My Under $12 Target Haul…

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So I headed to Target today to take advantage of a couple of the gift card promos. My Target ended up not being very crowded and I also had a coupon friendly cashier who let me do three transactions (I normally don’t do that many), which allowed me to roll gift cards and spend the least amount out-of-pocket. I scored all of the above for under $12! 🙂

Here’s how…

Transaction #1:

Buy 10 Select Meal Essentials Items = FREE $5 Target Gift Card (Sale thru 2/21)
*Ragu, Barilla, Archer Farms, Pace, Old El Paso, Hormel and select others
Here’s what I did:
Buy 4 Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff Taco Shells (10-ct) $1.20 each
Buy 6 Old El Paso Refried Beans, 16oz cans  $1.20 each
Total = $12
Use four $0.30/1 Old El Paso Refried Beans coupon found here
Plus, use two $1/3 Old El Paso products (excludes refrigerated, frozen & soups) coupons found here
Pay as low as $8.80
Get back a $5 Target gift card
*PLUS – earn $0.60 from SavingStar when your purchase 3 Old El Paso products!

Transaction #2:


Buy 4 Select Lysol, Clorox, Kleenex or Airborne Items = FREE $5 Target Gift Card
Here’s what I did:
Buy 4 Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner 24 oz $1.89 each
Total = $7.56
Use the $5 Target gift card earned from the first transaction
Pay $2.56 (+ tax)
Get back a $5 Target gift card

Transaction #3:

Buy 2 Bear Naked Granola Packages $3.49 each (Sale thru 1/31)
Total = $6.98
Minus the buy 1 get 1 50% off sale = $5.24
Use two $1/1 Bear Naked Granola coupon found here
Final cost $3.24 total, just $1.62 each!

Buy 2 Balance Bar Singles 1.76 oz $0.84 each (Price Cut thru 1/31)
Total = $1.68
Use the $1/2 Balance Bar Singles coupon found in the 1/4 RP (Exp. 3/31)
Final cost $0.68 total, $0.34 each!

Buy 3 Bayer Aspirin, 20 count $2.19 each
Total = $6.57
Use three $2/1 Bayer Aspirin Product coupons found in the 1/4 SS (Exp. 1/24)
Final cost $0.57 for all THREE!

Buy 4 Wite-Out Correction Fluids $0.97 each
Total = $3.88
Use four $1/1 Bic Stationary Product coupons found in the 1/4 SS (Exp. 2/15)
Final cost – all FREE!

Total for this transaction: $4.49 (+ tax)
THEN I used the $5 gift card earned from the second transaction to pay! 🙂

Final out-of-pocket cost for everything – $11.36 (+ tax)

Join The Discussion

Comments 65

  1. Christi S

    I LOVE it when you post these types of deals! It makes it so easy to understand the breakdown! Great haul!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Glad to hear it! I am definitely gonna try and post more shopping trip hauls. 🙂 Stay tuned…

      • Snowflake

        My target did not have the a sign for BOG1/2 Bear Naked and it rang up reg price today (1/24) even though what you show goes thru 1/31. I used my coupons and bought it anyway:( Is there some way to get them to honor this and adjust my price?
        Thanks!

  2. Jen

    Does anyone know if the Clorox toilet bowl cleaner in the blue bottle (still 24 oz) qualifies for the deal? None of them were tagged at my store but the green bottles were all sold out

    • Whitney

      I’m pretty sure both the green and the blue work. Neither of them were marked with a sign at my target. HTH

    • Jerri

      I tried the blue today at my Target in Dallas and it did NOT work. And the green only came in double packs, so I did not even try those at the register.

    • Mar

      The blue did not work at my store. Only green the blue are also $1.99. I’m in FL

  3. Diana

    Niiiice 🙂

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      😀

  4. Maria

    Awesome deals! Tina Turner would be jealous with all that rolling! 🙂

    • L

      Ha!

  5. Jodi

    What an excellent deal! Thanks for sharing!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      You’re welcome!

  6. Susan

    Met unfriendly cashier tonight.. He refused to let me use more than one mnq cpn when the cpn didn’t even say limit 1 cpn per transaction. I told him I did the exact same transaction last night .. But he insist I can’t use more than 1 cpn. So pissed .. What wrong with some people treat people that use cpn like we’re robbing them??!!
    Next time, never ever go to the cashier that acts ‘smart’! 🙁

    • Carol_R

      Next time ask to speak with his supervisor.

