Crafting is wonderful for having fun with your kids and relieving stress, but not so much for your wallet. With so many gorgeous crafts and home decor in Michaels, it’s hard to resist buying an entire cart full of supplies. The great news is you don’t have to break the bank to get everything you want. Here are some tips to help you save money on your next shopping trip to Michaels.
Best Michaels Shopping Tips You Should Know
Weekly Circular Coupons
You never have to pay full price on anything at Michaels, because you can get coupons every single week. Be sure to save the circular in your Sunday newspaper, or pick one up when you walk in the store. Their typical coupons are 50% off one regular priced item, 25% off framing, and 15% off sale items.
At the end of each month, Michaels circulars sometimes offer a coupon that grants you 20% off your entire purchase. If you can wait for the best coupons before buying the things you want, the savings can seriously add up.
Competitor Coupons
Michaels also accepts competitor coupons! So, if you get a better offer in the mail from somewhere like AC Moore or Hobby Lobby, you can clip it out of the circular, and they will give you the same discount. They are willing to match up to 50% off for a single item. However, they do not accept any coupon that takes a percentage off your entire purchase.
Stacking Coupons
The circular coupons specifically state that one customer can only use one coupon per order. However, you can use one of each type of coupon in a single order. For example, if you have one coupon that is 50% off a regularly priced item and a 15% off one sale item coupon, you can still use both coupons when buying your two items.
If you get lucky enough to find a coupon from the manufacturer of your art supply, you can stack those as well. If you know what you’re looking for, take a few minutes to check online if the manufacturer offers their own coupons. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out our beginner’s guide to couponing.
Mobile Alerts
If you have ever given a Michaels cashier your phone number and e-mail address during checkout, you are already signed up for their mailing list. This way, you don’t have to remind yourself to check the newspaper or the website each week. If you confirm the membership through your e-mail, they will send you text messages whenever there are any flash sales. You never have to miss a great sale again.
The Michaels App
If you’re at the store and you forgot to bring your coupons, don’t panic. All of the weekly coupons are available on Michaels app. While you can only use one coupon per purchase, this means you have a second coupon for the week, just in case you need to make two trips to the store. Some cashiers will also allow you to split up what you want into two orders in order to use both coupons if you ask nicely!
Price Matching
Stores like Walmart offer discounted prices on crafting supplies on a regular basis. If you can bring in a current sales ad from any other store, Michaels customer service will sell you the same item for the competitor’s price. Just be sure that it is the exact same product before you ask for the price match.
Mystery Grab Bags
Every so often, Michaels will bundle clearance items into mystery grab bags, and place them near the front of the store. They typically only cost $2 or $4, depending on the size and contents of the bag. This gives you some seriously cheap crafting supplies at an average of 90% off retail price.
If you do crafts with your kids on a regular basis, the contents of these bags can be a fun surprise for you to all figure out what project to tackle next. Anything you don’t want from these grab bags can be given to your friends, donated to schools, or local charities.
Michaels Rewards
Michaels Rewards is a special program that tracks your purchases, so you don’t ever need to keep your receipts. It will send you random coupons with offers that may be exclusive just for you. It also informs you when there may be members-only events happening in your local store.
During your checkout, you may have been asked for your phone number and e-mail address. Once you’ve given the cashier that information, your email goes into the system. However, it doesn’t automatically sign you up for Michaels Rewards. You need to manually go online and sign up. Please find below a handy step-by-step tutorial that will help you sign up.
Special Discounts
Michaels offers a 15% off discount for people who are actively serving in the military, teachers, and seniors citizens. In order to get the discount, everyone must have their photo ID.
This discount is good for your entire order and can be stacked with other offers. If you qualify for this discount, you can read more about the program here.
In-Store Events
Michaels offers classes inside of their store, which can be an affordable weekend activity with the kids, or a way for you to learn some new skills and make friends, too! The topics of the classes vary- from jewelry making to cake decorating. The projects are usually on-trend, so there is a good chance that something you saw on Pinterest is available.
For kid’s crafts, you can find free events, and the price never goes above $15 per person. Adult classes are in the $20-$50 range. You and your kids can learn a new skill and walk away with free craft supplies. As an added bonus, if your kids are taking a class, it gives you some free “babysitting” time to shop the store to get the things you need.
Seasonal Shopping
At the end of every season, products go on clearance. If you had an eye on some special holiday decorations, it may be a great idea to stock up whenever an item goes to 70% off or more, and save them for next year. If you combine already-great sales prices with coupons, you can get away with getting seriously cheap decorations and gift supplies year after year.
With a little bit of creativity, you can even use holiday clearance for other holidays. Christmas wrapping paper can sometimes double as Birthday paper, if it is plain gold, glitter, polka dots, etc.
Social Media
If getting text messages from Michaels is too much SPAM, you can follow them on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, you can get access to special offers and sales. This way, their sales will pop up in your feed.
Sometimes, Facebook will post a sort of flash-coupon. For example, a coupon offering 20% off your entire order may appear, but it’s only good from 9 am to 4 pm that day until it disappears.
During the holidays, Michaels has been known to show a photo of specific items, and advertise that they are on sale for up to 70% off for one day only. While these “flash sales” are rare, their Instagram still features new class and event offerings, as well as letting you know what new items they are keeping in stock.
Get Crafting!
Now that you are armed with this information about Michaels, it’s time for you to get shopping! The real question is, which craft are you going to make, first? Check out our collection of cheap and easy DIY projects to help inspire you on your next crafting adventure.
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