $300 - and that a Walmart employee took it?!? I had a hard time getting those damn $.89 sponges with the $1 off a few weeks ago.) Target has started to overhaul their Point Of Sale (POS) System and now the cashier is no longer able to "take your word for it" and punch in a price, even if they are the ones who checked it with their own two eyes. (For those concerned at this point, I haven't yet had system trouble with pushing a coupon, as in trying to use a $1 coupon for a trial sized $.97 item - that still works just fine, depending on your cashier.)

Now when a coupon is scanned for a free item (just free and bogo items, not regular $ off coupons that we use on trial or normal sized products), the transaction is immediately suspended and sent to a new screen that lists all the items in said transaction, where the cashier is to then select which item is to be discounted and literally attach the coupon to the item. (Since there isn't a picture or screen shot of this on the web and I'm a visual person, I'm going to make an example for those of you who are like me.)

Example:

Cherry Coke ........................ $1.50
Biore Pore Strips ................. $5.94
Biore Cleanser .......................$5.99
Biore Cleanser .......................$5.99
Chicken ..................................$3.12
Tissues ..................................$1.59
Tissues ..................................$3.00
Kraft Cheese Bites............... $2.99
Kraft Mac & Cheese .............$1.29

etc. etc. etc.

The new screen looks something like that, and while it lists product names and prices, if you are buying varying ounce sizes, brands, quantities, or even different products that fall into the same line (like Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gel and Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Wand) things could - and very well might - get confusing for both you and the cashier. If you aren't paying attention, a coupon for a free item could be directed to a cheaper or different product than what is intended.

Getting back to the TT post - a coupon newbie asked "does it matter which coupon is scanned first" and was referring to using both a BOGO and a money off q for the item(s) that is(are) not free. With this new POS System, the answer is YES!, possibly.

(*Edit, 11:45Pm - this is a YMMV BUT most BOGO coupons do allow you to stack another MRF coupon for the item that you are not getting for free, rather, the item that you are buying. Some coupons will say "no other coupons can be used with this offer" but most don't. However, just because we're all cool and understand this doesn't mean that a cashier won't follow the drift.)

While I'm not 100% guaranteeing that this is the norm, not saying that the issue I had was simply because I was using a Target Q (and those are always picky), and I'm also not saying that there is a flaw in this new system, I AM saying that it seems that if you use the money off q first and then the bogo, there is a chance that the money off q could count towards to the item that you are trying to get for free and in the end that upsets the balance of the deal you are trying to score.

While it doesn't really matter if the BOGO items are the same price (if you buy Thing A and Thing B, both $5, and you use a bogo + a $1 off, in the end one will be $4 after a $1 off q and the other will still be free) it DOES MATTER if you have an intricate scenario involving free items of varying prices.

I personally haven't done the Biore deal above or the super awesome Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gel/Wand/Free Gift Card deal; however, I did trouble when purchasing a few CoverGirl items in a transaction that looked like this:

LashBlast ........... $7.49
LashBlast ...........$7.49
eyeshadow ..........$3.29
eyeshadow ..........$3.29

I used four coupons - one BOGO face product from CoverGirl which I used towards the LashBlast mascara, one $1 q for the mascara I wasn't getting for free, and two Target coupons that were for a free eyeshadow when you bought one LashBlast, found on the Lashblast product. (I used two because I was buying two.)

I intended to walk out of the store having spent just $6.49 for all four items; however, due to the way my coupons were stacked when handed over to the cashier, the money q was scanned before my bogo and free item q's were, so the $1 ended up coming off of one of the cheaper eyeshadows, causing my scenario to go up a buck. (I know, I know. It's just a dollar. But I've gone up to Customer Service before to get a quarter back when the cashier failed to give me five bag credits, so I was not about to let this one go.)

Of course we (the cashier and I) didn't know any of that at the time.

After the cashier scanned my bogo q and the first free eyeshadow coupon (and attached the items to the coupons, of course), the page looked like this:

Lashblast ....... $7.49
eyeshadow ......$2.29

(with the new system, once an item has been discounted - either free or money-off wise - the price reflects the discount OR the item is absent from the screen to serve as a visual clue to the cashier that the product has already been reduced to the point where it is free and to not discount it any further, which is why you now only see one of each of the mascara and eyeshadow.)

I instantly knew that something was wrong - yes, I'd still get the eyeshadow for free, but the remaining mascara was supposed to be a dollar cheaper, not the eyeshadow.

I thought that it'd be alright in the end, that I could still say that the remaining eyeshadow was $3.29 - which it was - and I could recoup the lone dollar after all if the cashier typed the original price in, because it would cause overage that would effect the mascara; however, with the new system THERE IS NO TYPING IN OF THE DOLLAR AMOUNT.

I caught the mistake of the last coupon before it accidentally was rung for the wrong amount, and the cashier said that there was a way around the selection-and-attach process that he could try (which wouldn't you know is the exact same type-in-a-price old-system method) but even after trying to manually type in the correct $3.29 dollar amount, the register came back with a big, red, embarrassing X ultimately saying that there was no item in the transaction for $3.29, which was technically right because the stupid register/computer took the dollar off the stupid cheaper product. (Again, had I been paying outright, it wouldn't have mattered which item received the dollar discount - the mascara or the eye shadow. But I had one lone coupon left; you'd also think that the cashier could just apply the $3.29 product price toward the more expensive mascara, but that couldn't have been done because the coupon was for a free item "not to exceed X amount", not a coupon that read "good for one free eye shadow or up to $3.29 off." )

After trying for a few unsuccessful minutes to fix it, and not wanting to pay $1 more than I knew I should, I talked my awesome cashier into deleting all four of the coupons from the transaction (which he did) and to just re-ring them up (which he did) but the second time we saved the $1 off for last and everything worked out without a hitch.

(End of my personal, long, boring story.)

Even if you aren't going to participate in some long, crazy, drawn out and very involved scenario like the CoverGirl, Biore or any other "deal" where you have to buy 50 products to come out ahead in the end, you could still very well get screwed by the Target register - by both the "new" and "old" system - simply because you're buying two products made by the same company and because computers are NOT perfect.

(Have you ever looked at your receipt and everything comes out to the right amount in the end but you look over the itemized part and think what the heck? I didn't use that coupon for that product.)

In the first example near the top of the post, I included a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese as well as a bag of Kraft's new 100 Calorie Cheese bites. Lets say that in that transaction you are planning on using a q for $1 off the cheese bites but have a q for a free box of the Mac. It's simple enough for any untrained cashier to recognize - cheese coupon with cheese, mac coupon with mac. But the computer inside the register scans the bar codes of the coupons and looks for items in the transaction that contain the same or similar numeric order in the products UPC's - once it finds a match the computer connects/links/attaches them together. However, the computer doesn't know the difference between the two products so if the codes in both the coupons and the Products UPC's simply reads "Kraft ... Cheese", the computer doesn't get that the two products are different and just selects one of the items in question to attach to the coupon with. (How the computer decides, I don't know. Either it goes with the more expensive item or the cheaper or the one that was scanned last.) SO if your $1 off the cheese bites is scanned first, it could quite possibly be attached to the blue box instead of the bagged bites and when its time to claim your free product coupon, with the new system you'll also be out $1.