  7. Whitney

    I got the green Clorox, too! Luckily all the green ones at my local target had $0.25/1 peelies on them! Making the deal even better! About .39 each! 👏👏

  8. Kshauers

    Ooh! Been wanting to buy that granola, thanks for the heads up in the sale! Does it taste good?

    • GMJ

      The Maple Pecan is amazing! Look at the reviews on Amazon – they are all very good!

  9. Laila

    wow, so many coupons!

  10. Aryanna

    Miss your videos Collin.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Stay tuned… I will finally be back in action next week! 🙂

      • Aryanna

        Yessssssssss! Can’t wait. 😉

      • Betsy

        Good! I like the videos too!

  11. Mar

    I don’t remember where I got this simple breakfast recipe from…maybe here! But you slice up some Apples (from the stem down) spread some peanut butter on top and press it down into the granola. Quick simple and soooo yummy! Thanks for the reminder, I have to grab a couple bags 🙂

    • Debbie Fetter

      I like that idea for using the granola thank you 🙂

    • katie Zeugner

      awesome THANKS for the recipe!!!!!!!!!!

    • Mar

      Glad to have shared! Sometimes i mix it up and use cookie butter, still delicious!

  12. Tina

    For cheap HEALTHY food if you live in these areas – Charlottesville, VA Richmond, VA, Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, and the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC – you should check out Relay Foods- its like a farmers market that you can order online and pickup in seconds (literally left the kids in the car and picked up my food for the week). Use this link for $30.00 off $50.00! https://www.relayfoods.com/friend/CLEH6X

    • Betsy

      Is there anything in particular you really like from this service or particularly good deals (besides this referral discount)? I’m near one of the pick up locations on occasion for work.

    • Heather

      I tried to use your referral code, didn’t work!

  13. Jan

    Colin, I love your site, but “stating” that someone can use 2, 3, 4, or more Qs from the SS or RP inserts is not quite right. Most people only get one copy of the newspaper, while in comparison we can “print” 2, 4, 6 internet Qs since most people can print multiples from the PC in their household.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Hi Jan,

      Yes, I totally understand that not everyone is going to necessarily have the same coupons as me on hand, but I often get requests to post more of my own deals. I think it’s nice to see a visual of deals scored and the breakdowns etc.

      Plus, even if you use less coupons than what’s posted, you’d still be able to score a pretty nice deal by rolling gift cards.

      Also, I will say that there are readers who do get multiple newspapers every week. I actually get 5 newspapers a week, which then allows me to really stock up when sales are good (as shown above).

    • Mommyof6

      I get about 10 inserts a week! My mom and some of her amazing friends save them for me and then ship them from AZ to WY! They love to hear about my deals and they feel like they’re giving back to my family of 8. Thanks for all you do Hip2save!

    • Mel

      You can also print coupons.com coupons from your smartphone or tablet with a wireless printer. That makes for more prints. I don’t even get the paper. But don’t mind at all when she post deals that require more coupons. Just pass it by.. Thanks for all your hard work Collin 😃

    • Anne

      Many, many people get multiple inserts. I find Jan’s comment confusing, and I think she’s making a lot of assumptions. I only subscribe to one paper but regularly end up with 5-6 inserts from friends, family, etc. However, with our computer situation, I can usually only print the coupons twice.

      • Llsa

        And many people don’t so I can see where Jan is coming from. I pay for 2 Sunday papers to be delivered. I use to buy papers but found that didn’t always include all of the inserts so it was better for home delivery. That gets expensive so I’ve kept it to 2 papers only. So, like Jan I can’t use more than 2 coupons from the newspaper on a given deal but I agree with Colin that it can still be a good deal – just maybe not as good as hers.

        • Pat

          I only pay for one paper but I also have friends that save their coupon inserts for me. I pay it forward by supplying them with free (or almost free) shampoo, deo, etc. My CPA even mails them to me believe it or not. I ship my expired coupons overseas to the military so it keeps one giving. Gotta help my military family too!

