Yesterday. We took a tip to Costco wholesale and stopped at dollar tree along the way. I needed a basket for the wash rags. We don't have a linen closet in our bathroom and wash rags on a shelf can get out of hand. I also picked up two pint jars for dried fruit, and some beans. I am trying to stock some canned beans for emergencies and when I can't cook scratch, and some dry beans. I also got some fly paper strips - fruit fly season is upon us, and a brush and dustpan. Soap so cheaper at the dollar store - major brands.
At Costco, we needed baguettes , soap, toilet paper and I got new steak knives because, ours were shot. One snapped when my husband was cutting his meat.
I read an article about why you should never shop at the dollar store or Walmart. Most of it was pure propaganda. -- but here is my answer to that !
I don't shop at Walmart.
1) they pay their people the least they can get away with no benefits to most of them.
2) they are anti Union, but, they have higher prices and pay their people less wages and benefits than Costco that isn't anti - Union. That tells me that someone is making a lot of money on the backs of their workers and the taxpayers. It has been estimated that for every worker at Walmart, it costs the taxpayer six thousand dollars a year for welfare that the workers need to supplement their income to exist.
3) Their prices aren't the lowest. They expect you to do their homework and argue to price match things to get a lower price. That slows down the checkout lines and is a bunch of bother.
4) Their merchandise is as much from China as any other store.
5) I ordered a present one Christmas on line to be picked up at the store. They e mailed me that the product was back ordered and I could cancel the order by replying to the email. I cancelled the order, not knowing if I could get the merchandise before Christmas. They sent it anyway. But, the kicker was that when I returned the merchandise to the store, they charged me 8.00 shipping, and refused to refund the shipping charges. I bought it elsewhere, paid nothing for shipping and got a cheaper
price.
Now, the dollar store
1) the stores are independently owned , so you are buying from local people.
2) there is no more Chinese merchandise than any other store.
3) think if it as the modern dime store. A lot of things are as good a quality as anywhere else, they are just cheaper. It is true that they have a lot of party supplies and seasonal decor. No one is twisting your arm to buy them.
4) they have a whole isle of junk food, no one is twisting your arm to buy that either, Ditto the children's cheap plastic toys. They also have very good children's work books. And six pair of sox for a buck. If you have a child that looses their sox, six pair of the same color is a good thing.
5) some food is cheaper than any other place. You pick and choose and read labels , but good and
bad buys can be found. There are overstocks and some major American brands that are cheaper.
Beans are cheaper in some instances. 1.5 pounds of pinto beans are a buck. They are .69 in bulk at Winco, Pizza sauce is cheaper. Name brand mandarin oranges - del monte, Betty Crocker food and kitchen implements. A baby spatula that gets the bits of a narrow jar.
Like anyplace, let the buyer beware, their linens are crap. I did get plastic trays from them that have been more than worth their weight. I have carried things down to the freezer and to the deck, used
Zthem to serve our food on the deck -- putting each persons place etc on a tray. I have placed ingredients on one, and then took them off as I used them. It's a good way not to forget what you have used if you are interrupted. I use them constantly.
The organizational tools are marvelous as well as paper products. Tablets, etc.
They accept coupons that make some things even cheaper. Wet and wild makeup, Hormel pepperoni, puffs and bounty paper products. Uncle beans rice.
A lot of products are not cheaper because the quanity is low. I can see where hat might be useful of you are stocking a new apartment, or a travel trailer or boat and don't have room. When you are living in 200 square feet, you can't have 25 pounds of rice! LOL.
If you haven't gathered, I love the dollar store for certain things. I keep a package of toilet paper on the very back of the toilet paper shelf. That way, of we hit the back up tissue, we know we haven't estimated right, and we need a Costco haul. You never want to run out of toilet paper! LOL.
Ours is stored on a bottom shelf in the main bathroom linen closet. It's my granddaughters job to restock the shelf . She loves it, and I don't have to bend down.
I don't like walmarts business practices. There are some people that would cheat you out of a dime, and have no conscious. Kinda like a candidate we are aware of. That behavior is despicable in my opinion. -- just my opinion!
Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from a different perspectives.
The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a weekly basis.
This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week.
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level.
You often are paying 1/2 price for your food. This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget. You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by
cooking more efficiently.
Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap. My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.
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