I realize I may have just confused the heck out of you with that last example - so how about this. A new system is coming to Target, and to get through your transaction with the least amount of confusion and stress for both you and the cashier, hand over your coupons for your free and bogo items FIRST while watching the monitor and the cashier at all times, to make sure that he or she selects the proper item to be discounted, and then when its safe, use the rest of the coupons in your stack.

And if something wacky happens, say something. I talk to my cashiers throughout the entire transaction process and I apologize when I notice something, as to not sound crass or bossy. They say that they honestly appreciate being notified then rather than having to void out the entire transaction and re-do everything, or have their manager yell at them about it later when hours or even days have passed because you went to customer service.

So with all of that said, I hope you don't run into the same problems, and if you do, just have the cashier delete the coupons and re-scan them in the way that gets you the most bang out of your coupons. Happy Targeting!

~K

*Edit* 5:21Pm
The new system also prevents you from using a MRF coupon on an item that Target is giving you for free, by either a Target coupon (like the awesome Kraft BOGO's from last week) or by an in store special (like the buy 3 boxes of cereal get one free promos. You could still use 3 MRF coupons on the ones you are buying, but you cannot use a 4th on the one that Target is giving to you, because with the new system it is already discounted.) Yes, you still can still hand over that extra coupon, but you will not be rewarded with the overage so it is just a waste of a coupon.

*Edit* 6:11 pm*
AND, One last exception to add - if you have a coupon FROM TARGET that is one of those "Spend $50, get a free $5 Gift Card" or "Take $5 off when you spend $X amount", you need to use that one FIRST, BEFORE ANY OTHER COUPON, because the register includes coupons in that total you need to reach; so if your total was $75 before your coupons and you're standing at $42 after, if you try to use the $5 off/free Gift Card, the register will beep saying that you didn't purchase enough, and the cashier has no way to push that $5 coupon through. The Fix? Use the $5 Off/Gift Card coupon first and then the rest of your coupons and you should be good. (Should you forget about all of that just go to customer service - you'll have to point out that you did indeed meet or exceed the required amount but they should be able to help you.)

*end edits*

Johnson Soap Buddies JACKPOT

We're about to be overflowing in those super cute Johnson's Soap Buddies.

If your Target has their Catalina machines installed and running, buy the soap buddies three at a time - after you pay, a $2.50/3 Johnson's Product cat will pop out!

The best thing, this deal is ROLLING!!! (So when you go back to use the cat, another one comes out!)

The only three downsides I can see about this are you'll have to pay a little out of pocket (about $.41 - $.86 cents total depending on what your store charges), the cat is a MFQ so you can't stack it with the current prints we have and this will further deplete the store supplies if you already have trouble finding them.

YAY!!!!! I hope you have a GREAT DAY!

UPDATE time!

Sorry I have been MIA - I'm trying to gets me a J-O-B. In the mean time ...

I went to Target this morning and here is some of what I found:



Starkist Tuna on a Price Cut - The bigger pouch is 6.3 (maybe 6.2 or 6.0) oz and is now $1.83 and the smaller 2.3 oz is now $.94 cents. If you're a member of Vocal Point, log in and check out the "Try and Tells" section of either the home page or the "food and recipes" section. (Or, click here) for a $1 off coupon to get the smaller pouch for free or the bigger one for $.83!

SOME boxes of Ortega "Grande Breakfast Kits" (to make breakfast tacos) have Target Store peelies for a free carton of eggs (to use while making the kit). The price of the kit is $3.59 (in the Dallas area) but there is a $1/2 ANY Ortega Products q in the Jan 24th Smart Source. If you buy the kit and use the coupon, look for any other item under $1 - the price you'll save from the coupon - like taco seasoning or else it won't be worth it to use the SS q.

Other things of note (that I didn't get pictures of)

There are a lot of clearance items in the Office Supply area - like tape and scissors and what not. I don't have a list of what is and isn't included nor do I have match ups; but if you find something that you like or you get a list together here is a link to the q's that are available at the 3M Scotch site and this one is for Post-It products.

Hope you're having a great day!

~K

FREE Kashi at Target

Want to score a free box of Kashi at Target? Read on -

Kashi Go Lean Crunch is on sale (again) this week for $2.75 a box. We all know about the $.75 off printable Target coupon via their coupon page, which makes it $2 a box (which is still AWESOME) but if you go into the store and start really looking at the boxes of KGLC, like, dig to the back of the shelf as apposed to the ones smiling at you from the aisle, some of the boxes have a green peelie booklet attached to them that says something like "Eat Healthy; $4 off Kashi" and has the Target logo in the bottom right corner.

(If you can find one, the inside looks like the blue and green things in the picture below.)

The peelie is actually two coupons - the blue one is for $1 off ANY Kashi item; and the green one is for $3 off ANY two Kashi items - both of which are Manufacture and can be stacked with the current Target coupon.

You can buy the one full size box of cereal with the blue $1/1 mrf + $.75 Target coupon and get $1.75 off, which means you'll only pay $1 for the box of Kashi - which is pretty sweet.

OR you can use the green $3 coupon, stack it with the $.75 Target coupon (so you now have $3.75), get the $2.75 box of Kashi and a $1 cereal cup (on the same aisle, with all the single sized cups of cereal; you should have two choices - Kashi Go Lean Crunch or Kashi Healthy Heart) for $3.75.

If your store is out of single size cereal cups, look in the "protein bar/weight loss/dietary aid" aisle near the pharmacy - there should be a basket of individually wrapped "Kashi Go Lean Crunch" protein bars priced around $1.09 - $1.40. (Each store may vary.) Pair the full box of cereal with a $1.09 - $1.40 bar and you'll only pay $.09 - $.40 for both!

BUT, that's not all!

SOME Boxes of Kashi's granola bars have the same green peelie attached to them. I'm unsure of the price but they are usually around $2.75 - $3.25 for a 6 count box; they may be on sale since regular Kashi is BUT there is also a "$.50 off one 6-count-box" Target coupon on the target coupon page as well.

So, do the same thing! Find a box with the peelie - lets say it is $3.25 - you have $3.50 in coupons, buy a $1 cup or bar and you'll pay somewhere between $.75 and $1.15 for a box of granola bars and a cup of cereal!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! That blue $1 peelie that is good for ANY Kashi product that is left - is also good for ANY Kashi item - so there is ANOTHER free cup of cereal for you, or another $.09 - $.40 protein bar for you!

Important - There are NO size restrictions listed on either peelie coupon AND both A and myself have already done this and it works perfectly - no beeping!

