August has a way of putting the house back into heavy use. School lunches start up again, laundry piles get bigger, college move-ins happen, and the kitchen somehow needs cleaning five minutes after you cleaned it. This is a decent month to replace the basics you are already running low on instead of paying convenience-store prices later.
Target's store brands are especially useful for the boring stuff. Several of these picks come down to just a few cents per use, and there are a couple of larger packs that make sense if you have the storage space. Prices are accurate at the time of publishing but may vary by store or sell out quickly.
Table of contents
- up&up Soft & Strong toilet paper
- up&up Make-A-Size paper towels
- up&up UltraStretch tall kitchen trash bags
- up&up Free & Clear laundry detergent
- up&up Free & Clear dryer sheets
- up&up Ultimate dishwasher detergent packs
- Everspring dish soap refill
- Everspring liquid hand soap refill
- up&up disinfecting wipes
- Everspring all-purpose cleaner
- up&up toilet bowl cleaner
- up&up glass cleaner spray
- up&up gallon storage bags
- up&up standard aluminum foil
- up&up heavy-duty scrub sponges
- up&up microfiber dust cloths
- Dealworthy food storage containers
- GE soft white LED light bulbs
up&up Soft & Strong toilet paper
Toilet paper is not where most of us want to get creative with the household budget. This 18-roll pack of up&up Soft & Strong is $13.99, and each mega roll has 380 two-ply sheets. That works out to about 20 cents per 100 sheets.
The rolls are septic-safe and designed to dissolve quickly, so this is a straightforward substitute for pricier national brands if you are mainly looking for something soft enough and sturdy enough to do its job. An 18-roll pack is also big enough to reduce emergency toilet-paper runs without taking over an entire closet.
up&up Make-A-Size paper towels
Back-to-school mornings are not known for their lack of spills. The six-pack of up&up Make-A-Size paper towels costs $14.99. These are triple rolls with 150 two-ply sheets each, so you are getting 900 sheets total for about $1.67 per 100 sheets.
The make-a-size perforations matter if you tend to use half a sheet for quick countertop wipes or small messes. You are less likely to burn through a roll just because the sheet size is bigger than the job. For households that use paper towels regularly but do not need a premium brand for every spill, this pack hits a useful middle ground.
up&up UltraStretch tall kitchen trash bags
A 100-count box of 13-gallon kitchen bags for $15.79 comes out to just under 16 cents a bag. These up&up UltraStretch bags have drawstring closures and are currently listed in stock at Target.
The large box is the better fit for families, shared houses, or anyone tired of realizing the trash-bag box is empty after the can is already full. One caveat: 100 bags take up more cabinet space than a small box. If you have room, though, buying the larger count means this is one routine expense you can ignore for quite a while.
up&up Free & Clear laundry detergent
August tends to mean more loads of school clothes, sports gear, towels, and the last round of sweaty summer laundry. This 146-ounce Free & Clear detergent is $13.39 and is labeled for 93 loads. That comes to roughly 14 cents per load.
Because it is unscented, it also makes sense for households that do not want everything coming out of the dryer smelling like a perfume counter. The larger bottle costs more upfront than a small jug, but the per-load math is what makes it useful for a budget. If your household runs the washer several times a week, this is the kind of bulk buy you will actually finish.
up&up Free & Clear dryer sheets
If dryer sheets are already part of your laundry routine, buying 250 at once is considerably less annoying than replacing a small box every few weeks. Target's Free & Clear version costs $7.99, or a little over 3 cents per sheet.
They are made without dyes or perfumes and are intended to reduce static and wrinkles. This is not something you need to add to your routine if you happily live without dryer sheets. But if you already buy them, the big box is practical, inexpensive per load, and less likely to leave you shaking an empty carton halfway through laundry day.
up&up Ultimate dishwasher detergent packs
Dishwasher pods can get expensive surprisingly fast, especially once packed lunches and weeknight dinners are back in regular rotation. The 48-count up&up Ultimate Dishwasher Detergent Packs are $11.99, which works out to about 25 cents per load.
The packs are made to tackle grease and stuck-on food, and the premeasured format means nobody in the house can pour half a cup of detergent into the machine because more apparently feels cleaner. If you run the dishwasher nightly, a 48-pack gives you roughly a month and a half of washes without pushing the cost toward premium-pod territory.
Everspring dish soap refill
Refill pouches make more sense when you already own a perfectly good pump bottle. Everspring's Lemon & Mint dish soap refill gives you 36 ounces for $5.99, or about 17 cents an ounce. The biodegradable formula is 97% biobased and is designed to cut through grease.
This one is particularly handy going into the school year, when water bottles, lunch containers, pans, and whatever cannot go in the dishwasher start piling up again. You are paying for soap rather than another plastic dispenser, and the pouch takes less room under the sink than keeping multiple full-size bottles around.
Everspring liquid hand soap refill
A house with several sinks can go through hand soap quickly. The 34-ounce Everspring liquid hand soap refill is $6.69, or roughly 20 cents per ounce, and Target lists fragrance-free, Free & Clear, Lemon & Mint, and Lavender & Bergamot options on the same product listing.
One refill pouch lets you top off dispensers instead of buying a new pump every time the bathroom or kitchen runs dry. That is especially useful in a busy household where “we are out of soap” somehow gets announced only after someone has used the last drop. Pick one scent, or the unscented version, and keep the pouch under the sink.
up&up disinfecting wipes
Target has dropped the 75-count up&up Lemon All Purpose Disinfecting Wipes to $2.99, down from $3.49 at the time of checking. That comes to about 4 cents per wipe.
