11/8/16

Holiday Shopping Tips - Part 2 - TOYS'R'US


Did you read my last holiday shopping post? If you did, I hope you got a lot out of it. There are seriously so many ways to save money at Target that I didn’t even really list them all; look around sometime and find all the other hidden treasures that Target has to offer!

Now, this post is about a place that isn’t usually on my radar this time of year. Too busy, too crowded, and in the past the deals weren’t all that great. However, this year, they have upped their game a bit. This post is all about Toys R Us.



I’ll go ahead and start with the biggest and best pre-Black Friday deals… the Hotrageous Deals. This list of online-only toy deals is posted and emailed out on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, but it’s done so in a not-in-your-face kind of way. So I think a lot of people miss it or think it’s not the greatest bargain (I’ve noticed that they usually showcase the most popular brands first, which may not be the deepest discounts).
True, Toys R Us doesn’t usually give as much of a discount as other places, but they do have a much larger toy selection so you can find things that other retailers might not have available. It looks like today’s Hotrageous deals range from 15% off to 50% off, but, there are also some pretty unique things offered. On this particular day, there are 69 items in their Hotrageous Deals category. I really only found 2 that are a fit for our family, but those 2 are really good deals!

Here are the deals that I found would be good for our girls:
Emma loves all things Shopkins.

Alice loves cars and Elmo (she calls him "Mo-mo").


Then, they have things that I wouldn’t normally think about getting, but it’s such a great deal that it caught my eye:




How cute are those!?!!

The good thing about Toys R Us online, is that most of the items allow for store-pickup within an hour, or it’s Free Shipping if you spend $19 or more. Their search feature is also very useful to filter through the toys listed – nobody hates scrolling through numerous pages without the option to filter more than I do.

So, that’s the biggest piece of money-saving goodness from Toys R Us, but, I’m not done just yet.

From the beginning of November through Christmas, Toys R Us offers raffles, giveaways, toy sampling and much more, each and every weekend.  Their kick-off event was November 5th, then there is a LEGO event on November 12th, and then a Pokemon event (with trading) on November 20th. If you want to keep up with all of these events you can either follow Toys R Us on Facebook, or if you’re in St. Louis you can follow Let’s Go St. Louis to see the same events and then some.

They also have special sales on random days too, so watch for those. I find it best to either subscribe to their emails, or follow them on Facebook. Those are the best ways to get notified right away.

So there you have it. Part 2 of my Holiday Shopping Money-Saving tips. If you haven't read Part 1 (Target), you totally should... lots of ways to save there. 

Bloggers love to hear your comments on our posts, so please take a moment to let me know what you think. :-) And as always, make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram

Thanks for reading! Watch for part 3 coming soon!

11/3/16

Holiday Shopping Tips - Part 1 - TARGET


Cue the music… “It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!”

I’ve worked retail since high school. And as a seasoned retail employee (okay, optical isn’t really retail, but it almost is), I can feel the holiday season in my bones. So much so, that at 11:15 pm on Halloween night, I said to my husband “okay, we’re done with Halloween, we’re moving on to Christmas!” He rolled his eyes. If you haven’t met my husband, just know that he is pretty much the living version of Charlie Brown… I can hear him say “Good Grief” in my head each and every time he disapproves of my shenanigans.

I like Thanksgiving and all, but I see my family regularly (I love them… I want to see them more than a couple times a year), and I just love Christmas so much that I don’t want to wait!!! By the way, when did it become socially acceptable for people to bash others for getting into the Christmas spirit early?!? If you ask me, those are the people with the problems.

Anywhoo, as soon as November 1st gets here, I’m ready to watch for the Christmas present deals. Since I like to share the wealth, I thought I’d go ahead and let you know of all of my tips and tricks for finding a good deal. I hope you’ll share yours with me too!

Because there are so many different stores and ways to save, I’m going to break it down into a few posts. I’ll start with my biggest and best resource (you’ll soon see why)… TARGET!

Now, I know Target got a lot of grief this year, and shoot, I was one person who stopped shopping there until they realized their faults. But, they’ve been taking a lot of steps to correct the issues, and they’re offering even more deals than usual to make up for losses. Bonus!

Here we go…


Okay, for all of the occasional Target shoppers out there, let me start off by saying that YOU NEED A RED CARD. My Mom hates debit cards – she still writes checks – but I’m always telling her that she could save $300 a year easy if she would just get a Target Red Card. It saves you 5% each time you use it and it just comes straight out of your bank account; it’s NOT a credit card (unless you want a Red Card Credit Card, because those are available too).  It also gives you free shipping if you shop online, and you should always check them out online because there are tons of online deals that you can’t get in stores (right now you can get 20% off of toys, through 11/5).

On top of the Red Card for a free 5% off, they have a Cartwheel app that can save you tons of money on things you already purchase, coupons you can print from Target.com that you can also stack with manufacturer’s coupons, and now in St. Louis you get points for all of your purchases to earn free stuff (also on Cartwheel). Plus, they do a lot of their “Buy X, Get X” deals like buy 3 bottles of shampoo and get a $5 Target Gift Card. It’s all just free discounts. Hardly any effort!

Even more free goodies with Cartwheel Perks!!!

But, the best deal they have going each and every year at this time, and the reason I decided to do this post, is a Toy Deal of the Day on their Cartwheel app. What it is, is they put one specific toy on the app each day from November 1st through December 24th, and it’s 50% off. Yep, you saw that right… 50% off. HALF OFF. It’s a big deal. New toys. For HALF. OFF. Sometimes the toy will even be on sale in the store, and then you’ll get it even cheaper! More than… HALF. OFF. Can you sense my excitement? The catch is this: Once it gets closer to Christmas, they sell out of the toys before 9am (it’s only in store and they only have what’s on the shelf to start with). So, if you check the app when you wake up, and get to Target at 8am, you should be okay. We missed sooooooooo many good ones last year. But, I’ve got my game face on this year. ;-)
An example of a 50% Off toy deal.

I know, I know, I’m crazy to spread this piece of deal-saving-goodness… but, even though I’ll probably take out a few of you with my elbows getting to the goods, I still wanted to share the wealth.

Oh! There’s one more thing. Now, this is new this year so I’m not quite sure if it’s easy to use all around, but Target has a new app called “Target Kids’ Wish List.” Your child can create a list of the items they want for Christmas (or you can create one for them) and anyone can search for the list online or in stores; it’s like a registry. I think that’s pretty freaking cool! And the best part is that you can get 10% off of those items if purchased by November 23rd! There are some exclusions, and rules… I believe it’s a one-time use, but I’m not sure if that’s per person shopping, or per child. But, if you have the holiday shopping money now, you may as well try to get as much as you can in one stop.


So there you have it!
I hope you got a lot out of my first Frugal shopping post! I know I have a pretty good game plan for the next couple weeks that’s for sure. ;-)

Make sure to let me know of any Target deals you come across too. I’m always looking for more insights on how to save more of my hard-earned money!

And be sure to follow The Average Momma on Facebook so that you don’t miss out on any future shopping tips/tricks posts I might have.

*All graphics and pictures on this post were from my electronic device and/or creations of my own.