Guest Post: Target vs. Walmart!

I frequently have people ask me; Where will I save more money - Walmart or Target?  Well do a favor for me before you continue reading. Make a decision and then see what you think after you read my article.

This article here  by CNN editor says they’ve compared Target and Walmart line by line, price by price on everyday items and Target came out cheaper….  Click here to read the article.

Walmart recently changed their coupon policy and they now have the most lenient policy of any large discount  store – that’s right, better than Target by far!  See my post here

In a nutshell, Walmart now allows a consumer to get CASH BACK or apply any overage from a coupon (s) toward other items in their shopping cart.  The Target coupon policy states that the price of the coupon will be reduced to meet the price of the item being sold when the coupon has a higher value than the product.

Ok so what does that mean to you? Here is an example:

In the February 13^thRed Plum Sunday Coupon Insert Proctor and Gamble put out a coupon for Gain Fabric Softener with a value of $3.00 (no size restrictions on the coupon).  If you take that coupon to Walmart under the new coupon policy here is what you’ll see for each coupon you have (and some couponers purchase more than 1 Sunday paper for coupons – I suggest 1 paper for every person living in your household)

Walmart:
Gain Fabric Softener 40 Count Box Sheets $1.87
Use the $3.00 off coupon from the Feb 13^th Red Plum
= $1.13 in CASH BACK or coupon overage toward other items in your shopping purchase!

Its like being paid to take the Gain Fabric softener out of the store!  High value coupons come out each week!  If you were to take this same coupon to Target here is what you would see:

Target:
Gain Fabric Softener 40 Count Box Sheets $1.87
Use the $3.00 off coupon from the Feb 13th Red Plum
= $FREE but no cash back!

Now, the benefits to Target shopping are a 5% discount on your purchases every day with your Target Red Card and coupon stacking!  Target allows consumers to stack Target coupons (coupons are available in the footer of their home page) with a manufacturer’s coupon = DOUBLE SAVINGS! 2 weeks ago Target released coupons for their Up & Up brand which made over 5 items either FREE or pennies!

Both Target & Walmart offer huge benefits to the frugal consumer however I’d still have to suggest to the budget conscious family to scrap store loyalty, evaluate your purchases and coupons from week to week, and choose the store that offers the biggest savings to your family that week!