# Don't send me to Target with a credit card. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083 "2004-08-23T13:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/21 "2004-08-23T18:45:42Z")
Note to self: listen to **Rue** and **vunderbob**. They are very smart. > [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > Ex, you have a KitchenAid. Marry me. You have too many husbands already. > [@DogMom](#): > > **swampy** , your list looks much like DogDad’s. Only he’s also not allowed to go here or here unsupervised either. **phouka** and I should start a support group or something. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/22 "2004-08-23T18:51:46Z")
> [@the Lady](#): > > We don’t have Targets up here - but I have spent near $1000 at Canadian Tire in the last week. > In 5 seperate visits. Yeah, but then they give you Canadian Tire money! So it’s like they’re paying you to shop there! You can’t lose! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/23 "2004-08-23T18:52:27Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > Note to self: listen to **Rue** and **vunderbob**. They are very smart. \ You should tell that to my wife some time… > [@Exgineer](#): > > You have too many husbands already. The definition of bigamy is having one spouse too many. Funny, since that’s the definition of monogamy, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/24 "2004-08-23T19:04:38Z")
I recently visited Home Depot and spent only $5.00. That was rather worrisome. Have I bought all the tools I need? To put it in perspective, I’m rereading Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror” and she describes what the average peasant might own. Off the top of my head, it came down to \* a \* bed, some pottery dishes, a cooking pot, maybe a plow and some rope, and a small handful of other items. If the peasant were doing well, the bed might have a feather mattress and they might have a butter churn. This caused me to reflect that (middle-aged) I probably have more \* stuff \* all to myself than an entire large village of Middle-Ages peasants. Apparently in those days, the peasants didn’t so much have Targets as serve as them. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/25 "2004-08-23T19:05:56Z")
> [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > I think we should all look for a boyfriend for **swampy** so he’ll be less broke. And he can send the extra money to me. > > **Ex** , you have a KitchenAid. Marry me. So that’d make me wage earner husband and **Ex** stand mixer husband? 😃 Actually I have a KitchenAid too. It’s green. It matches my kitchen countertops. I didn’t buy just cause of that but when I found out I could get one in my color of choice, I just got all decorator about it. BTW… make it a burly boyfriend, ok? **DrScarlett** , the thing is, it’s not just any grocery store. It’s the ones with the really good meat counters like Bruno’s, Taylor’s and Mike’s that attract me. All that yummy looking beef, pork and chicken, cut to my specifications. MMMMMM… **DogMom** , those places are so jake! If I come visit, could I take **DogDad** just to look around? We’d be good. I promise. Really. Look at this sweet smile. 😃 How could you not trust that? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/26 "2004-08-23T19:11:28Z")
Every Monday morning over the summer, my co-worker and I would come in and tell each other about our major Target shopping sprees. I would go in for deodorant and come out with new shelves, four shirts, a couple DVDs, etc. This got to be a regular thing with us. I love Target, yet hate it at the same time. I wonder how much richer I’d be if Target didn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/27 "2004-08-23T19:28:21Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Yeah, but then they give you Canadian Tire money! So it’s like they’re paying you to shop there! You can’t lose! Ah - but like everyone else - I never spend Canadian Tire money. It just sits in the junk drawer taking up space. I’ve got at least 100 bucks sitting there. (Although there was one bar that would take Canadian Tire money at “par” on Mondays…) ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/28 "2004-08-23T19:51:03Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Actually I have a KitchenAid too. It’s green. It matches my kitchen countertops. I didn’t buy just cause of that but when I found out I could get one in my color of choice, I just got all decorator about it. Oooh, oooh, oooh, I love green KitchenAid mixers. We’re obviously made for each other, platonically speaking, of course. How about you and me moving in together and surrounding ourselves with burly and brawny men? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/29 "2004-08-23T19:53:00Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > **DogMom** , those places are so jake! If I come visit, could I take **DogDad** just to look around? We’d be good. I promise. Really. Look at this sweet smile. 