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| Check out this cute outfit I found for myself. $6. Tried it on before I bought it & the jeans look great! |
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| Like new Gymboree sweater-hoody for Gracen. $3.50! |
All the thrifty folks buy their household supplies from Dollar Tree, right? With everything being $1, how can you go wrong? Actually, it has been in my humble shopping experience that there are lots of ways you can waste your dollar in Dollar Tree. Here are a few examples: Two years ago when moving into our house, a dear friend offered to help paint our old place back to its original color & also paint some areas in our new house. This person is a huge Dollar Tree fan & brought over masking tape & paper towels purchased for $1 each. Not only was the tape horrid to get off the roll, it literally peeled every bit of paint from the surface it was adhered to when the time came to remove it. We had to go back over all those areas, thus costing more time & paint (paint equals money). My husband bought some name brand masking tape & the difference between the two was amazing. Now for the paper towels, they were so thin, that it took three or four to do the work of one of a more expensive brand. Then there is the matter of school/office supplies. I bought an off brand pack of pencils & glue for Mara. The glue had very little stick & the graphite in the pencils broke constantly. I bought her more expensive USA made pencils & you know what, no more breakage? Just before Christmas, I needed some scotch tape & Gracen wanted a special role wrapping paper. The tape was a name brand so I bought two of them. There must have been about three feet of tape on each roll & I had to help Gracen wrap gifts twice with the paper because it was as thin as toilet paper. We have rolls of Costco paper, that last for several seasons & is as thick as Hallmark's paper. Some other Dollar Tree bargains that aren't really bargains (at least in my experience) printer paper, pet collars, pens, baskets, plastic utensils, cleaning supplies (if you go for chemical cleaners) & packages of candy for parties (beware . Also, many of their toys & items have been been brought notice to due to lead content. There are, however good deals to be found in Dollar Tree for sure. Here are some items I will buy: paper party supplies & table covers, party favors such as bubbles & coloring books, thank-you cards, name brand tooth brushes, pregnancy tests (well, not anymore hopefully but they work great!), little items for making homeless baskets such as hand warmers & tiny pouches of tissue. This is not meant to be a complete list of "wastes & savers" so please feel free to add to it in the comments. Shopping at Costco can be a great resource for the thrifty minded individual. Most price tags include the price per ounce, pound, unit or item so price comparison shopping is simplified. Costco's store brand, Kirkland has always been very satisfactory to me, usually just as good or better than the equivalent name brand. Here is a partial list of items, that my family saves money with by buying at Costco: Kirkland brand items- paper towels, toilet paper, environmentally dish soap, contact solution, trash bags, pet food. Name brand items: toothbrushes, razors, Carter's pajamas, Wigwam socks, organic, whole grain pasta, swim suits, bath towels, wash cloths, dish towels, Simple Green (great for outside use like degreasing car engines), Mobile One motor oil, windshield wipers, bird seed & electronics like the laptop I am typing on. Costco has great customer service & awesome return policies & warranties plus, there are often great samples especially when someone is demoing a Vita Mix! Do your math & make sure you will use something up before purchasing it. If you buy a 12 pack of something, be prepared to use it up or you may end up not saving money. Other money saving places include Target & Walmart (I personally avoid Walmart like the plague but that's a personal preference). Please leave your own shopping tips in the comment section :-)
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