"Expect more. Pay less." That's what Target says, anyway.
But according to a DailyFinance article, you can expect more, but you're probably going to pay more, too — at least for certain things.
Let's look at items for parents of babies, for example. Take infant formula — let's be real, that stuff is expensive anyway, but you can save a few bucks depending on where you go.
Target brand's Up & Up baby formula is $23.49 for 40 ounces. It's $20.47 for 35 ounces of Wal-Mart brand formula. Compare that to Costco, which takes the formula cake. It sells three 40-ounce canisters of its name brand for $62.99 — that's about $21 apiece.
And then you know what happens after babies drink up that formula. You know where it all goes. You're going to need diapers.
Target's Up & Up diapers are $28.99 for a 128 count. It's $27.94 for 156 of Wal-Mart's Parent's Choice diapers. However, if you use your resources here, the price of that pack of Target diapers be competitive.
You can save an additional 5 percent by using a Target RedCard. That makes Target's diapers $27.54, although you're still not getting as many per pack, since Wal-Mart's has 156 to Target's 128 in size 5. Wal-Mart is still the winner when it comes to price per diaper.
Target also has a Cartwheel app that offers various coupons. Right now, it's offering 5 percent off Huggies Pull-Ups.
The brand name is listed as $24.99 for 56. With the coupon, that knocks it down to $23.74. With the RedCard 5 percent savings on top of that, it's $22.55.
The same pack is $24.94 at Wal-Mart without coupons or any special discounts.
So it's possible to make Target cheaper than other retailers; you just might have to work a little harder to get the deals.
We're starting to feel a little bit like an extreme couponer.
"The candy retails for 50 cents apiece, but Angelique has a $1-off-two coupon that will get her all 600 packages for free."
Angelique might've owed sales tax, but she still got a steal. We're not that pro ... but at least we could save a couple bucks.
DailyFinance writes Costco basically wins over Target and Wal-Mart when it comes to getting good deals because you can buy in bulk much easier there. Let's take K-Cups, for example:
"If you are a K-cup coffee fanatic, Costco is your destination, with 100 count K-cups for $36.99, as opposed to an 18-count package for $10.99 at Target and $10.98 at Walmart."
The article also suggested shopping for organic food at Trader Joe's, gift wrap and batteries at dollar stores and books and movies from Amazon.