Can't find a peelie in store? Look online - the picture in this post was actually copied from Ebay - and I hear that there are all sorts of other "coupon buying places" out there on the intertubes. (Which means that those people are stealing peelies. So maybe don't buy from them because doing so only shows them that there is a market for stealing peelies ... I don't know, it's very early.) The coupons don't expire until sometime in March so if you do go this route and you miss this promo I know for a FACT that there will be another good sale on this stuff between now and then.

I hope a lot of you are able to cash in on this and start the new year off right!

~K

(Also, I said "Kashi" 16 times in this post. Have a great Sunday!)

A Perfect Storm Target Match-Up Post! (ie - get a super fun game on the cheap side)

(I'm sorry about all of the ' action going on in this post, something is up with blogger and it simply will not let me space this post the way I really want to.)

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I've said it before but I'm saying it again -I'm all about games. Right now at Target you can get The Game of Things, plus a card deck game, (a $32 value!) for only $9.99! (Or $9.94 after the bag credit. :p)

'

The Game of Things is similar to most group games - you can make it serious, funny, naughty, opposite, whatever! The rules are sorta simple - pretty much everyone writes a response to the topic card and whoever is not matched to their response at the end of a round by the other players wins! (Actual rules can be found here, but I will dumb them down at the bottom of this post.)

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Right now Toys R Us has "The Game of Things" on sale in their weekly ad (page 11A, top left corner) for $14.99. (Normally $27!)

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AND go HERE for a $5 off coupon - making it $9.99 (Saving you, like, $17!) There is a 2 print-per-computer limit, so if you haven't used this one yet, you should be able to print it twice.

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Now, you can pick this up at TRU when you're there this week getting all the child-centric board games that count towards the Hasbro/Toys R Us rebate,

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OR,

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you can take the Toys R Us ad (actual print ad, not Internet print out, unless your store is lax on that rule) to Target to price match the game (also normally around $27) and get a free hasbro card game as well. (page 16 of this week's Target ad talks about the promo; The Game of Things isn't listed or shown on the ad but is a game by Hasbro and has a promo sticker/tag by its normal shelf price tag in-store. If you still aren't sure about this, go to a scanner or ask an employee to scan it for you - the promo should come up on their screen.)

'

You may be squeamish about "doing this deal" at Target, because the new coupon and price-matching policies exclude other stores "buy-one-get-X" promotions AND they also exclude you from price matching and then using a Target coupon on said item being price matched. Plus its a bit involved and there are a lot of you out there who have been very turned off by Target lately.

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However, the buy-game-get-card freebie is Targets own promotion, so you will be able to price match, get the free card game AND use the manufacturer coupon to get everything for $9.99!

'

Here's where it gets complicated - normal cashiers don't have the power to price match at their individual registers, so you can check out "up front" or just go straight to Customer Service, since you'll have to stop there anyway.

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AND ideally the way that Target wants its "guests" to perform price adjusting when using a coupon is to use said coupon at time of purchase at the front registers and then get reimbursed later, as to keep the wait time down for the rest of us in line at Customer Service, but they'll still take a coupon at CS. However, I see this as bringing in more people than necessary to error the transaction, so you need to decide if you want to make one long purchase at the registers and then get reimbursed at Customer Service (for convenience and sake of time), OR if you want to make this purchase first at customer service and then continue with your other shopping and do two transactions at Target, that is assuming that you are there to purchase more in the first place.

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If I were you (which I was, 'cause I already did this and it totally worked) I'd do the transaction first at CS and then continue shopping and purchase everything else separately, which looks like this: find the game (it's in a wooden box and can be found in the "party" or "adult" section of the game isle), pick out which free card game you'd like (you get to choose between scrabble slam, monopoly deal and something that is like pictureika; they should all be well marked that they are the free-game-with-purchase) and then go to Customer Service. Wait your turn (obvs.) and then let the service person know that you are going to price match the big item. They will scan the Game of Things, do some fancy button pushin' to adjust the price and then scan the card game, which will automatically show up as free. (They might go in a different order with the card game scanning and price adjustment, but that part should not matter.) Your total should say $14.99 (plus whatever your sales tax is; so in the D/FW area it'd be $16.23) - then when you go to pay hand over your coupon for $5 off. They'll scan it and then you're down to $9.99! ($10.84 D/FW - because the tax is adjusted to what you pay after the coupon) Done!

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I didn't ring this up at a normal register, because I thought the whole thing would give all parties involved - the cashier, the CS person and myself - a headache, but here is what it should look like if you choose to go this way. When you buy both games and use the coupon, the receipt will print out as all are apart of the special promotion - so there will be all of these fancy price numbers everywhere inside a separate box that is marked like so:

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-------Special Promotion -------

##### '''''''''GameofThings '''''$27.00 (or whatever price in which your target has the game listed)

##### '''''''''MFR Coupon '''''''''$5.00-

'''''''''''''''''''Refund Value ''' $23.12 (or some other number) T

###### '''''''Card Game ''''''''''''$5.24

'''''''''''''''''''Refund Value ''''$3.88 T

'''''''''''''''''''--------------

''''''''''''''''Package Subtotal $32.24

'''''''''''''''''''''Card Game Free $5.24-

'''''''''============

'''''''''''''''''''Package Total $27.00 (or again, whatever price yours is going for.)

'''''All Items Must Be returned For Full Refund

----------------------------------

'''''''''''''''''''Subtotal ''''''''''''''''$22.00 (unless you bought more stuff)

'''''%Tax on $22 '''''''''''''''''''$ tax amount

''''''''''''''''''''''''''Total ''''''''''''''''$ whatever total is

'

'

THEN you'll go up to CS and price adjust the NORMAL PRICE, the one that is on the same line as the sku number and the game title (the one that I've highlighted in lime green for you). They should in NO WAY tell you any of the following:

'

~ You can't do that. (Yes, I can because it's your matching policy, a current ad, your promotion, and a manufacture coupon.)

'

~ The Price Adjustment is only on the $22 or only on the $23.24 so you'll be getting $7.01 or $8.25 back. (No, the $22 is the price after the Manufactures coupon, and the $*23 is the *stores promo price. Stand up for yourself on this one - point to the "MFR Coupon" words on your receipt and then point to your copies of the *New and Improved* Target Coupon and Price Matching Policies. The 5th Question states that MFR Coupons will be used AFTER the price adjustment, so then point to the original price.)

'

~ You can't get the free card game. (Again, YES I can because the store promotion is valid on games over $10, of which this game still is after the price adjustment.)

'

~ I don't get what is going on. (Speak more slowly. Tell the person that you would like to buy these two items but one needs to be price adjusted, but don't mention the coupon. Show them the ad and it's valid dates, then let the employee do their thing. Once it's time to pay, then pull out the coupon.)

'

~ I can't price match the package total. (That's fine, employee, because you're not matching the package total, you are matching the original sales price, which is also currently the same as the package total.)

