Adventures in couponing!

If you follow my blog you know that I love to shop. Doesn't matter where when or for what, I enjoy it! But what I love just as much as shopping is getting a great deal. My newest obsession, and fuel to my shopping habit, is couponing apps. I have found two that I really love and a few more that I have yet to try. Here is what I've experienced with both of these apps, my likes and dislikes.

Cartwheel

I started working at Target about two weeks ago and one of the things our team has to promote to the guests is the new Target coupon app Cartwheel. I decided to try it so that I could have a better understanding of it and to see if it was worth downloading. This app is very similar to Pintrest in my opinion. You download, connect to Facebook and browse the site for coupons in various departments at the store. When you find a coupon you want to use just add the discount to use to your cart or "cartwheel". Initially after downloading you only have about 15 slots but as you continually use and save money with the app you are awarded more slots which means you can use more coupons at once. The best part about the app is that it allows you to use one barcode for all of the coupons in your cart. When it's time to check out you simply pull up your Cartwheel barcode and allow the cashier to scan it from your phone. To get optimal use of the app you should check it each time you go to target to see where you can save. With Cartwheel, my REDcard savings and team member discount I've saved over $50 this week!

There are only a few downsides to this app. You must have a smart phone, a Facebook account and this app is solely for Target stores, no online usage. I would like every department to have at least a couple discounts, this week the entertainment section only had one offer but since the coupons do expire I'm hoping next week there will be more offers in departments that were lacking this week.

Retail Me Not:

This is not a new app. I first heard about it at the beginning of the holiday season last year but never put in much effort to learn how to use it. That was a big mistake. This app allows you to add stores to your favorites list so you can browse each and find sales and discounts. The great thing about Retail Me Not (RMN) is that you can browse multiple stores and see both their in-store and online deals. Retail Me Not also tells you about the deals at nearby stores if you enable your location. While at the grocery store I got a notification about JC Penny's $10 of $25 purchases which expires tonight so I stopped in and got a sweater and shirt for $35.95, my total discount was $41.02. This offer was not a RMN exclusive like Cartwheel, this app simply tells you about deals and gives you a mobile version of coupons. A better example of this might be the Michael's coupon I used earlier today. It was one of the coupons you might get in the mail from the store but I was able to pull it up from the app and save 40%. This app isn't as pretty as Cartwheel but it has a wider range of usage.

So...

I'm really pleased with these two apps and I strongly recommend them. I was able to get some of the fall staples for my wardrobe that I had been wanting for a cheaper price and it was extremely easy. I also downloaded ShopKick, Coupons and Shopular. I haven't mastered these yet but I will keep tinkering with them and I'm hoping to post another blog ranking them before Black Friday. Try these apps and if there is another app that is better let me know!
Happy Saving!

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