My regular $1 purchases would include:
Cards (2/$1)
shower curtain liners
poster board
wrapping paper
little party favor type gifts (for pinatas, etc)
craft supplies
socks--and I ALWAYS buy 2 indentical pairs, so when the washer eats one...
books--have found some good little cookbooks, interesting novels there

I avoid buying:

cleaning supplies--the regular companies sell watered down versions to dollar stores, unfortunately. They're not the same quality as the grocery store items. I've seen that reported AND found it to be true from use.

Food--I don't really trust their brands, storage, or age of products.

Any children's toy, etc made in China--with their careless use of lead, it's better to be safe than sorry, I figure.

I love the Dollar Tree for kitchen utensils. I have many things from there...knives, tongs, turners, spoons etc etc etc...Some of the best knives that I have or that I prefer to use because of their sharpness, came from Dollar Tree.

I love the Dollar Tree. Regular purchases include:
Greeting Cards
Computer paper and labels
Books
Aluminum cookie sheets
Drink cups
Craft supplies
Body wash
Pens and pencils
Awesome Cleaner - that stuff is amazing
Kitchen gadgets

We have a chain store in this area...unfortunately, not really close to me, but in Houston and surrounding towns, and it is also in some other states called 99 Cents Only and they sell plants. This year, the plants haven't been as great...well, condition wise, they are, but the selection isn't. In the past I have bought several colors of anthuriums, 3 different kinds of alocasias, variegated ginger, miniature roses, mums,
and every kind of tropical house plant you can think of.

I have also gotten huge heavy ceramic flower pots, plant pruners...okay if you don't try to cut something really heavy with them, and several other garden related things.
I also buy mosquito coils...those things you light and they smoulder and keep mosquitoes away. A necessity here on the bayou.

They also have produce and some of it looks a little tired, but some of it is excellent. Like those little personal sized watermelons, honey dew and best of all brocciflowers, which is like green cauliflower and very expensive any where else.

The dollar stores carry one brand of cleaner that I like...
Awesome. I clean house for an elderly man who is a heavy smoker, and just pour the awesome on his floor and everything just dissolves instantly.

Those are the main things I buy.

I get things from there once in awhile, but I watch food containers and such,,,I worry about lead content and all that stuff...and about Rachel Rays garbage bowls,,,for peelings and chopping leavings,I save my foam meat trays from hamburger etc, wash and save them,and they are used and tossed after.

Gift bags.
Scrapbooking supplies.
Vases for DD's grad party last year.

Reading glasses
Temptation cat treats
Oven cleaner
Plants
Bar soap
Hand soap

My favorite is Photo paper. It seems to be quality paper. There are only eight sheets in a package. They are 8 x 10 sheets. I cut them up to fit my little photo printer. It takes 4 x 6 size.

I stock up when I buy it and don't go back for quite awhile. It is way south in Omaha. The cost of gas has stopped my once or twice a month run over there.

patti

Paper products.

greeting cards

gift bags in various sizes

children's stickers

plastic drinking glasses

aluminum burner covers

garden work gloves

artificial flowers (for cemetery)

Dollar General's toilet paper
Dollar Tree's cards and citrus outdoor incense
AND Dollar Tree's peanut butter filled pretzels!!!

My favorite Dollar Tree purchase so far has been the Christmas village that they had for 3or 4 years a few years ago. I always loved the Christmas villages but didn't have the room for the bigger ones sold in department stores and couldn't afford them either. Dollar Tree ones were the right size and right price. I even got the little working train set to go with it. I set it up every year.
Kittywhiskers

Dollar tree in Palatka, FL...I LOVE the big old coffee cups for a buck! We get cleaner there, and the glasses are wonderful for DH. He loses them so fast, $1.00 is the right price!
JoanMN

paper plates
gift bags
glass & plastic drinking glasses
aluminum pans

Many of the above.

Breck Hair products when they have them
Dishwasher detergent
plastic dishes for under potted plants

I searched everywhere for a 6-cup muffin pan; finally found one at $Tree

One thing they don't carry any more is TicTacs.

I always get my Lever 2000 bar soap at $General. And I got those Bobbi Brooks shorts/tops that Glenda told us about.

Love the $ Stores.

Sue

We also have the 99 cent only stores,and my favorites are:

Gardening supplies,ie,small squeeze type scissors,nice colors,sharp and seem to last a long time.Everytime they have them i buy several pairs,and if i lose them,no biggie.