'

The prices in *light blue on the fake receipt indicate what you would receive if you tried to return either game without the other. This is Targets part in trying to prevent anyone from "pulling a fast one" by buying both, keeping one, and getting the full price of the other back, or keeping one for free in the end.

'

'

'

I hope that this hasn't left you completely lost. Getting a great deal sometimes doesn't seem worth it if you have to go through so much trouble. (Which I assure you this post just makes it all seem like a bigger hassle than it really is.) The Game of Things really is a blast to play with friends but because you run out of the included paper fairly fast (it comes with 500 answer slips - if you have 10 people play 2 complete games that's 10 slips per round, 10 rounds per game, times 2 games = 200 slips, or 100 if you go front and back) I personally would NEVER pay full price for it ever; why should you shell out $27 and then need to supply your own paper after 2 - 5 parties? But if I can get it for $10 AND get something else for free out of it then I guarantee you that everyone at that party will have heard about my great score by the end of the night.

'

'

~K

'

'

*And don't forget that there is also a $5 off coupon for Connect 4X4 on the same coupon site, which is also part of the free card game promotion.

'

'

As promised, "The Game of Things" Rules, as read by K:

1) First select a Reader (who can also act as the score keeper) for that round and then everyone gets a piece of included paper.

2)The Reader selects a topic card and reads it aloud - so it could be "Things you shouldn't do while skiing" or "Things you can always count on".

3) Everyone (including the reader) then thinks of and writes down their answer and gives said response to the reader, who then reads them all aloud.

4) Player A will now have the chance to guess who said what - however, you cannot guess the reader (and in turn the reader of the round cannot guess either, because s/he can see every ones handwriting). So if person A guesses person C said response 1 and is correct, then person C is now out and person A gets to guess until s/he fails to correctly identify another response, at which time the next remaining player has a chance to identify the remaining responses.

5) The end of the round features two players guessing who-wrote-what determined over three response slips, because one slip is the readers, thus making it an intentional throw-someone-off answer. Once the round is over, tally up all the points given, then select another player to be the reader/score keeper. A new round can start once everyone has fresh slip of paper and a new topic card has been drawn.

'

Scoring: You get 1 (one) point for every correct person/response connection YOU make; 6 (six) points are awarded to the person who wins the round; The winner of the round is the person still standing, aside from the reader of course. Then you start another round until everyone has had a chance to be the reader; then winner of the game is the person with the most overall points.

Boggle Deal

So, by now I'm sure you've heard (read?) about the boggle deal at Target - on sale for $12 plus the free card deck AND there is a $5 off coupon floating around out there; if you're one of the ones who is going to buy the coupon online or unluckily happen to find one after the promo is over, don't fret! There is also a travel size ... edition? ... version? ... yeah, I'm going with that - a travel size version of Boggle and it is only $9.99. So, PLEASE don't stress out too much because there is a happy light at the end of that deal tunnel.

~K

A Target Rant

I finally have something bad to say about Target that isn't a *personal hang-up, bad-customer-service story or understanding-of-Target's-bottom-line-yet-annoyance-of-the-ever-changing-coupon-policy rant.

You know that $.05 bag credit that was implemented at the beginning of November, that they are *soooo* proud of and have been advertising everywhere like crazy? How many times in the past 36 days have you shopped at a T (or ST) and you've not received your damn nickel?

I feel silly being for upset about this - I mean I'm not raging mad, but it is annoying. It's not even so much that I'm upset about missing the pocket change. (Although it would have made my trip last night all that more impressive.)

I just feel let down as a super loyal Super Target "super user". (McDonald's categorizes their customers into 3 groups - moderate, heavy and super, the lesser being the people who eat at one of the stores at least once a week, the middle is 2-3 and super = 4 times or more. I'm seriously at Target at least once every other day, and at most 3 times - 3 different stores - a day.) I bought their red reusable bags shortly after the announcement to make sure that I always have some in both cars and by the door when I leave; I even have two of those silly ones that are made out of parachute material that fold up into a little coin-purse-sized pouch - and I keep both of them in my Burberry purse all so I'm never without a Target bag. ('Cause you never know.)

Am I just being silly for thinking about it this much?

If I use 3 of my own bags each trip, make 2 trips a week every week for a year (52) - when that's all said and done it comes out to $15.60 a year. Not much to a single girl who lives at home but what about the families who use 8 bags and make 3 trips a week. That's $62.40. Think about what Kristin at Couponing to Disney could do with an extra $62 at Disney World. What could you do with that?

I know that they've trained their employees well - but it's silly on my part too because of course I notice that they haven't scanned the credit, yet I won't say anything at the time because I don't want to seem crazy or desperate to the the people in line behind me. So then I get to the car and I think about it on the way home and by that time I'm blaming myself - maybe there is more that I could have done? Did I talk too much during the process and it was distracting? Should I be a stone-cold bit*h to the next person so they will fear my mean side and want to do everything in their power to please me?

I could say something at the time to guest service - but the lines are hella long and after checking out you need to get home to put your stuff away.

I try to check out with the same people at each store I visit and they know me and they've stopped asking if I want to open up a red card account (because I have one) or if I have any coupons (because of course I do). But sometimes even they forget.

Have you ever had the girl who is all caffeinated and brand spankin' new, or the guy who really really wants to work his way up the chain of command, and they go through all of the motions - "Hi! Did you find everything alright? Do you need a gift receipt? Do you need a gift card? You can save 10% by opening Red Card today!" Do those people really need one more thing to be prompted into saying 500 times a day?

Then there are the cashiers who look like they'd rather have their teeth pulled than be on the clock - you know the ones, the older guy who wants to get away from the house but didn't quite have target in mind, or the person for whom this is their second job of the day and they are so exhausted and drained that they really don't care if we save $.50 on a $4 box of cereal. Those are the cashiers who are ice cold and will tab on through the required questions in the first place. I am not about to tell that person s/he forgot to take my nickel off.

So, here is the question - how do we handle this without seeming like huge a*holes? How do you politely ask your cashier "did you get the bag credit" without seeming homeless, poor, like we're trying to steal something or like we're telling the person with the scan gun how to do their job?

I don't have a problem using coupons - I've only had one situation where I was flat out told I could not use a coupon which resulted in bringing a manager over, showing the coupon policy and calling customer service from my cell phone right there in the lane did not work. (It was those damn travel games - I bought 4 of the last 7 - two HH and two C4 at a store I did not frequent, thus the cashier and I were not on a first name basis. She had already rung EVERYTHING up and when it came time for the coupons, she needed to "call a manger" to push them through; he came over and said that I would only be allowed to get one, that they needed to leave some for others and that they had the right to determine what was considered normal consumption. I understand if I were trying to get them all for free using a Target coupon - like those damn Up & Up toddler wipes, but these were manufacture, not to mention that the cashier had ALREADY SCANNED THEM and PUT THEM IN MY BAGS. So had I just paid for them everything would have been fine, but the d*bag manager wasn't having any of the coupon business even though they would have been completely reimbursed AND have made $.32 off the sale, but whatever. So I just said, that's fine, I'll keep my coupons and please take those other 3 off.) ((Anyway - where were we? Oh yes. Feeling bad about saving money.)