😃 How could you not trust that? Hmmm…They’re mostly just online places, I think, but my brother says a Harbor Freight outlet store moved in near them recently. I can easily not trust that sweet smile - you saw the pictures of Kai the Wonder Puppy, who’s very good at the whole “I want something out of you, see how cute I can be?” So I’m kinda resistant to the whole “sweet smile” thing. But, since you’re my new friend, I’ll suggest this: how bout we swing by my parent’s place, pick up my dad, (the king of No-Longer-Allowed Out Unsupervised) and all three of yez can go to **The ReTool Store**. It’s a used-tool store where they buy your old stuff, recondition it (including BIG stuff like planers, lathes, air compressors, whatever) and resell it. It’s like Guy Heaven for Half The Price. 😃 **And** there’s a Home Depot in the same strip-mall for anything you need that you didn’t find at the ReTool store. But DogDad’s gotta leave the credit cards with ME. No, I won’t use them on ANYTHING, really… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/30 "2004-08-23T19:56:28Z")
I’m not allowed in any store that has the words **Bed** , \*\*Bath \*\*, \*\*Beyond \*\* or \*\*Mart \*\* anywhere in the title in any order. Ditto for Target and Pier 1. You go in to buy 1 small thing and you leave after taking out a second mortage on your house. \Stoopid Budget.\ ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/31 "2004-08-23T20:13:01Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > Every Monday morning over the summer, my co-worker and I would come in and tell each other about our major Target shopping sprees. I would go in for deodorant and come out with new shelves, four shirts, a couple DVDs, etc. This got to be a regular thing with us. I love Target, yet hate it at the same time. My wife does this, but it’s every other day, not once a week. Some people watch TV, some play tennis, some go hiking or read. My wife’s prime form of recreation is going to Target. Thanks to some genetic thing she shares with her mother, they’re both almost pathologically opposed to spending money . . . unless it’s at Target (this is a new phenomenon for her mother, however, as there’s only recently been a Target built in her town; previously, she had to come to Atlanta). One of the primary reasons it’s OK to buy things at Target is that very often they’re On Sale, or even better . . . they have the **Red Sticker** \* on them. Any item that has a **Red Sticker** on it is a prime candidate for being brought home, regardless of how pointless or unnecessary the item would be if it did not have the **Red Sticker** on it. As a Target Brands shareholder, I’ve decided that I’m going to attend the next shareholders’ meeting to suggest that we adopt a strategy of putting a **Red Sticker** on almost every item in the store, and that we _increase_ the price when we do so. At least that way, some of what my wife and mother-in-law spend we’d get back in dividends, since it should be pure marginal profit. The sight of that little **Red Sticker** seems to provoke an almost Pavlovian response from them. The other thing that works slightly in our favor is that my wife returns lots of things – which is one of the reasons she now goes to Target nearly every other day. She’ll buy a bunch of stuff, go back a day or so later and return some of it, buying some new stuff as well while she’s there (some of which, of course, she’ll return a couple of days later, while buying a few more things, etc.). Our Target Number (the amount in dollars, +/- 10%, we’re guaranteed to spend each time we go in, regardless of what we came for) has remained remarkably consistent over the years at about 60, but instead of going once every week or ten days we now go three or four times a week. I’ve even found myself making Target runs during my last couple of business trips – there’s something sort of comforting about knowing that if I need socks or one more t-shirt or a charger for my cell phone, whether I’m in Morgan Hill, CA or Appleton, WI, I can go to Target and know exactly where they are in the store and what they’re likely to have. > [@AwSnappity](#): > > I wonder how much richer I’d be if Target didn’t exist. Just do what we did – give in to it and buy stock. At least then you can feel somewhat better about it. [sub]\*\*\* The Red Sticker, for those not familiar with Target, is placed on clearance items to indicate the clearance price. An item that remains on the shelves after being Red Stickered may collect additional Red Stickers with progressively lower prices. In many cases, the price that actually rings up at the register is even lower than the price on the Red Sticker.\*\*[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/32 "2004-08-23T20:33:38Z")