    • shop4mybabies

      i don’t know anyone that gets one paper….all couponers I know purchase 4-20 papers per week depending on their family size:) I buy mine at the dollar tree

    • hope

      Well at the same time you could also say that most people can’t print 6 coupons from their home (most coupons only allow 1-2 prints) because they don’t have multiple computers…..

  14. jessica

    hi colin when are you going to do more videos

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      I will finally be back in action next week! 🙂

  15. Mary

    Hi Collin,

    How do you keep it all straight? I always get confused when trying to do all of those transactions at the same time….even when writing them down 🙂

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      LOL! Sometimes I don’t 😉 … this was just luckily a smooth trip!

  16. Jenni

    Off topic but join my Ibotta team and earn some moolah! It’s super easy and fun! Referral Code: wquc2g. Just download the app from your App Store!!

  17. Jen

    Thanks Collin!!! You and your team never cease to amaze me!!! Your hard deal seeking talents are greatly appreciated! Love me some taco accessories & toilet bowl cleaner!!!! Ha😝!!!!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      😀

  18. Cammie

    I wish my Target cashiers were nice like yours Collin. Mine won’t let me use a GC from a transaction I just finished. No matter how many transactions I do. I have to wait to use the giftcards in a different visit. 🙁

    • shop4mybabies

      put your transactions in a cart, leave it a few feet away, go back and get the next one and go to a different cashier…they are activated immediately when the transaction ends, so there is no reason for that silly rule

      • justme

        I’ll usually run stuff out to the car and then come back in for another haul with another cashier to use my gc. Consider it saving and getting extra exercise.

  19. Cheryl

    Mmm, that bare naked granola is the best! I love it!

  20. Bev

    These are so helpful! Thank you for sharing!!

  21. Kayden

    Is it possible to do the Ragu, Barilla, Archer Farms, Pace, Old El Paso, Hormel deal twice in the same transaction? I was wondering if I could combine the Barila deal idea with the El Paso deal to maximize savings.

    Ex. 11 boxes @ $1.19
    9 taco shells or beans @ $1.20
    ——————————————–
    =$23.89
    (4)$0.75/2 Barilla coupon
    (1)$1/3 Barilla coupon
    (3)$1/3 El Paso Coupon
    =20 products for $16.89
    would you get 2 $5 gift cards back?
    —————————————————–
    $6.89 or $0.35 each!!!

    • Kasia

      Absolutely! I do it all the time, but I also have very friendly cashiers that never cause me problems. I always stick to the couponing rules but from the comments I read some cashiers are making their own rules and that’s extremely frustrating!

    • lancy

      yes, as long as you have multiples of 10, it will trigger the giftcard. i bought 30 barilla pasta for a food drive and i had no problems even with the coupon.

    • Ang

      Where can I find the barilla coupon? Thank you

  22. Becky

    The granola wasn’t buy one get 50% off one in my area. The cashier rang it up to check for me. That deal must be regional.

    • Rachel

      Same here Becky 😕

    • Kim

      Same here in Arizona 🙁

  23. Monica

    I love seeing posts like this. I know the videos are a lot of work but they are my favorite posts.

    • nicolegammeter

      Thanks much, Monica! Stay tuned… 🙂

  24. sharon

    I was at Target last night and had a outstanding purchase. I purchased four kraft parmesean blended cheese, l6 oz, six barilla pasta and two old elpaso refried beans for $3.56 using two $l.00 off three pasta, two 30cent coupons and two $l.50 and two .75cent coupons and a $5.00 gift card from a previous purchase and then purchased the Clorox toilet bowl cleaner, four at $l.86 and used my $5.00 gift card from previous purchase and paid only $2.56 and received another $5.00 gift card which I used towards a birthday present for my grandson. very happy!!

  25. Becca

    Great deals! I do miss your videos though, Collin. Any thoughts on when we’ll see your awesome videos again? 🙂

    • nicolegammeter

      I appreciate that… stay tuned as I’ll be back in action with videos next week. 🙂

  26. rachel

    Thanks for the tip about the Clorox! I got four of them with 25 cent coupons on all of them! Thanks for helping me save money!

    • sharon

      I went back to target and purchased two duo packs of Clorox toilet bowl cleaner and asked if they would give me the $5.00 gc for purchasing four total and they did since I explained the ounces were the same. much appreciated for my target.

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