But I know that so many of you out there do feel like you're getting looked at like you're being prosecuted for shoplifting all the time - not just when a coupon doesn't go through or if the cashier is studying the coupon before they'll even try scan it.

I'm about to write an email to corporate - yes, at this ungodly hour - because I just can't sleep and I want to know what those big-wigs think about all of this. I also want to hear what you have to say - should this be a screen prompt? Should the employee be personally docked in someway for every failed bag credit? Target as a corporation should care about this - yes they are losing money five cents at a time but the only way to accurately judge if the program is working and if the planet is being saved one non-plastic-bag-transaction at a time is to have every employee do their part.

What do you think?

~K

(Steps off of soap box)

(*my personal hang up as mentioned in the first sentence is about parents who let their kid - as in only one - sit in those damn extended carts - as pictured at top - that take up the whole aisle and are very hard to maneuver around other people. Your kid doesn't need that - what about the parents who come in after you and have two or three kids and are desperately looking for those multi-kid carts but can't find any so they have to make one sit in the seat and one in the basket creating less space for their groceries, or let one hang on to the side or wander the aisle. I get that I don't have kids so "I don't know", but I assure you that I won't put up with any cart-related temper-tantrums.)

Black Friday: On Ice

So A and I (K, for those who are new) are hangin' out at the SuperTarget in a northern Dallas suburb and we've decided to document our experiences. Oh, and we match. (But that's neither here nor there.)

We have a lot on our lists, just in different places. We've chosen this location (as opposed to the 30 other ST's between our houses) due to the fact that it is just north of a major mall, north east of a Walmart Super Center and close to just about anything else that you would need for Black Friday fun. Seriously. This "area" is one of the hottest in the metroplex and from where we are sitting we can see the throngs of people at Best Buy, an Old Navy (which is where the family members of the hombre behind us have fun off to so they can maximize all the deals.)

I'll be updating this one post, as to not post every 7 seconds, and if all goes well we'll be shopping it around next week to different production companies. A wants to make a movie, and my bf, "The Boy" wants to make it a made for TV movie, I'm thinking that a Broadway musical is a little more classy. (You get dressed up, you have to wait in line for the bathroom at intermission - fun for all!) BUT now that I think about it I don't want to pay someone to write songs for us so i'm chaning the format to "Black Friday - On Ice!"

(11:00 pm - 11:45 Thanksgiving night. Scene - driving in the car.)

~ We went to Walmart (did you know it's un-hyphenated now), to check it out. It's #3 on our list so we wanted to get a lay of the land. Employees were still setting things up BUT there were about 40 people waiting in different locations to "line up" - and not where you would think. Like, people who were waiting for computers are hanging out (more like lying on the floor, but whatev) are in the pharmacy area. People who want a PS3 are by women's underware. (Which is probably the first time most of those guys have ever seen women's underware.)

~ Drove to gas station to get snacks - that fancy-schmancy hot drink maker is the best! They should sell some of those on black Friday. We were also not the only ones to think of that idea.

~ Drove by the Toys "R" Us - the line was CRAZY! It went down two other store fronts before wrapping around the building and then did a snake-like thing back. I hope my kids are bad when they are little because coal is much easier to find than some of those toys.

~ Made it to Target (GOAL!) and we are 6 & 7 in line. Players in front of us - guy 1, mom and son (#2 and #3), people in tent = 4, and a (very cold looking) girl is number 5. I will say that as the morning in progressing more people are getting in front of us. What the hell? The tent actually has two people and number 5 is Hispanic so naturally 8 of her friends and or family members showed up later.

(Scene two. Friday morning. )

12:15: So far we have set up our tent, chairs and found connectivity to the laptop via an unlocked wifi connection hosted by a chuck-e-cheese type establishment. Thanks Mr. Gattis!

12:30: 1st guys wife shows up. That's fine. And most likely expected. But wife met some friends at Toys R Us and they are now here at Target too. These new friends are most definitely new friends because they are all introducing themselves to hubby who has been here since 4pm. (Also, the wife was one of the first 25 in line at TRU so she got a zhu zhu pet. She very politely said that she has not f*ing idea what that thing is but she has one now.)

12:35: lady from tent is now saying something to the new friends. New friends are not happy.

1:00: New friends from guy and wife #1 are now cursing at people #3, the tent people. Both parties have now called the cops.

1:04: A and I start watching "Elf" on The Boy's laptop.

1:07: people our age about 10 back are quoting the movie. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loudly for all to hear!"

1:23 - Cops arrive ... and they look pretty pissed off to be here. 3 cars are here (necessary?) because we're just that rowdy (read, not). They are very nicely explaining that this is private property and they are not being paid to police this lot. (See pictures.)

1:28: K asked cops for stickers. They are telling us stories about fights at other establishments. Good times indeed.

1:35: Cops leave; A and tent lady start talking. Tent lady was at Best Buy last year when there were fights and she said that she is ready to throw down. Even tho the cops are gone now, I'm pretty sure she wants to trip these people once we're inside.

1:46: 3 Asians in a Honda are slowly approaching our hoard - they have a poster taped to the side of the car and are selling snacks - ice cream truck style - to all the people who are like us. We now about number 13, 14 and 15 in a line of 50 deep and I cannot tell you how many people are loving it. (Of course the hand warmers sold out at Best Buy, electronic loving jackasses. All they have now is cold water and monster energy drinks.) A, I know what we're doing next year!

2:00: I'm just now at the part of Elf where Buddy is getting attacked by the raccoon. Love it! (we've been pausing too much to people watch.)

2:06: A guy who looks like a retired high school football coach is walking around passing out fliers about hide speed Internet for sale. Pretty sure I'm jacking this one. But thanks, guy.

2:08: Internet guy made a sale!!! Asshole from group #1 is signing up - someone is capitalizing from this madness.

2:09: Temperature check - 45. (But it feels like 42 when you factor the windchill.) Also, the boy is wearing flip flops. Oh how I lurv him. ;-P

(Scene.)

Act 2

2:41: A and I are back from a potty break. (It was successful. However there was also a line for that.) We sent The Boy to sit/nap in the car to warm up (he's wearing flip flops!!!) and I think he loves us for that. We drove by the Old Navy and Best Buy and the lines were like Woah. People at the 7-11 said that Toys R Us is still sooooo busy - that they are only letting 25 people in at a time and that the rest of the people in line are still around the building. They said that the checkout line was even longer and one lady said that she put her stuff down.

2:46: Notes to selves for next year - Hand Warmers!!!! (Enough for us and to sell to our fellow liners); Camping chairs - if we find any after the summer clearance, buy a few extra and sell them to the other liners; Snacks (again, to sell.); portable electronic blankets; wear long johns/under armor.

