Target chit chat

congratulations!!! that is sooooooooo fantastic!!!!!!!!.

Oh, congrats on the weight loss. Doesn't it feel so good!

Oh, congrats on the weight loss. Doesn't it feel so good!

congratulations!!! that is sooooooooo fantastic!!!!!!!!

congrats! That's awesome about the weight loss.

Wow TN, that is wonderful way to go!!

Thanks y'all I'm on my 3rd size from when I started.

I hope you folks can relate... I cleaned my garage in October in preparation for getting both cars and a riding lawnmower all in a standard 2 car garage and found a shopping bag from the Avenue with black jeans in it. I didn't even look in the bag when I found it, just added it to a laundry basket in the house. I went looking for them yesterday. The receipt shows bought in 2003 and unless they shrink a lot in the washer/dryer, they will be too big for me (as in suspenders needed too big).

Here's hoping they shrink! (I don't know if I've ever said that type of statement )

Um. Wut? [fbcdn.net]

Target needs help with their labeling abbreviations...a friend of mine posted this on their fb tonight...

What cuties!

Love the owl picture. That's one to save for sure.

How ya holding out Mama? I read that someone snuck onto a ship and was killed. Has it been nuts since then?

None as good as Gibbs though.....just sayin!

I had to search on that, as I had no clue who or what Gibbs was.

Your example was clear, and my response applies to any example you use. If you can replace the item by another means, it's value can't exceed that. How could something be worth $X if you can pay a fraction of $X and obtain the same?

you are forgetting the items that cannot be bought w/ money, that are unique to the site and can only be obtained by points.

I did the opposite; I stated that not everyone spends on the same things. It matters only in that it can affect the value to you, because something is worth only what you would have paid for it otherwise.

this is slickdeals. lots of people here get lots of freebies and MM's that they would never pay for. and then some resell it and make more money. it's only worth the time you are willing to put into it. that's why some people are willing to coupon and some people are not. it's a choice people make, not an assigned $ value. everyone could buy coupons but most people still don't want to deal with them, having to spend the time doing coupon matchups or even reading the coupon matchups, filing their coupons, etc, wait in line while the cashier scans your coupons and then wait some more for the mgr to come over and deal w/ the coupons that won't go thru. one time a lady behind me didn't want to wait for the mgr to come and deal w/ my coupon and she thought it was going to be like 25 or 50cents and she was going to give it to me so she wouldn't have to wait. i can't remember now how much it was, but i think she ended up having to pay me $1.50. she couldn't change her mind after hearing how much the coupon was worth b/c the cashier and the people behind her heard her tell me she'd give me the money for the q. so don't know if she thought it was really worth it if that $1.50 saved her 5 minutes, or $18/hr of her spare time. big difference from $3-6/hr for spare time.


That's fine, but it doesn't mean the Qs are worth more than you can obtain them for otherwise. If a merchant sells a lamp for $100, but you could easily buy the identical lamp (incl warranty, quality, etc.) next door for $50, that doesn't make it a $100 lamp.

many items can no longer have an absolute $ value assigned to them. if that $100 lamp goes $75% clearance then it would be cheaper than the $50 lamp. or take walmart's every day low prices. but how many slickdealers buy all their groceries at walmart? that's why the walmart deal thread here is so dead while the publix, shoprite, cvs, wags and even kmart threads are so active. they all sell the exact same products but depending on many factors, pretty much nobody here buys them at walmart even though their shelf price is the lowest.


If your time was worth what it will save you, then good move. My point is that everyone should calculate their return. In the case of 20 point Kellogg's points, you're pricing your time as worth almost nothing in the best case scenario. 1000 pt codes differently.

are you saying that 20pts is worth a different value from 1000pts? you shouldn't do the 20pt codes but you should do the 50, 80, 100 and 1000pt ones? but a 20pt code changes an 80pt code to a 100pt code. what if that 20 points is all you needed to be able to redeem the reward you wanted? how much is it worth then? you'd be gnashing your teeth that you did not enter the 20pt code. you cannot anticipate these scenarios. hindsight is 20/20.

Assuming you'd spend $1.50 otherwise and that you can't get them for less, then yes. But if someone offered you one for 10 cents, would that mean it's worth $1.50 of your time? Same applies to all of your examples. That's what you're overlooking. I understand that you make more out of them, but it doesn't change the fact they can be obtained more cheaply. If 6600 points turns into $10 worth of Starbucks drinks for you, that doesn't mean you'd pay $10 for the credit if you could get it for $4 otherwise.

i would never pay anything for a starbucks gc. it's all gravy. so to me it's worth the full $10. how many people stand on line for free rita's italian ices on the first day of spring? and how many people are willing to pay for it instead so they don't have to wait on line? you cannot fix a $ amount on it b/c they just wouldn't get it if it wasn't free. it's worth the amount of free time they are willing to divert from other activities. but don't forget the social factor of standing on line talking with your friends, trying new flavors and chatting while eating. can you fix a $ value on human interaction that is part and parcel of some freebies? so i get a $5 starbucks card, wait for a bogo coupon and then go have coffee with my friend. how much is that worth? remember, i wouldn't do it if it cost any $.

You're on the right track, but cash is the equalizer. All of these items can be converted to cash to make that point irrelevant.

now you are jumping back and forth in your argument. you never assigned an absolute $ value to the lamp. one place sells a lamp for $50, one place sells it for $100. you can't really convert it to a cash equivalent. if you don't know which store has it for $50 and which store has it for $100, you could get lucky and the first store has it for $50 and you can't get it even cheaper anywhere else. or you can walk into the store that sells it for $100 and spend another 4+ hrs trying to get it cheaper somewhere else, looking for it online, searching for a coupon code, waiting for a 10/25 coupon from jcp, etc, waiting for a kohls bucks offer, waiting for a 20% off anything staples q, etc. or you could go to a discount store and find something that looks similar but not exactly the same for even less than $50. that's what fashion magazines are really all about. how many people actually buy haute couture for thousands of dollars? or do they go online or to the store and buy something that looks similar or is the same fashion? or maybe you'd prefer a different color? or maybe that lamp is too big and you need a smaller one? or it's too small and you need a bigger one? you cannot boil it down to dollars and cents.

I'm doing the opposite. I'm saying that any of the redemption "prizes" may be obtained for cash, and given that, anyone can buy and utilize them according to their personal situation. If I can turn a $5 SB GC into $500, then great - but it's still not worth $500 or even $5 if I can buy it for $4.

again, how do you value it if you would never pay money for it???

I do, and again, you're making a great point that is really agreeing with mine (that you should calculate what it's worth to you), but missing the final point. If a Staples coupon gives you a $30 profit for an hour of your time, would you still spend an hour of your time if you could spend $5 and get the same $30 return? (An aside: I leverage Staples well beyond what you described).

Overriding point is that even if you go with your reasoning and double or even triple the cash equivalents of the Kellogg's redemptions, you're left with ~$3/hour for your time over a year or more if redeeming 10-20 point codes. A minimum wage job would pay 2-3x as much and probably be more fulfilling.

Sorry; didn't mean to mislead. I'll drop now. But it's a relevant discussion involving the value of the points. Many people see a 20 point code, spend a minute redeeming them, and assume they've earned something worthwhile for their time. At best, it's roughly a penny they wouldn't spend a minute chasing down the road. So I'm trying to be helpful in highlighting the value for those who might not realize it.

Agreed, done, and don't need to ask again. Might be worth putting my original analysis (or condensed form) of point value in the Wiki, however, for those unaware of the value.

I have another "coupon training class" tomorrow for a co-worker and three other family members. They live two towns to the West of me.