These make sense in August because school and daycare germs are about to start making their annual comeback. They are made for hard surfaces such as counters, sinks, and tubs, and the container is small enough to stash under a sink rather than build an entire cleaning-supply warehouse. You do not need wipes for every cleaning job, but at this price they are handy for the quick disinfecting jobs where hauling out sprays and cloths feels excessive.
Everspring all-purpose cleaner
One multipurpose spray is often cheaper than filling the cabinet with a different bottle for every room. Everspring's 28-ounce Lemon & Mint All Purpose Cleaner costs $3.39, about 12 cents per ounce. Target says the formula is 98% biobased, biodegradable, ammonia-free, and intended to cut grease and grime on multiple surfaces.
This is a general cleaner, not a disinfectant, which is worth knowing before you expect it to do both jobs. For everyday kitchen counters, appliance fronts, and routine wipe-downs, though, a $3-and-change bottle is a sensible basic. It is particularly useful when you are doing that late-summer reset before everyone's schedule gets busier.
up&up toilet bowl cleaner
There is not much reason to spend heavily on something whose entire career takes place inside the toilet. The 24-ounce up&up Toilet Bowl Cleaner is $1.99, which works out to about 8 cents per ounce.
The gel formula is designed to remove stains, eliminate odors, and reach under the rim with an angled bottle. Target also lists it as safe for septic systems. At under $2, this is exactly the sort of store-brand swap that can trim a household-supplies bill without requiring you to change how you clean. Buy the fancy version only if your toilet has developed expensive tastes.
up&up glass cleaner spray
Fingerprints on mirrors, glass doors, and windows do not require a pricey bottle. This 32-ounce up&up glass cleaner is $2.99, or about 9 cents an ounce. It is formulated for glass, mirrors, chrome, and other suitable surfaces.
The bottle already includes the trigger sprayer, so there is nothing else to buy, and Target also offers a refill size when the original bottle eventually runs out. If late-summer sunlight is currently exposing every streak and child-sized fingerprint in the house, this is a cheap way to deal with it without paying extra for a familiar label.
up&up gallon storage bags
Forty gallon-size food storage bags for $2.39 is about 6 cents per bag. The up&up bags are BPA-free and use a double seal, and Target lists the 40-count package in stock.
August is a good time to replenish these before lunch packing, batch cooking, and after-school snack prep are back in full swing. Gallon bags are also useful for freezing portions, organizing small household items, or containing the mystery collection of markers and craft supplies that otherwise migrates across the house. At this price, you are not paying several dollars extra just for a zipper-bag logo.
up&up standard aluminum foil
If you cook often, the larger roll is one of the easier ways to lower the unit cost. Target's 200-square-foot up&up aluminum foil is $11.39, just under 6 cents per square foot. Target lists it as heat-resistant, oven-safe, and suitable for helping protect food from freezer burn.
Two hundred square feet sounds excessive until you start lining sheet pans, wrapping leftovers, freezing meals, and covering casseroles. If you cook only occasionally, buy a smaller roll and save the cabinet space. For households that use foil every week, though, the large box keeps the per-foot cost low and cuts down on repeat purchases.
up&up heavy-duty scrub sponges
Six heavy-duty scrub sponges are $5.59, which comes to about 93 cents each. One side is absorbent for regular wiping, while the rougher side is designed for tougher grease and stuck-on messes. The sponges are also dishwasher-safe.
That last detail helps the value case because you can clean and reuse them rather than tossing one after a couple of messy pans. Six is enough to rotate sponges between the kitchen and other cleaning jobs without using the same sad sponge for everything. This is not the absolute cheapest pack on the shelf, but it is a practical price for a sturdier cleaning tool you can get repeated use from.
up&up microfiber dust cloths
Paper towels are convenient, but using them for every dusty shelf and table gets expensive. This three-pack of reusable up&up microfiber dust cloths costs $6.99, or $2.33 per cloth. They are currently listed in stock and include hanging loops for storage.
Use them for furniture, baseboards, electronics, and the dust that somehow reappears immediately after you finish cleaning. Since you can wash and reuse the cloths, they can eventually replace quite a few disposable wipes or paper towels. This is one of the better household purchases for anyone trying to cut back on supplies that get used once and thrown away.
Dealworthy food storage containers
Meal prep gets much easier when you own containers whose lids have not vanished into another dimension. This four-pack of 76-ounce Dealworthy rectangular containers is $5.99, or about $1.50 per container.
They are BPA-free, stackable, freezer-safe, dishwasher-safe, and microwave-safe for reheating. The 76-ounce size is roomy enough for batch-cooked meals, leftovers, cut fruit, or tomorrow's lunch components without forcing you to divide everything into tiny tubs. For less than $6, this set can also replace stained, warped containers that stopped sealing properly months ago but somehow remain in the cabinet.
GE soft white LED light bulbs
Light bulbs qualify as a household essential the exact moment one burns out and you discover there are none left. Target has this six-pack of GE 60-watt-equivalent soft white LED bulbs for $15.99, down from $17.59 when checked. That is about $2.67 per bulb.
Each bulb uses 10 watts, produces 800 lumens, and is rated for a 13.7-year life based on three hours of daily use. They are also dimmable. As daylight starts disappearing earlier over the next couple of months, having a box of standard E26 bulbs in the closet beats paying whatever is available when a kitchen or bedroom bulb finally gives up.
