Big or small, nearly every town in America has a Dollar Store. These stores are popular because they give price deals that customers are unlikely to find anywhere else. Most Dollar Stores only charge one dollar for every item.
The quality of the product might not be great, but where could you possibly find it for less than $1?
Despite their reputation for selling cheap merchandise, many Dollar Stores sell items that are surprisingly high quality and reasonable. Today, we are going to talk about how we can save money by buying the right stuff at the Dollar Store.
Top 10 Things to Buy at The Dollar Store
The Dollar Store will offer you basement-priced deals on anything from tampons to face masks to candles to frozen snacks.
Sometimes these are actually good deals to consider. The best items to buy at the Dollar Store include party supplies, greeting cards, candy, pregnancy tests, picture frames, school supplies, and much more—keep reading for more details.
Party Supplies
The Dollar Store is a great place for all your gift and party needs. There are great options in the store for both seasonal and birthday celebrations.
They sell items like party hats, plastic tablecloths, plates, cups, streamers, party favors, and balloons. These tend to have seasonal themes and the specific items rotate throughout the year.
Greeting Cards
Greeting, thank you, and apology cards are some of the best purchases you can make at your local Dollar Store. Greeting cards at pharmacies and grocery stores are expensive and tend to charge $5 or more per card.
Dollar Tree sells Hallmark greeting cards (Expressions by Hallmark and Heartline by Hallmark) for just one dollar. The selection might be a little small, but you won’t find a better deal on greeting cards anywhere in town—read more from Good Housekeeping on this.
Candy
If you’re trying to stock up on candy, it is probably better to go to a wholesale store. But if you’re just looking for small amounts of candy for Halloween, birthday parties, or movies, the Dollar Store is still the place to go.
You can typically find a variety of brand-name snacks at discount prices at your local Dollar Store.
Pregnancy Tests
A lot of people might be sketched out by the idea of buying a pregnancy test from the Dollar Store. But customers don’t need to worry, because these tests have been studied and they’ve been proven to be as accurate as tests sold at grocery stores.
If you go to Wal-Mart or a grocery store to get your pregnancy tests, you will likely have to pay at least $10 per test.
Picture Frames
Picture frames are an essential item when you’re decorating your home. The Dollar Store is the best place to get them. The frames they sell are typically black wood or plastic, but they also offer more intricate metal and wood designs.
The quality of the picture frames will sometimes vary, so you should check the corner joints of the frame before you buy it.
You can also buy craft supplies to decorate the picture frames and make them look even nicer.
School supplies
With remote school and work, it’s more important than ever to stock up on school and office supplies. Believe it or not, the Dollar Store can be one of the best places to buy these items.
Some of the school and office supplies that Dollar Stores sell include composition books, poster board, foam core, notebooks, pens, markers, and staples.
Home Cleaning supplies
The Dollar Store is one of the best places to stock up on cleaning supplies. Disposable cleaning supplies are especially good items to buy at dollar tree.
Dollar Stores usually sell soaps, detergents, and other cleaning solutions.
Some people feel that liquid cleaning supplies aren’t the best thing to get at the Dollar Store because they might expire faster. But items such as sponges, brooms, toilet paper, and paper towels are all good purchases to make here.
Toiletries
The Dollar Store is the perfect place to buy toiletries, especially when you’re getting ready to travel. They sell name-brand toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash. They also sell travel kits that contain miniature versions of all three items.
Additionally, Dollar Stores sell items such as first aid kits, lip balms, deodorant, and perfume.
Vases
When spring comes around, you can never have too many vases for all the flowers you will be picking. And what will you do if someone unexpectedly gifts you a bouquet? You need to head to the Dollar Store to load up on inexpensive, high-quality vases.
Hair Accessories
Another item that people like to stock up on at Dollar Stores is hair products. These include shampoos and moisturizers, as well as brushes, combs, hair ties, doo rags, and hairnets. You can also check your Dollar Store for hair dye products.
Worst things to Buy at the Dollar Store
While the Dollar Store will have a lot of great deals, there are also some items that you should absolutely not buy at the Dollar Store.
Some of the worst items that you can buy at a Dollar Store include:
- Batteries
- Steak and other meats
- Tools
- Jewelry
- Power cords
- Towels
- Clothing
Batteries
Batteries are considered to be one of the worst products that you can buy at a Dollar Store because they are typically knock-off-brand batteries with short lifespans.
Batteries purchased at the Dollar Store are only good for low-power gadgets like remotes and clocks.
Steak
Dollar Stores often sell frozen steak and other meats, but you should buy with caution. Steak should cost more than a dollar, and you should go to a grocery store for your steak, at the very least.
Tools
The Dollar Store has an array of tools that they sell, but they are not very high quality.
These will typically include plastic hammers, flimsy saws, knives, rope, and other tools in their automobile or home goods sections. You will almost always get what you pay for by buying these items. It’s better to find a real hardware store and buy real tools.
Toys
The Dollar Store sells a lot of toys, but almost none of them are worth buying. They are almost all cheap plastic off-brand toys that will break within minutes of opening the package. Toys bought at the Dollar Store are only suitable for giving party favors to people.
Jewelry
Some Dollar Stores will sell cheap jewelry, and you might be tempted to buy it. But just like with the steaks, this jewelry is cheap for a reason and you probably shouldn’t buy it.
If you are buying jewelry on a budget, most big box stores will give you a better deal for better quality jewelry than Dollar Stores will for their cheap jewelry.
Power cords
Most Dollar Stores have a small electronics section where you can buy various USB and power cords. You can also usually get blocks to plug your phone into the wall.
The Dollar Store is a good place to get these blocks, but you should be wary of buying electronic cords here. They are cheap, low-quality items that will fail you quickly. It is better to splurge on a more expensive charging cord at the big box store.
Towels and clothing
Many Dollar Stores offer a small selection of clothing, towels, and hand rags. The towels are usually very thin and hard to dry things with.
The clothes are cheap, barebones items such as t-shirts, socks, flip flops, and maybe some shorts. They are always low quality, and you are unlikely to find anything in your size. You can get a better deal on clothes that fit your size by going to Wal-Mart or Target.
Image by Kira Garmashova via Shutterstock.com.
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