Dollar store picks

[Purron]

IMHO, the Dollar Store is great for greeting cards but not much else. If you really want to save money and eat healthier, go with less processed food. Fresh meat and fish, veggies and fruit. Lots of salads. Long cooking rice and dried beans. Yeah, we all want some convenience foods and snacks - Trader Joe's is where I go for those items. Decent price, good quality and healthy. Love TJs.

 

[travelover]

...... Love TJs.

Me, too. I like their dried fruit and nuts, which make great, healthy snacks. Also their chocolate is very good, especially with hazel nuts.

 

[NW-Bound]

We occasionally stop by the 99c store in the area. It's a few miles from home, so we do not go often, but have found some good deals on produce. For example, a pack of two big yellow squash for $1, or a bundle of asparagus, or two big red or yellow bell peppers. Are these substandard veggie that would cause us health problems later?

And then, some canned food such as tomato sauce look like the same brand carried by other stores. Are they fake? I don't think so. And when I need some spices, the $1 price is about right.

 

[Major Tom]

Me, too. I like their dried fruit and nuts, which make great, healthy snacks. Also their chocolate is very good, especially with hazel nuts.

I like almost everything at TJ's. It's my main market.

 

[sunnysideup]

We have a dollar tree very close by, I get several household and healthcare items there routinely, and sometimes purchase greeting cards there too. Their prices beat anywhere else for the same item.

I agree that you have to look at the price per quantity. Also, I am cautious about using anything that is ingested from that store. All of their branded products come from China, which is notorius for not caring about quality and also counterfeiting products. I won't even buy toothpaste since they could be counterfeiting an American brand and how would I know? I wouldn't think of buying medicines there!

I have been to the local Aldi's (20 minutes away) a few times. When we first went there, we tried lots of different food products. There are a handful of items we really liked, did not like alot of others. So I only go there if I am in the area and buy the items we liked.

We also go to Trader Joes about once a month, the prices are reasonable and they have some things that we don't see elsewhere.

 

[Ally]

I use Dollar Tree for gift bags, wrapping paper, greeting cards, picture frames, and sometimes kids activity books.

 

[ERD50]

And AA batteries, watch batteries.

I've found their AA batteries to be a poor value compared to Costco's Kirkland brand alkalines. I'll have to look for watch batteries.

I never would have thought about DollarTree for batteries, but I looked on-line and they sell a 4-pack of AA or AAA alkalines for (wait for it...) a buck. I labeled the box from the last batch I bought at Costco, and they were 43 cents each, almost 2x.

travelover - I wonder if you picked up the cheaper "Super Heavy Duty" batteries (8/$1)? The term "Super Heavy Duty" is really misleading, it was used back in the 50's to differentiate the 'new improved' zinc-chloride batteries from the then common zinc-carbon batteries. But then along came alkalines, which are far superior to 'Super Heavy Duty'. I guess they didn't want to call alkalines 'Super-Duper-Mega-Heavy-Duty'.

I'm pretty sure that any alkaline battery is going to perform about as well as any other. These things are mass produced, and only the labeling is different. I know someone who toured a factory, and saw the same batteries get routed for different labeling. IIRC, Consumer Reports tests show very little difference between brands, probably within mfg tolerances.

-ERD50

 

[Live And Learn]

I now do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

I would LOVE to have a Trader Joe's nearby. I actually looked to see if they are a franchise so I could open one (they aren't) ... I love Trader Joe's ... really miss them

 

[NW-Bound]

I never would have thought about DollarTree for batteries, but I looked on-line and they sell a 4-pack of AA or AAA alkalines for (wait for it...) a buck. I labeled the box from the last batch I bought at Costco, and they were 43 cents each, almost 2x.

Recently, the $1 stores in my area often have alkaline batteries for $1 per a 2-pack. And then, they also have the 4-pack for $1, but they are "Heavy Duty". The 4-packs of alkaline are getting scarce.

The 4-pack of alkaline is of course a much better deal, but then I thought that some other places could also match it now, or come close. For example, IKEA sells 10-packs for $3.

 

[jazz4cash]

Another vote for Aldi's. Isn't Trader Joe's related to Aldi's?
I get most of my alkaline batteries from Harbor Freight. Just bought some coin-type batteries and had to use ebay to get a decent price.

 

[Midpack]

We use these batteries wherever possible. Higher initial cost, but much lower life cycle cost, and this particular brand is far superior to the other name rechargeable batteries (last longer, and hold idle charge much better).

SANYO :: eneloop

 

[Purron]

Glad to hear the positive comments about Aldi. A store just opened about 5 miles from my house. I'll have to check it out.

 

[Marita40]

Over the last two years I've switched much of my grocery shopping to Aldis. The quality is great, the selection just fine for one person, and the prices can't be beat. I've slowly been testing their non-food items like scot towels, kitchen garbage bags, paper products, cleaners, etc. and have been pleasantly surprised at the quality--no difference at all from Target or the local big groceries. Very glad I was converted to Aldi.

 

[fritz]

Another vote for Aldi's. Isn't Trader Joe's related to Aldi's?
I get most of my alkaline batteries from Harbor Freight. Just bought some coin-type batteries and had to use ebay to get a decent price.

Aldi owns (indirectly) Trader Joe's

 

[Ally]

I love Trader Joe's. my daughter and I have made many 6 hour trips with coolers to shop there.

 

[Sarpy]

Au contraire, sorta. While I certainly agree it's mostly processed stuff, I've been buying our Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats at the local Big Lots for less than 50¢ on the dollar for a while now. And though I wouldn't go there weekly or even monthly, I've selectively bought some decent name brand stuff at our local Big Lots.

Dollar stores et al are a good place to buy some perishables IMO, but if you want quality durable goods, you may be out of luck.

We also get the steel-cut oats at Big Lots (plus brown rice & bean mixes), and often find decent canned foods such as roasted red bell peppers which we use quite a bit.

Same with Grocery Outlet (GO): We find some great deals, like huge bags of organic veggies. (Plus a fun wine selection.)

In both cases, it's a matter of sifting through the miscellaneous to find the goodies.

 

[jazz4cash]

Glad to hear the positive comments about Aldi. A store just opened about 5 miles from my house. I'll have to check it out.

Whenever I suggest Aldi's, I feel obligated to warn folks about the strange thing they do with shopping carts......e.g. you have to pay a 25 cent deposit to use a shopping cart. When you return the cart to the corral you get your quarter back...at least that's how the ones around here work. You are also required to purchase bags or provide your own. It's not a big deal to me, but I've had freinds shudder at the thought of shopping there.

 

[DallasGuy]

Whenever I suggest Aldi's, I feel obligated to warn folks about the strange thing they do with shopping carts......e.g. you have to pay a 25 cent deposit to use a shopping cart. When you return the cart to the corral you get your quarter back...at least that's how the ones around here work. You are also required to purchase bags or provide your own. It's not a big deal to me, but I've had freinds shudder at the thought of shopping there.

That must be standard with them because they do that at my Aldis too. They also only take cash or debit cards which is fine by me. How funny though...I guess your friends would rather pay 10-30% more for their groceries and have the luxury of leaving their cart wherever they want to. I used to think that Walmart was by far the cheapest (on average) in my area, but Aldis has even lower prices. I've only found one product of Aldis that I didn't like (the ground coffee was a little too bitter for me) but I suppose that is just a personal preference.