Target Cartwheel App- Any opinions or will it just aggravate me

[frugaliknowit]

I live near a Target, so I do quite a bit of shopping there.

I've been told about this great phone app called "Cartwheel" which can supposedly save you money on top of the 5% redcard, yada yada.  I'm not one for going through sale flyers or spending endless amounts of time online, especially for everyday stuff.
Anyone use this and have an opinion?  Thanks

[johnny847]

I use it. I find it pretty easy to use.
Basically, you start out with 10? (I forget) slots to fill up with Cartwheel offers, which are basically just coupons. Typically they're 5%, but for certain items they can reach 50%. You have to add an offer to your Cartwheel and then present your Cartwheel code at the register at checkout. If you don't have a phone, you can print out the barcode. I actually taped it to the back of my REDCard because I don't like struggling with my phone at the register, especially if I'm already struggling to pull out paper coupons.

You can use the Cartwheel app in store to scan items and see if there is a Cartwheel offer available.

There are three approaches you could take

1) Use the Cartwheel app on your phone to scan items while you're selecting which one to buy, so you know which item is cheapest after the Cartwheel discount, if applicable. This will maximize your savings but takes more effort than the next option
2) Just pick up everything you were normally going to buy, and then scan everything with the Cartwheel app to see if there are any offers on anything you added to your cart, and then add the offers to your Cartwheel.
3) Hope that Cartwheel will autoadd the offers for you. I swear to God I didn't add a couple offers to my Cartwheel that I actually received at the register. I think it auto-added them or something. I wouldn't count on this happening though.

It sounds like #2 is probably the best fit for you, though you could just go for option #3 and see if that works.

[MrsPete]

Now that I have a smart phone, I'm using Cartwheel, and I like it.  It's not difficult, and the deals are almost always available on their store brands.  Sometimes the deals are very worthwhile; for example, I got 20 or 25% off a Christmas ham.

My daughter and I share an account.  It's "activated" on both of our phones, and with two of us using the account, we appear to be buying LOADS of food; thus, we're getting more and more "spaces" added to our account. 

[johnny847]

My daughter and I share an account.  It's "activated" on both of our phones, and with two of us using the account, we appear to be buying LOADS of food; thus, we're getting more and more "spaces" added to our account.

Nice one!

[Lis]

Target has the best prices for my cats' favorite food and litter, so I'm there pretty often. Cartwheel always seems to have it on sale. I'm starting to like their disposable products too (tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.). I find they're decent quality for a decent price. They're usually on sale through Cartwheel as well. When I'm planning a shopping trip, I just head on to Cartwheel's website (I find it easier to search there than on the phone), select what I need, and then we're good to go.

Johnny, that's a great idea taping it to the back of your RedCard! I'm always trying to juggle the phone, the keys, the wallet... Definitely doing that now.