Sad to say I also have a list of places I should not be allowed to shop at on my own. Cardsfan hardly spends a dime, I however can go through some major cash at the following places: Lowe’s Home Depot Ace Hardware Bed, Bath & Beyond Pottery Barn Garden Shop Hobby Lobby Tuesday Morning Sigel’s Liquior Bath & Body Victoria’s Secret Gap Target Wal\*Mart Amazon Fashion Hut Williams-Sonoma Pier 1 Imports Any garden shop with live indoor/outdoor plants Damn home improvement shows! Everytime I see one, I get ideas on how I can change xyz room in our house or what I could purchase for a room that would look cool. Idea, cancel satellite in order to save money! No satellite, then I can’t watch those home improvement shows and would not have the urge to go buy more stuff. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/33 "2004-08-23T20:35:52Z")
One can never have too many husbands. I think that has sig potential. Anyone want it? Mr. Lissar has recently come home with a new, very-good-price-how-could-I-pass-it-up decorative katana, and a new video card. I’m not letting him go to Ren fests or computers stores unaccompanied any more. He unfairly accuses me of being dangerous in food stores. I don’t bring home THAT many strange or expensive things. Mostly because we don’t have the money right now. Wait till I get to the Trader Joe’s in Philadelphia… Incidentally, I heard somewhere that we might get Target in Canada. That would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/34 "2004-08-23T20:40:22Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > To put it in perspective, I’m rereading Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror” and she describes what the average peasant might own. Off the top of my head, it came down to \* a \* bed, some pottery dishes, a cooking pot, maybe a plow and some rope, and a small handful of other items. If the peasant were doing well, the bed might have a feather mattress and they might have a butter churn. The other stuff was probabaly a pitcher for ale and spoons. Everybody needs a spoon. Maybe if I read this book I’ll stop buying things to support my [SCA](http://www.sca.org) habit. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/35 "2004-08-23T20:50:00Z")
Ha! I actually went into Best Buy saturday to buy a microwave and bought a microwave, on sale yet. Oh, and a GBA game. But that’s all. Not too bad. On the other hand… I went online intending to buy some more looseleaf tea and got a little carried away. I’m getting tea, $100 worth of cookbooks, a silpat baking sheet, some Forschner knives, and a cast iron pot rack. So I guess I’m fine in the physical world stores, it’s the cyberstore which get me every time. Stupid internet. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/36 "2004-08-23T20:50:04Z")
But, but, I _have_ to go to Target! Their bags are exactly the right size for my garbage can. A tip Ex; the Kitchen Aide attachment for pouring things into the bowl is worthless. ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/37 "2004-08-23T20:59:41Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > A tip Ex; the Kitchen Aide attachment for pouring things into the bowl is worthless. I thought the same thing when I tried it, but DogDad swears it’s one of the Best Things Ever. Maybe it’s a Guy Attachment that only people with the XY pairing of chromosomes can use? ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/38 "2004-08-23T21:18:30Z")
I just have to say, I love my Kitchen Aid. I actually got it as a Christmas gift when I was in High School - and yes, I had asked for it! Now, though, with all the pretty designer colors, my only regret is that I have a boring white one instead of a pretty lavendar. Although, I could always customize it with flames, like Alton Brown has. Susan ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/39 "2004-08-23T21:24:19Z")
At least I am not a lone sufferer of the “go-in-to-get-one-thing/small list of things” and come out with 100+ dollars worth of stuff. This happens to me at: Target (hmmm I wonder why we all have a “Target addiction”?) But the stuff is really neat Peir 1- I am a candle junkie Williams Sonoma- The cookware calls out to me “buy me Buy me” Pottery Barn- Just too much nifty stuff I want… can’t… resist… trinket… Bath and Body Works/ Body Shop- I have too much stuff, but I always need more and other places as well, but I won’t list them 😃 My husand on the other hand is annoyning to take to the grocery store. He is always putting crap in the basket that we don’t need. We always leave with 2X the amount of. At least he buys the groceries when this happens. When I go, it is usally 60 or under, unless I am stocking up on meat for the freezer, then it gets more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083/40 "2004-08-23T22:06:35Z")
I wouldn’t put it past them sneaky XY types, DogMom! And Susan, I’ll pay you a whole dollar to put flames on yours. I’ll even cut out the stencil for you. Guess where I’m going, soon as I log off here? Hee! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-send-me-to-target-with-a-credit-card/261083.md?page=3)