Best dollar store? Best products available there?

[Paper Roses]

Like everyone I know, I find myself needing to stretch my dollar even further. I buy house brands and frequent the dollar stores near me. Some seem to offer real bargains, others are not really dollar stores at all.
What stores do you frequent? Favorite products? I am especially interested in household products like cleaning agents and laundry soap. Your reviews would be great for all of us.

[Wapsie B]

1. I like Dollar General.

They carry brand-name laundry and cleaning supplies that I use all the time. It can be a toss-up at times getting laundry soap and comparing it to the other stores. I buy X-tra (sp)laundry soap and I know it's normally a loss-leader for grocery stores. But DG will have low prices for other related things like stain removers, Windex, things like that compared to what a grocery store might charge.

[NightWatcher]

3. sometimes Spam is on sale there for real cheap

if I find it there for less than the supermarket I stock up on the stuff

[Wapsie B]

5. I love their clam chowder there.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good!

[kath]

10. When I've priced cleaning products at DG, I've found that their prices are HIGHER than the prices at

Target or my local discount grocery store - especially if those items are in the weekly sale ad or if I use a coupon. Weekly sales at Walgreen's (and occasionally CVS) are sometimes good as well. You've got to know your prices - it can help to keep a little Price Notebook, at least at first, especially if you don't have a good memory for numbers.

Does DG take coupons?

[quakerboy]

11. A notebook and a calculator

When you look past the stuff at a dollar store being a dollar, and the stuff at the other store being 2.50, and you realise that the dollar store version is 8 ounces, where the other store is providing 32 ounces, you have a very simple math problem to figure out.

[jmowreader]

16. Dollar General isn't a "dollar store"

It's got "dollar" in the name, but it's a deep discounter--kind of the next step down from Walmart. Same deal with Family Dollar. Of the two, Family Dollar is the best but I pull more stuff to Dollar General so I tend to go there more.

Dollar Tree is a "real" dollar store; all the stuff they sell goes for a buck. It's another company we deal with extensively. I think I've done a dozen loads to there.

[hunter]

2. 99 cents store color film... I love the stuff.

I put it in an old thrift store camera and I never quite know what kind of pictures I'm going to get.

A dollar for a camera, a dollar for film, develop CD-only at Costco, and I have more fun than going to the movies.

[mitchum]

6. That sounds wonderful...

it really does :)

[deucemagnet]

4. Dollar General has been a lifesaver.

I just moved to a new town to take a new job and found out that I'll be getting paid monthly, so I'm going to have to stretch my money for about six weeks before my pay catches up to me. Also, I came with only what I could fit into my vehicle, so Dollar General was pivotal in providing a lots of odds and ends that I didn't take with me (dish rack, toilet brush, glass cleaner, cleanser, laundry detergent, dish liquid, dish cloths, litter box liners, garbage bin, etc.). I'll get a half a paycheck on Wednesday (I started on the 14th), and I need 'cuz I'm scraping bottom! I think I'll see a lot more of Dollar General during October. :)

[WinkyDink]

7. Not sure if it's "Store" or "General". ANYthing related to PAPER (cards; plates; napkins; PHOTOS;

envelopes; stickers; gift-bags; wrapping; puzzle- and coloring-books; tablets; etc.) I buy ONLY HERE!

[quakerboy]

8. I dont know where in the states you are

But here in Oregon, I find that Winco often has better prices per oz than even the dollar stores for cleaning products and food items.

Costco can be a good deal too, but you have to shop for the items that are really cheaper, a lot of things arent. and It helps to have free access to their stores

[Capn Sunshine]

9. 99c Stores have produce here in SoCal

Killer deals on potatoes (5# bag -.99) peppers (Bells 3/ .99, pasillas 2#/.99, jalapenos ( lots for .99)
Celery , lettuce, apples (5#-.99) plums, etc. Sometimes, cantalopes 2/.99. A dz eggs, .99. all kinds of lunch meat. Bread, .99 loaf. Lots of canned stuff. The soap is why I go. 3 bars Ivory for .99. Shaving cream, dish soap, you name it.... all.99

ergo, no inflation.

[femmocrat]

12. Dollar Tree is the only one I've been to.

They frequently have brand name items for $1.00, especially food, candy and drugstore items. (I just bought Prego spaghetti sauce, for example.)

Their house brands are OK, too. I buy their cleaning products to take to school. They also have the Sunday paper for $1.00 on Saturday! :)

[RidinMyDonkey]

13. Dollar Tree is my favorite

We go there at least once a week. They carry a lot of name brand things for only one dollar. The first time we ever went my boyfriend and I kept asking each other "Is this really only $1.00?" lol

Last time I got a bunch of bottles of SunnyD and a bottle of tylenol each only $1. He got the Axe body spray, large can, $1! I love that place, I should go again tonight.

[madamesilverspurs]

14. Stopped in at Dollar General

for some TP. Remembered that I needed some SOS for cleaning the stove top, and noticed that their house brand boasted that it was 'environmentally friendly'. So I grabbed that and the TP, checked out and headed for home. Next day I read the label on the box of soap pads. Turns out they base their 'friendly' status on the fact that the pads are made from "steel wool, which reduces to iron oxide -- a naturally occuring component of the Earth's crust."

Apparently "these will rust" isn't as marketable as "environmentally friendly", eh?

[TreasonousBastard]

15. I'm always in dollar stores and schlock shops, but NEVER...

buy food in most of them. The first time you see an unmarked van delivering candy or meat will explain why. (Ever wonder where recalled and outdated food goes...)

OK, I know most of the stuff is OK, but I do see brands I never see in any other stores, and it just wierds me out to see frozen food cases in these joints.

What I do buy a lot is kitchen gadgets, small tools, cleaning stuff, glassware, and such stuff you're always needing. And I keep an eye out for great bargains that got there by mistake-- I have Chinese cleaver I got for a buck that's my favorite knife. Bamboo cutting boards for $3, a buck for watch caps, belts, buckets, socks, trash bags, flashlights, light bulbs... OK stuff, most of the time.

Cleaning goops, bath soap, and whatever-- all seem to be watered down, even if name branded. Look closely at the back of the bottle and if everything's in Spanish it's likely a Mexican knockoff of the real thing. Sometimes the bottle's big enough it doesn't make any difference, sometimes you been screwed.