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You want to save money shopping at places like Gap, Costco, Hobby Lobby, and Home Depot, right?!
We’ve got your back, and we’re about to expose all the best-kept secrets and save you all the money.
1. Buy discounted JCPenney gift cards to save 20% at Sephora.
Buy discounted gift cards (used gift cards that somebody else is trying to unload) from Raise or GiftCardGranny, and use them to save on your next purchase. Buying discounted Sephora gift cards is a good idea for savings around 11%. But buying a discounted JCPenney gift card at 20% off is a great idea!
The secret?? You can redeem that JCP gift card at any Sephora located inside JCPenney OR (even better in my opinion) on Sephora items for sale at JCPenney.com!
Orders over $99 ship free, or you can avoid the charge altogether and ship any order over $25 to your nearest JCP location. JCPenney gift cards cannot be redeemed at regular Sephora locations (hence my recommendation to shop online).
2. Shop Costco without a membership.
Everybody knows someone with a Costco membership. Ask them to buy you a Costco Cash Card, and shop like a member without paying $60 for a membership!
Just show the card to the door greeter and again at checkout.
3. Use up to five coupons per order at Gap.
Gap and OldNavy.com allow five coupon codes per order! For best success rates, pair a dollar-off coupon with a percent-off code.
The secret to ultimate savings at Gap is shopping once every 6-8 weeks during the extra 40% off sale, where already reduced clearance items are an additional 40% off. Use this strategy and you’ll pay less for a wardrobe from Gap than you would from Walmart.
4. Add any beauty item to your Macy’s order for free shipping.
All beauty orders from Macys.com ship free. So if you buy a Crock-Pot and a lipstick in the same order, you’ll get free shipping from the lipstick, and that gets you free shipping on the Crock-Pot.
Instead of paying $10.95 shipping for orders under $99, spend $4 on a Burt’s Bees lip balm, and your entire order ships for free.
5. Start couponing at Rite Aid to earn Plenti Points you can use at Macy’s.
Plenti is a reward program shared by Macy’s, Rite Aid, Hulu, and others. You can earn points for items you buy and redeem them like store credit on your next purchase. Here are a few Plenti point tricks of the trade:
- Earning points at Macy’s is slow going. Earn 1 Plenti point for every $10 spent on all qualifying Macy’s purchases.
- Compare that to a variety of weekly Rite Aid promotions like Earn 2000 Plenti points for every $50 spent on qualifying Rite Aid purchases.
- The best part? You can download the free Krazy Coupon Lady app and get coupons to bring down your out-of-pocket expense at Rite Aid.
Even if you redeem coupons and pay only $36 on a $50 Rite Aid order, you’ll still earn Plenti Points on your total BEFORE coupons.
6. Get 20% off by taking advantage of Home Depot’s
contractor discount.
It’s true. Anytime you’re making a purchase over $1,000 make sure to visit the Pro Desk and get a bid for the materials. While generally used by contractors, anyone can get 20% off their purchase with a “bulk price” discount from the Pro Desk.
An added bonus — Home Depot
price matches competitors 110%. This means if you find a cheaper price at a competitor (Sears, Ace, Lowe’s), Home Depot will match their price plus give you an extra 10% discount!
RELATED: 36 Home Depot Hacks You’ll Regret Not Knowing
7. Use the Amazon app to get Amazon pricing when shopping at Target.
Major retailers including Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Home Depot
and Lowe’s are all staying competitive by price matching Amazon’s low prices.
Next time you’re in a Target store, use the Amazon app to price compare. Scan any product with the app to pull up the current selling price on Amazon. If it’s less than the price at Target, take it to customer service and request the Amazon price match.
You just got Amazon prices without the Prime membership or the shipping time. That’s a win-win for sure.
8. Watch out for the “compare at” prices at T.J.Maxx.
T.J.Maxx claims prices are 20-60% below other retail stores by showing a “compare at” price on store tags. However, these “compare at” prices are often over-inflated, making the deal look better than it really is.
The “compare at” price on a bottle of Chi Shine Infusion hair shine spray at my T.J.Maxx is $20.00. Target, Walmart and Amazon all sell the same bottle for between $11.49 – $14.99. While the T.J.Maxx price ($9.99) still beats out its competitors, the discount isn’t as great as you may think (33% compared to 50%).
To avoid being scammed into a less-than-stellar deal, make sure to check prices on Amazon or your other favorite stores before making a purchase at T.J.Maxx.
9. Use your 20%-off Ulta Prestige coupons twice. Once online and once in-store.
Yep, that’s right. The coupon states it’s a one-time-use coupon, valid either in-store or online.
But the in-store code and the online code are different.
Just be sure to use the 10-digit code for your online purchase first, then take the coupon in-store to use again. The store associate will take your coupon from you, so be sure you use it online first!
RELATED: 28 Ulta Hacks That Will Save You Serious Cash
10. Stack four Kohl’s coupons per purchase when you shop online.
Kohl’s allows up to four coupon codes per order, so take advantage of this! Easily find coupons at Kohl’s Today’s Deals and in your local Kohl’s “Today’s Ad.”
Use up to four of these:
- Up to one site-wide percent-off coupon code
- Up to four department-specific, percent-off, or dollar-off coupon codes
- Up to four Kohl’s rewards codes
- Up to one free shipping code
11. Find half-price IKEA items on Amazon.
IKEA products can be found on Amazon for up to half their original price.
Note: If you’re a Prime member, you can get most of the IKEA products sold on Amazon shipped for free with Prime two-day shipping.
RELATED: 15 Little-Known Secrets About Amazon Prime
12. Dick’s Sporting Goods online clearance is better than in-store clearance.
Save yourself time and shop clearance online — there’s a bigger and more organized selection than anything you’ll find in-store.
But you can still pick up certain items in-store to save on shipping if your local store has it!
13. Bring your old clothes into H&M to save 15%.
You can bring in your old clothes — any brand, in any condition — and get a 15% savings certificate.
Donate up to two bags a day, and the coupons are good for several months at a time. Each bag should contain at least three to five articles of clothing. You can even donate non-clothing textiles like sheets and towels.
The donation bins are located near the cash registers, and you have to get an employee to see that you are dropping clothes off in the bin. You’ll then be rewarded with a coupon for 15% off your next in-store purchase.
The coupon even works on sale items!
14. Use coupons from Bath & Body Works up to three days after they expire to overlap with a sale.
You can use coupons on sale items, but Bath & Body Works is sometimes careful to make sure the coupons and sales don’t overlap.
We are here to tell you that all coupons come with a three-day grace period. This means you can use them for up to three days after they expire. Keep tabs on Bath & Body Works sales so you can use the coupons with the sale to get the best discount.
15. Twice a year, Hobby Lobby has an unadvertised clearance sale that starts at 50% off.
After Christmas and early summer, Hobby Lobby discontinues their home accents department. Discounts start at 50-66% and prices go down from there, which gives you ultimate savings.
This isn’t advertised, but if you catch this sale, you’ll be sure to save hundreds.
UP NEXT: 43 Must-Read Macy’s Store Hacks