2:49: Asshole guy who "cut in line" with guy and wife #1 just walked up to tent couple, apologized and gave them a bag of WhatABurger. I am impressed - it's a holiday miracle! (Well, not really, but it's still a super sweet offer.) The asshole guy and his wife (who we've now renamed "cowboys jacket guy", due to the fact that he is sporting a very fancy, and most likely expensive, Dallas Cowboys Letterman style jacket) also put camping chairs in the back of the line after the altercation and just explained to tent couple that when the doors open, they will stop hanging out with their friends and take their rightful places in line. (Although A thinks that asshole/cowboys guy is just scared that Tent lady, who is very serious, btw, will tell on him to management.)

2:58 - J, a mutual friend, and her bf, R, are hanging out at Kohl's. They've been there for about two hours and they are reporting that they are number one and two out of 15. I'm thinking that if you still want to hit a sale you still have time to hit Kohl's.

3:00 - Old Navy is about to open ... if we get really quite we could hear the madness. But, just like Toys R Us I'm assuming that after the first few rounds of people get in and out then we'll have a lot more "liner" friends ready to throw down.

3:02 - wife from couple #1 is passing out hamburgers to the other liners - who buys extra hamburgers? Are they making friends so if someone picks up the last item that wife 1 wants is she going to pull the burger card? (SO something I would do, btw.)

3:09 - Super Targets have two entrances and we're all on the electronics side of this location and the line keeps getting longer. But here's the thing, there is NO ONE on the grocery side. I'd think that at this point in game being number 1 on that side and running across the store would still beat being number 125 on the "right" side. We also have yet to see any employees.

3:30 - a manager (super cute, super friendly and super single!) just came out and handed out maps. Apparently they are breaking everything up, as to not overload the electronics dept. Smart move Target.

3:32 - a FLOOD of cars have started to enter the parking lot. Maybe these were the people over at Old Navy?

3:37 - I could stare at Ryan (my new manager friend) all day ... if my boyfriend weren't sitting in a tent 5 feet away from me. :-(

3:40 - we're having to readjust our game plan - everything has been moved. They put DVDs in the back by woman's wear, TVs are by kids clothes, DVDs are by men's stuff - maybe they are trying to make this difficult.

3:45 - start disassembling tent.

3:45:15 - K yells at boyfriend to stop disassembling tent.

3:45:30 - A starts supervising the tent teardown.

3:50 - tent is down, poles are out. Too close to bag hand out time - K and the boy just fold tent a few times.

3:52 - we can see the Target team members tear open boxes of the free bags.

3:53 - Boyfriend goes to put tent in car.

3:55 - K yells at boyfriend to run back to the line, as to not miss getting his bag. ('Cause you know that is exactally what he's most worried about today.)

3:59 - people who just now arrived are SPRINTing from their cars to assume a spot in hopes of not miss getting free bag.

4:01 - bags are dispersed. A little dissapointed.

4:03 - see lady sprinting from parking lot to end of line ... only lady is on crutches. (She really wants that bag!)

4:09 - Ryan (sigh!) comes back to front of line, bagless (they handed them all out - this means that there are over 500 in line).

4:11 - Ryan emerges from store vestibule with a cart of more bags - regular $.99 red bags - to generously give to the people at the back. He said that some people back there were COMPLETELY disapointed (read - yelling) so he decided to do something.

4:15 - buzz starts turning to excitement. We're still in blankets and have put all unnecessary items back in the car with the exception of two blankets and one fold out chair.

4:20 - a different manager decends the line and starts telling us a few at a time where some items will be located - so if we have any questions we'll know. I find out Ipods, DSs, Chi flat irons and something else like that will be kept behind the guest services counter. (Which I become extact about because thats a further distance to run.)

4:25 - the people will not stop coming. Some are so discouraged by the sight of the line they decide to take it and stand at the grocery entrance.

4:30 - Ryan (hello lover!) comes around with tickets for TV's.

4:35 - boyfriend goes to put blankets and chair back in car.

4:37 - Ryan comes back to our side of the line to brief his team about being vigilant for people cutting.

4:38 - boyfriend comes back in line, Ryan approaches to ask if he's been there the entire time. We assure Ryan that bf was and the hispanic people infront of us, in their broken english, also agree and confirm. Not sure if Ryan was joking or flirting ... (opinion of Ryan is dwindling.)

4:40 - we're all standing at this point. Adrenaline is starting to flow.

4:42 - SO. Many. People. have now started walking from ... I don't know where ... because the parking lot is FULL ... so many more are confused and start to stand by those safety concrete poles because they are thinking that they are going to jump in somewhere. Ryan tells them otherwise. (Ok, he's cute again.)

4:44 - We ask oh-so-cute Ryan about the people who are lined up on the grocery side; sure they are smart for going over there but will they be let in at the same time too? As a consensus (read: the first part of the line within earshot of the question) we start voicing our concerns (ie - start talking smack) about those other individuals (the too-cool-for-the-really-long-line-asshats) but are quickly reassured (informed by the manager of loss pervention and security) that those doors will not be unlocked until everyone on our side has been let in. S.C.O.R.E. (Of course, my response to his response: Do they know that yet? and then someone else in line behind us was all "don't tell them!"; we all have a chuckle but then R says that they are about to find out and I guess as this whole exchange happened another team memeber was waddeling his way down there to tell them.)

4:45 - you can see a whole line of people on the south end of the complex turn from facing the entrance to their right to listen to the guy.

4:45:30 - about 100 people come flooding towards our direction. (I guess they were there for doorbusters that didn't include creamed corn.)

4:49 - people are now giving up on going to both the grocery side and the back of the line.

4:52 - we hear target team member "Paul" telling security manager Ryan that some people in the back are trying to buy TV tickets off of people near the front of the line. (Another idea for next year!) P and R take off to the back - not sure of the outcome. (But I like to think that the scalper was ejected from the line and told to go to the back by a shirtless R.)

4:54 - we're all excited - we don't even notice that it's cold.

4:56 - we go down the game plan once more - A is going to get bedding, a few games, an electric toothbrush, a portable DVD player, all 7 seasons of Sex and the City (each season was priced at $8.99 versus buying the complete series box set for $130) and ___ (help me out, a), Boyfriend is to get 3 digital picture frames and I'm getting an ipod from the front, and we're to find and help A after we're done. None of us are getting carts until after we've grabbed our stuff.

4:59 - meeting ajurned and employees get out of the way of the door.

5:00 - Doors open!

5:01 - We're in and i'm at guest services (first one!) asking for a blue ipod.

5:02 - A is back in bedding, gets her set (the ONLY one in the size needed!) and heads to toys

5:03 - boy gets 3 frames and is already back at the front getting a cart.

5:04 - A now has her arms loaded and is searching for the qames in question.

