Dollar Stores

Do you shop at dollar stores?  There are several where I live and one of the nicest ones happens to be in our neighborhood.  I don’t shop there often but I do find I can save quite a bit on certain household essentials. 

When shopping at the dollar store you definitely need to know your prices.  There are quite a few items that are more expensive at the dollar store and the quality can be questionable.  My experience with dollar stores is that they don’t take coupons so I sometimes have to take that into account as well. 

Items I typically purchase are mostly name brand items that my store stocks regularly: 

·         Bath soap

·         Tooth paste and toothbrushes

·         Deodorant

·         Dryer sheets

·         The big bottle of their cheap store brand antibacterial dish soap (I use it to refill my  hand soap dispensers)

·         Greeting cards (huge savings!)

·         Gift wrap

·         Large spools of curling ribbon

·         Some seasonal home décor items (I’m picky when selecting these)

·         Some grocery items

·         Office supplies

·         Art supplies for school projects

·         Craft items

·         Puzzles

·         Hair accessories

·         Socks 

Last week I needed to stop and pick up something for work and saw they had 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes.  I use them in my salsa recipe and they are much more expensive at the grocery store so I picked up four.  They don’t always have them so when I happen across them I stock up.  Toys are usually a waste of money but on rare occasion they will have some really good quality items. 

It is easy to purchase items you don’t need if you shop there too often.  I usually go every couple of months and check out what they have.  I can also check them out online at their website if I am looking for something in particular and I can order online from them too. 

If you are selective you can find some pretty good bargains but remember it isn’t a bargain if you didn’t need it in the first place.