Bargain Highs and Bargain Lows

Bargain Low: Some times I just want to hang up my bargain hunting. Usually, Target is the source of that feeling. Today was no exception. They really are not very "coupon friendly" on the store level. But at the corporate level they are great. This creates a problem. Corporate puts out great Target Web Coupons and sets no limits on the printing/usage of them. They also have a policy of 1 Target and 1 Manufacturer coupon per item, which makes for some great match-ups. However, at the store level, about half of the managers and cashiers treat you like a criminal if you are using more than one coupon no matter whether you have a cart full of items or not.

They also tend to make up new rules out of the blue. Like today, I went in to get 10 boxes of Electrasol, with 10 Electrasol coupons. They had a TON of Electrasol in the store in 3 different large displays. So, they decided that their store policy of 4 identical Target printables now applies to manufacturer coupons also. This seems kind of strange since the manufacturer coupons are being fully reimbursed to Target by the manufacturer. So, they are only costing themselves money by not letting me buy 10 boxes. But, whatever. So they rang my whole order up wrong, overcharged me for boxes I didn't buy, stole 2 of my coupons and didn't credit me for them. And, generally treated me like a coupon criminal (despite my perfectly legal rule abiding coupon usage). I ended up having to go up to customer service just to get my transaction straightened out. Not worth it for 4 boxes of Electrasol (now for 10 boxes, would have been worth it). Ugh. I'll just get the others next time I'm driving by there. Until the Huggies deal, I had essentially stopped Target bargain shopping for 6 months due to the same type of chronic mistreatment on the store level. Spent about $5.
Bargain High: CVS. I needed to use some ECB's that were expiring today. I was going to do the Pepsi deal, and the Soy Joy deal, because I would have made $8, to buy the Soy Joy bars. But, they were out of Soy Joys. So, I was just getting the Pepsi in order to use/roll my ECB's when I saw 1 lonely little Countour monitor on the shelf. So, I grabbed it. I got my favorite cashier as usual, and using my ECB's, a $4/20 coupon, and a manufacturer Contour coupon (making it free plus earning a 9.99 ECB), I spent $3 and got back $19.99 in ECB's. Quick, painless, friendly transaction.

I wish our "other" Target wasn't quite so far from our house. I would just shop there instead of my close Target. But, I'm not driving past my Target which I pass every couple of days, to waste the gas going 10 minutes farther to a friendlier Target.