5:05 - A finds and steals an empty rogue shopping cart; heads to DVDs.

5:07 - Boyfriend finds A and is helping her grab items.

5:08 - I'm STILL at guest services. From where i'm standing I can see people are still streaming inside in an orderly, yet disgruntled, fashion. What's my hold up? They don't have any warrentie cards at the front. None. And they don't enter information into the computer, they have some fancy card/sticker combo thing that you have to scan at the time of purchase and cannot be done later. (I'm told at the time, which is not true because after I succeed in finally purchasing said items there is big bold print saying that it can be done up to 30 days after initial product purchase.) Ugh. And to make matters worse (well, for the people still in the electronice line) of the 3 people working the registers at guest services, my lady is slow waiting for warenty cards, the register on my right is slow because the product that was told to the line as being behind the counter is not, so that "guest" is about to throw down because he's been outside since midnight and he's not about to miss this deal and then the asian lady to my left decided that she needed to open a red card to save an extra 10%. (Which if you've never encountered one of those, imagine filling out a credit card application, having to confirm said info, wait for it to be entered into the computer and then approved over the payment interweb. It takes about 10 mintues, and then once is went through - which I was suprised about because is't like 5:10 central/standard time the day after a national holiday, who is at the credit card company approving these things that early? - she was only offered a store line of credit (not the target visa) up to a certain amount and from what I overheard said amount was significantly less than what she was wishing to purchase at that point in time.) So, Sorry 100 people who are getting more and more impatient - it's been 15 minutes and there have only been about 4 people to actually check out from the front.

5:15 - I (K) riendivue with the rest of the party and find out what A still needs. Boy is put on cart duty - ie told to stay put and watch the carts and purses. (which he did beautifully, btw)

5:16 - I run to DVD section to find "Marley and Me" and "Up" - they were out of both until an employee came bearing a cart full of back ups and I succeded in finding both. (Only to learn later that there is an end cap full of both at the front registers.)

5:18 - re-meet with team, A and I make one final glance-a-round, deem it successful and the store too crazy to comb through and head for a checkout.

5:19 - pick a lane on the non-grocery side and are about 4 and 5 carts back until a front-end-team leader yells in our direction that there are open and empty lanes on the grocery side; we start the move.

5:21 - A checks out first. There are 3 of us but only two purchases being made; we split up A's stuff into two transactions to "work the system"; She buys trans 1, spends well over the $100 needed to earn free $10 gift card. She uses the "spend $150 get a $15 gift card" and pays. While finishing transaction she slips me both gift cards and I check out for her #2; cashier non-the-wiser. Boyfriend rings up with our transaction, uses "game of things" coupon plus 2 of the 3 gift cards earned from the ipod purchase and we are out of there!

Time: 5:26

Not. Too. Shabby.

Target is now a mad house.

Load items in respective cars and then load people in one car to head to mall. (Mall is a GGP mall which is participating in the "spend $100, get $15" promo, as well as the holiday gift tote.

Scene 4

Get to mall at 5:35, A and I run in while boy takes the wheel to meet us on other side of mall.

5:36 - get to promo table (I asked on Wednesday where they'd be set up) and am told that they will not be ready to hand out totes until 7. (That was also a question I asked on Wednesday ... was told 5:30 but whatev.) Begin to freak out a little. (I really wanted that tote.)

5:37 - A and K (me!) start to run to Dicks (sporting goods store, not house-of-trash) to take part of their door busters (which started at 5!). Items on list - Crocs and Nike Tempos. (But not to be worn together.) ((We're not European.))

5:39 - get to Dicks, find Tempos. Normal price, $28, BF price, $14. Each find some cute shorts. A heads to crocs, K stays by shorts to find more colors. (Successfully find Texas shorts for A!)

5:44 - head to check out

5:52 - out of store, in car. Next stop, Walmart.

6:01 - get to Walmart. Boy lets us out of car, starts to hunt parking spot.

6:02 - Walk in door and see the check out lines. What. The. Hell. If you have a Wally Super Center, picture it in your head; From where we entered the lines curved around to almost the entrance of the garden center. We start to look for our items - but can hardly squeeze thru the throngs of people. (I shouldn't have posted the crainium deal!)

6:07 - walk out of Walmart empty handed. There was no way in HELL that we were going to put ourselves thru that.

6:08 - get in boys car, start to drive back to Target to get in A's car so boy can go home to sleep. (Such a trooper!)

6:15 - back at Target (still crazy but parking lot less-full); head back out

Scene 5 -

Home Depot to get 60 batteries for $5 (Check) and a $100 Shopvac on BF sale for $20. (Not so lucky - they sold out in 10 minutes.)

Drive across the street to Lowes and find shopvac! Wahoo!!!

Head to Mall

Act 3

6:50 - 9:10

Arrive at Mall, Find spot; Get tote bag (so not cute), go thru contents (Martha Stewart Silicone Spatula, MS Recipie cards; offers from select mall stores that include a coupon for free chick fil a sandwich! so it was totally worth it.), start out shopping.

A gets everything on her list and spends the minimum easily. Go stand in line for gift card, which also comes with a year subscription to Martha Stewart Living Mag (this is what I really wanted!) I take some of A's recipts, pair them up with my Dicks (HAHAHHHAHAHAH!) and I too make the cut. Stand in line for long time; A and K can't stand together because there are two lines, each for half the alphabet. (boo!) Some creepy guy behind me has to move lines, ends up next to A. K ends up playing translator to an older hispanic woman (whose daughter told her about everything but who ran off to shop a little bit longer) and one of the promo ladies. We are asked to fill out a card for the magazine and to get out our ids and recpts so the promo people can speed things up and some dumb b*tches infront of A are underage. (But are seriously complaining because they "spent $100, they should qualify!") K laughs at silly girls. A is looking none too thrilled. Promo ladies start passing out tote bags to those who yet have theirs and K puts hers in a shopping bag (as A has had from the start) - K successfully gets 2nd bag, A does not. (Point 1 for K.) We each get the gift cards and then head to Barnes & Noble to finish up shopping. A uses both gift cards (K only wanted a 2nd spatula) and K's BN member # and saves Big Time. (Point 1 for A.)

After leaving BN we Are DONE! Very Successful Black Friday indeed.

Until we get to the car and the doors won't unlock via the clicker. Oh. Shit.

Manually get in - dead battery. A starts to worry, boy doesn't answer phone. K is about to call AAA when Mall Security drives by. Hooray!!! We start waving and yelling to get his attention ... only we're in the car still so it doesn't help much. (Damn it!) K get out of car and takes off after security. (And then rethinks all the thanksgiving treats of the prior day.) Get security attention, ask for a jump.

Get jumped (that sounds dirty; I like it), tip security guy (he was nice and looked like a fatter, more socially awkward "Jackson" from Hannah Montana) and leave mall. 9 am. A OWNED Black Friday.