Plants
Pens-mechanical pencils
Brown bubble and mailing envelopes.
Pads of paper.
Flower pots
Glass 1/2 marbles,to cover bowling balls for the garden.

I find lots of stuff i can use,and never come out empty handed!! Darn
Kathi

sunglasses
books
coloring books for the grandkids
scrapbook stuff
disposable dusters-like swiffer
kitchen utensils and gadgets

patti-i found packs of the 4x6 photo paper and stocked up on it

I'll have to look for the Awesome cleaner. Sounds awesome! :-)

Whether or not the Pine Glo is diluted, I love it. I have two elderly dogs, and often use it for cleanup. I don't see how the Comet cleanser could be diluted, but even if it somehow is, it works great. Dish detergent could well be diluted, but I add water to mine anyway when it goes into the sink dispenser.

I will never again buy nuts or any other food packaged in plastic or cellophane bags because the last time I bought cashews packaged like that (I think they were from Thailand or another Asian country) I found a large insect leg in the bag. Ewwwwwww!!

Joan's post reminded me that I didn't mention my giant coffee cups. Actually, I use them for tea. Every morning.

Utility scissors that will cut anything- including tin. Never found that size again but did find smaller ones. Wish I'd gotten more. Also get:

Gift bags & cards.
Children's sand buckets with lid for under the sink to hold coffee/tea grounds, veggie peels, etc. for compost- NO smell escapes.
Exfoliate gloves 'n bottles of the stuff, long curved brushes for shower gel, better brands of shampoo.
Long & short wrought iron plant hangers.
Children's books with the hard pages (often $5-8 at book stores.
Little tin buckets to use as ashtrays on the patio.

Suzi

I guess all of the above
I do like those scented sink stoppers. When my kitchen sink stopper looks the least bit grimy I just pop a new one in. Better than paying $8-9 for a stainless steel one.

The GKs and I go in and buy candy to take to the movies with us! LOL

I also buy gift bags there, tissue paper and ribbon

They have a neat "foot file" thingie that I really like

They occasionally have national brands of lipstick - friend and I "alert" each other when we see that it's time to buy

dog and cat treats and toys

kitchen utensils (have bought several things to use in the camper in the Dollar Tree)

I can sometimes go in there and "dollar myself" to death in there! LOL

Colored paper plates & napkins
Gift bags
Gift cards
Hair bands and clips
Disposable bakeware

Not much else. I can get full sized brand name products for less on sale when you look at the unit pricing per ounce etc.

I don't trust most food products. I do buy a locally produced bread sometimes if I am there early enough. It's delivered fresh and goes fast.

I haven't shopped in dollar stores for a few years now. Simply because it is imported items of a low value, which reflects in the price. Some items are counterfit to look like brand names (even if they aren't brands WE recognize). Others may have quality issues - such as toothpaste that contains antifreeze.

Some of the decorative items are cast offs from factories (where workers are paid pennies per day and there are no standards for safety for worker nor consumer) or the makers are paid almost nothing as piece work. Again, there is no way to know what materials are being used and how the items are being made.

I don't want to support the exploitation of a cheap workforce that is being abused, simply to get a little vase with a crooked hand painted design for a dollar.

Local companies cannot compete with these cheap products so they undermine our economy. They also underscore the idea that it is cheapness and quantity and not QUALITY workmanship that should be a priority. We are a disposable society. Go ahead and throw it out, you can get a new one at the dollar store.

With rising prices and sinking wages I know that there are many who feel they cannot afford NOT to shop in the dollar store, and I commiserate. But for me, it was a choice I made for myself, my family, and my community. And I am sticking with it ROFL.

I only shop there occasionaly and this is what I have bought in the past.
Clare

Cards
Wrapping paper
Dog shampoo
Dog treats
Candy bars (2/$1)
SS cooking tools
Flower bulbs
Can veggies

I agree with Dances, so I don't really shop there anymore. Certainly not for anything that I'd consume.

Sheryl

Garden stuff, cookies, Comet, rubber gloves, flower pots, wrapping paper, party balloons..and tonight I saw they had back to school stuff and autumn leave wreaths already!!

I'm with Dances on that also. I will go in there to get the little alphabet type workbooks for the kids that say they are made in the USA. They are the best I've found.