*Photo of red sale tags and percent discount buttons by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels*

Updated 2024.07.23

If you are wondering how to save money at Target, read on. In this post we discuss 9 tips for saving more during your next trip to Target.

Whether you are wondering what the app is to save money at Target, buying groceries at Target, or simply looking for ways to save on household expenses at this retailer, you’ve come to the right place.

Target is a shopping wonderland. You can get groceries, clothes and self-care items all in one place. It’s a one-stop shop if you want it to be.

You can also get a low price you feel proud about at Target, when being savvy about shopping and this post is here to help with that.

Below are nine ways you can save even more money on your shopping trips to Target.

9 Easy Tips For Saving Money When Shopping At Target

1 - Download The Target App

If you’ve been wondering how to get discounts at Target, the app is for you.

Downloadable to your mobile phone, the Target App is full of coupons called “offers” that you can click to save to your account. When you scan your barcode in the app at check-out these coupons apply.

Always check the app for coupons for what is in your cart before checking out, too, as they don’t always automatically apply, and the cashier doesn’t always have memory of what’s on sale that week, as the sales change weekly.

Bonus: With the app, you can also scan and price check your own items, which can help you identify unmarked or even misplaced clearance items.

2 - Sign-Up For Circle And Enter Rewards Challenges

Target’s rewards program is called Target Circle.

Through Circle, you can enter savings challenges, where when you spend a certain amount on certain products or in certain timeframes, you’ll be able to win cashback rewards of usually $10-15.

You need an email address and want to log into your account when shopping online or in-store through the app to access and accumulate your rewards. Then, check the box “Apply Target Circle Balance” when checking out to redeem your cash back.

3 - Look Above And Below You On Shelves

If going inside the store, look above and below your direct vision in your line of sight. There are often larger volume items or lower priced items in these areas, which offer savings.

Likewise, if shopping online, instead of shopping by “Featured” or “Best seller,” these are defaults, change the default to shop by “Price: low to high.”

Using either of these shopping techniques will often reveal a more budget friendly option that you may have not considered before, or a clearance item hiding in plain sight.

4 - Calculate The Unit Price

At the Targets around where this website is located, the Unit Prices are not listed on the shelf tag. The Unit Price is the price per ounce, pound, or number inside. The Unit Price helps identify the cost per product at a more finite level, allowing you to break down the savings more carefully.

Since this may also be the case where you are, to arrive at a Unit Price, the price of the item divided by the number of ounces or items in the box equals your unit price.

Take the price of the item and divide it by the number of ounces or items in the box. That is the Unit Price.

The Unit Price number levels the playing field between items which often have different prices for different volumes making it hard to know which is truly less expensive.

When you have the Unit Price, you can often see how much it is per item in the box, giving you the true cost per piece, allowing you to make a smarter decision.

If you are new to Unit Price calculations, head to any grocery store, and take a look at how others do it - the cost per product is the big number on the shelf, where the cost per unit of volume, or Unit Price, is usually the smaller number underneath.

5 - Order Online And Stay In The Car

Target is an amazing store where wishes long lost and newly acquired both can be fulfilled.

You may go into the store and suddenly something you envisioned in your mind as a solution to a problem you had months ago appears before you. It’s magic at Target like that. Whoever is on the Target buyer team, they obviously have a winning formula - that much is true.

That said, Drive-Up saves money. When you walk into Target, the opportunity to buy things you didn’t even consider until you saw it are boundless which is part of what makes it fun - but when you place your order online and stay in the Drive-Up area for pick-up, none of these temptations even catch your eye and you will save money.

Every once and a while, going in the store is nice to do to familiarize yourself with trends and to actually make headway on some wishes, but if you are on a saving kick, just stay outside for now. You will save money by not purchasing any of the sudden wishes that have emerged into your sight.

6 - Join Target Couponing Groups On Facebook

Some weeks couponing at Target is amazing, other weeks it’s a little slow, and when you learn the rhythm and how to do it, you can maximize your savings.

While you may think you’ve optimized your savings at Target, there’s always room for improvement or another hack someone else may have foreseen that you didn’t - so you may as well tap into the group mind and see what other savers are doing.

The Target Couponing Groups on Facebook are great for this. Join a few, and stay in the ones that jive with you.

7 - Look On The Back End-Caps for Clearance

This tip is for you, if you are going inside the store.

The end-caps facing on the back of the aisles, those facing away from the main walkways, is normally where items being clearanced are located.

Check out these spots for perfectly good nail polishes, sunscreens, toys, gifts and cleaning supplies.

If you have something on your list, but you are open to the brand you choose and are comfortable trying something new, definitely consider the back end-cap area for your purchase.

8 - Shop The Big Sales

In the summer and just after holidays, Target does big sales to make room for new stock. These sales tend to happen in January, July (around Amazon Prime Day) and during the holiday season, in and around Black Friday and Christmas.

Save your money for these occasions and you can buy things for a ¼ of what they go for during “normal” non-sale time periods.

9 - The Krazy Coupon Lady

The Krazy Coupon Lady is one of the best blogs for shopping smarter at any store, including Target. You can sort their new blogs by store and Target is on their list.

Before heading into Target, simply take a look at the latest Target Deals and see if any apply to you. This allows you to jump on any long-standing needs when the price is right or switch your brand temporarily to get the best price on something on your list.

Now that you have some ideas on how to save, let’s answer a common question about shopping at Target -

*Photo of red sale sign held by human hand on white background by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels*

When is the best time to shop at Target?

We’ve asked Target workers and tested this ourselves, and the best time to shop is before noon during the day and ideally before 11am. Target opens at 8am every morning, so this gives you a 3-4 hour window of prime shopping time.

They stock shelves in the morning, so the most abundant products are normally available just after this - and this is especially true with limited items, such as toys, cleaning supplies, or new releases.

Meaning, when you can shop early, you usually have more options and because they are stocking, there are often more workers around to answer questions if you have them, making it a better consumer experience.

All in all, you don’t have to use all of these tips, but if one sparks your interest, give it a try and allow yourself to be surprised with your market savvy skills and how they evolve every year to be bigger and better.

Do you have a Target shopping tip? What’s your favorite way to save at Target?

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