I'd like to say that this is where the story ended, but it wasn't. On Saturday we had the strength to head back out - two toys r us's, two super targets, two super walmarts and 7 hours later (litterally - we drove one car and stopped playing by 1 am) we collected a bunch of games, a super cute barbie, some stuff that was still on doorbuter sale (the items at wally with stickers that had yet to be purchased), a free soda from target and some Kashi cereal and crackers from target. (Because they were on sale and K had some kick ass coupons.)

Oh, and A bought a $500 Samsung 32' LCD tv at Wally #2 that was still priced at BF sale price for $375. (For those counting, A receieved points 2 - 17 with that one purchase.)

I seriously could not believe that there were so many tv's left - so much product, really - at that Walmart! We had friends who went to that Target (Hi R!!!) and said that there was almost no one there. Next year, I know where we're going.

We hope that you had a great black friday and that you got some great deals and steals! If you have a funny story - fights, cops, or grown people throwing temper fits - let us know!



Get jumped, leave mall, head home.

Board Game deals on BF

I'm all about games. Saving money is the best game of all, but there are times when you need to stay in with friends and take shots every time someone has to go down a chute.



That said, I've been scoping out the black Friday ads for the best prices on new games and guess what: I haven't seen other bloggers talk about these deals yet. What the what?!







Walmart will have Cranium marked down to $5 (holy cow!) and guess what - there is a $5 off coupon at hasbrofamilygamenight.com. (or something like that.) (This is priced around $24 at my Target.)


Walmart will also have the picturika flipper game priced at $15 - there is a $5 off coupon on the same web site.


Target will have the "Game of Things" at $17 and the same coupon site has a coupon that will let you walk out the door with it for $12.

Connect 4X4 (the new, 4 person wonky version) will also be on sale for $12 - if you still have the coupon for $5 off (I spent mine on the travel size game) then you can get it for $7.


I'm so excited about black Friday - you know the new commercials with the two target sisters ... is it bad that the over zealous lady reminds me of both A and myself?

Come on down!

Alright, so this may be as close to "the price is right" as I'll ever get, but at least I don't have to make a silly t-shirt, fly to California, wait for hours outside and then not get picked.

What am I talking about? Target has a "fun" cg prize-wheel game thing where you spin (click) the wheel and try your luck at winning gift cards.

It's fine if you don't win, because your still entered into a drawing, but the BEST part, in my opinion, is that if you don't win (because that's how it always works, right?) you will get a coupon for a FREE Fountain Soda, valid on Black Friday and that next Saturday. Because when you've camped outside all night, you WILL for SURE need a soda.

AND, I'm just speculating here, as I don't work for Target and can't guarantee anything, but I would assume that there are other prizes mixed in that are better than a soda but not as cool as a super high value gift card.

Here is the link - good luck!

Late Night Target Times

What time does your Target close?






I never want to leave and now I'm one step closer (well, one hour really) to living at my local SuperTarget.

Traditional times have always been 8-10 Monday - Sat and 9-9 on Sundays. BUT, It seems that they are looking into extending hours as they have already done so at two stores in the North Dallas area; the North Dallas location on Coit between Campbell and Frankford, and the Frisco store behind Stonebriar mall are now both open until 11pm Monday - Saturday and close at 10pm on Sunday.

I'm hoping that these are test stores and if all goes well then the whole chain will make the switch, but one can only dream for now. I'm closer to the Coit location but the few times I've been to either store since they've enacted the extended hours (August) it isn't really busy. Like, ever. I'm hoping that Target somehow spreads the word (or maybe target super fans take to the blogs!) so that people are aware of the changes before they throw in the towel and go back to closing at 10. But judging by how LA and Chicago regular Target stores all having closing times at 11 gives me a lot of hope. (Is it sad that my biggest dream would be shopping at Target at 3am?)

I've looked around and there are a few stores doing the same in most major markets: Fort Worth (Central ST), Arlington (Arlington South ST), Houston (Galleria, Pasadena ST, SouthCentral ST, Westheimer), Chicago (almost all regular stores as well as the Broadview ST), Austin (Southpark ST), Denver (Glendale ST), Atlanta (North Druid Hills, Midtown,) DC Metro (Falls Church, Fair Lakes, Alexandria) and Boston (South Bay, Everett, Watertown).

So check and see if your store, or one in your area, has newer longer hours and go fourth and shop!

The First Target Post

The First Target Deals Post!!!!

~ The 2.8 oz bottles of Febreze in the checkout lanes (and sometimes found in the Travel/trial area) are normally $1.99, but are on clearance at the Wylie Super Target for $1.68. Use the "$1 off ANY SIZE Febreze" coupon from the 9/27 P&G Saver to get it for $.68!!! (There is also a $.50 off ANY SIZE Febreze coupon in the "Refresh your Nest" P&G Cleaning Coupon booklet that you can sign up for here)

~ The $.50 off Quaker Granola Target Coupon (which can be found on Targets website OR over at sites like a full cup or hot coupon world) works for the snack size bag of Quaker Granola Bites. They are priced at $1, so $.50 each after the coupon!

(And this is a new one that I haven't sent in to the other bloggers yet ... we'll see how long it takes for everyone to catch on...)

~ Also in the check out line are Fiber One Chewy Bars in a two-count box. They are normally $1.03 but are on clearance for $.87. Use the "$.40 off one box of Fiber One Bars" from the 10/4 General Mills sunday coupon insert, from all the other sunday inserts, from http://www.coupons.com/, from http://www.smartsource.com/, from any other source that you can find coupons, and you'll get one two-bar box for $.47! (Maybe even lower if your Target has reduced them further yet.)

Now, for a Dallas Specific deal:

~ The Wylie Super Target has a WHOLE end cap of the smaller boxes of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (in both flavors!) on sale for $2 each!!!! Pair with the NEW $1.50 off coupon everyone has been talking about - and you've got CHEAP Kashi!!! (Click the "get coupon" button under the picture of the cereal.)

We love Target

K again. The more we post, the more you find out one thing: we love target. Correction. B and A love Target the appropriate amount. I, K, might possibly need to go to rehab for my addiction. When I travel, I have to visit a local Target and I get sad when a town doesn't have a Super Target. In college, I had to drive 20 minutes (miles rather, for the non-Texans out there who don't measure distance by time) and it wasn't even a newly remodeled regular Target. (It did have the new plastic carts before any other store.)

Anyway. As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of people out there who find all kinds of amazing deals and steals out there whilst shopping. We are not attempting to steal their numbers or fan bases; we're trying to help you out as well. And here are my mentions as other site you should be reading:

~ http://www.attentiontargetshoppers.com/
~ http://www.dealseekingmom.com/
~ http://www.hip2save.com/
~ http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/

We - B, A and K - will do our best to debunk rumors, list corresponding prices and give you updates on stock levels as we're out and about.

And the best part about having three friends do this is that we are all close to a different Target. (And we often visit others that we don't live or work close to.)