We have two dollar-type stores. Prices at the first one got better when the other one opened!

I buy trash bags, napkins, Christmas stocking stuffers, extension cords, cheap spray paint, and generic aspirin.

Health and beauty items like toothpaste, shower gel, deodorant, shampoo, etc. are not usually cheaper than Walmart. Unless you buy generic. Tide isn’t cheaper, either; lots of times my favorite grocery store has Tide sales much better than Dollar General.

Gift bags, and some paper products. When I worked, we used to buy some party or holiday decorations for the office sometimes. I don’t shop there regularly so don’t even know what they offer.

Not much. Betty Crocker aluminum foil. Now and then the Play Doh (brand name only). I found liquid Spic and Span. I won't buy food unless it's a brand name I recognize. No plastic ware unless it's a name I know. My husband buys our grandson the odd cheap little toy. I do enjoy browsing the aisles.

Dollar Tree. Luv that store!

Awesome carpet cleaner. Jars of : red bell peppers, minced garlic, kalamata olives. coconut oil, Reach dental floss. Eggs, soft cream cheese, Hunts spaghetti sauce,28oz diced tomatoes, gift bags, rolls of painters plastic, paint pan liners, puffs, Thomas bagels & english muffins, Jolly Ranchers, batteries, Dermasil lotion, Pantene & Silkience shampoo, nail polish remover, consealer, spf30 sunscreen, hair dye, shower curtain liners, Bluray movies, Jillian Michaels work out videos., gardening books/other, flower seeds/veg/bulbs, Gojo hand degreaser, Sponge erasers. Day planners, calendars.

Brand name cleaning supplies for much cheaper. Gift bags and cards, plastic ware. Just depends on what I find inside.

Yardley Lavender bar soap, Awesome concentrate.

I'm not really all that impressed with any of the Dollar stores. The closest to me is the Dollar Tree. I can find reading glasses there. They carry cheap toy trinkets for homecoming mums and garters. I usually only go in there when I can't find anything elsewhere or I have time to kill. I usually spend less than $5 there. I just don't need a lot more junk in my house.

We have a Dollar Tree here, I'm rarely in it - ours is always very messy, doesn't feel particularly clean. They do have puzzle books my mother likes, but there is a better managed store near her senior apartment in Portland. You'd be more likely to find me in Big Lots, I can always come out with something useful when stopping at Big Lots.

I always get my calendar there.

I use a monthly planner calendar and the one's at Dollar Tree are just as good as the ones that cost $10++. I buy gift wrap, gift bags (a really good deal), some plastic storage containers, glass beads, both round and flat, for crafty GD, and whatever odds and ends catch my eye.

I always get one of my calendars there too, and I also get a couple bars of the Yardley Soap (oatmeal one).

I buy all gift bags, gift tissue, and celebratory balloons.

I buy 2/$1 greeting cards there for my 12 nieces and nephews. I send them cards for every holiday (Valentines, etc.), just for fun, so they know I’m thinking about them. Buying at Hallmark would add up pretty quickly!

Another Pears soap fan, here....

And Yardley...can't forget Yardley.

Thanks for this thread....guess where I'll be wasting a few minutes today?

(wonder how much soap I can have in my house before it becomes something to worry about???)

Dollar Tree! One nearest me has a frozen food section.

We have three 'dollar' stores, Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree. I rarely shop in any of them any more. Dollar General was the first one we got, and I loved it! Found lots of good things there cheap, plastic containers, bath mats, etc. Bought a number of decorative glass storage jars there. But they've changed over the years, rarely find anything I need there now, so rarely go in. I do shop Dollar Tree once a year, in December, for gift bags and Christmas wrapping paper. I've bought a couple pairs of reading glasses there, but the lens fell out of one the second time I used them, so haven't bought any more there.

Sometimes they have Necco Wafers, which I love, so it's probably best I don't go in there very often. :^)

When dollar stores first came to our town, I thought they were going to be like the dime stores of a bygone era. I was very disappointed!

Rusty

gift bags, cards, b-day ballons, party supplies, air fresheners, cleaning supplies, plastic storage containers. I have one close by so it's always worth a trip in to see what they have.

I've not been in one in at least 10 years. I do stop into Big Lots and Ollie's Bargain Outlet once in a while (maybe 2x/year). I shop at Marc's regularly and always check out the closeout section for things I need -- several years ago I was able to complete my discontinued Mikasa dinnerware set (except for fruit bowls) because Marc's had bought all the display sets from some store chain!

I would be afraid to buy anything electrical from a dollar type store.

I used to buy heat generating stick-on patches which were fantastic, but when my local Deals store changed to Dollar Tree, the heat patches they sold were different and did not work.

LA's Totally Awesome is great, Rhizo, but absolutely you do have to protect your lungs. I usually hold my breath while spraying it, then run out of the room while the aerosol settles out of the air.

Often we buy small packets of flower and vegetable seed at Dollar Tree -- cabbage, butternut squash, zucchini, allyssum, cleome. Gladiolus bulbs when they get marked down from $1 for a bag of ten or twelve.

We've bought bar soap--Palmolive, Ivory, Dial, Yardley. Kitchen cleanser like Comet. Nightlights for the bathrooms. Birthday cards. Those little clear glass floral gems (we use them in a mesh bag to hold down the vegetables when we ferment them). Oh yeah, mesh laundry bags. Wrist supports for carpel tunnel-- but you have to carefully check them as quality variation is tremendous, meaning that some are tremendously poorly made--but $1 as opposed to $30 at Walgreens? Visine eyedrops. Reach toothbrushes. Hydrogen peroxide. Posterboard. Pencil-top erasers.

Once we bought two fine quality king size cotton pillow cases. When we found out how good they were, we went back for more, but they had all been sold. They have pillow cases all the time, but not like those we lucked out to find.

There isn't a dollar store of any brand on my regular path for errands, so I never shop at one. A few years ago, I sought out a Big Lots after seeing some good deals on holiday decor posted on a forum. My store had nothing but junk, so I've never been back. I try to hit Tuesday Morning in late November for first pick of Christmas bags and boxes and other decor.

I told my DH he is not allowed to enter a dollar store anymore. He sneaks in there and brings home those dreaded solar dolls. We have a shelf full of them for every holiday. LOL, I told him, one more solar doll and he's out the door. Well, he did it again. He couldn't resist a little cupid. Now I have 3 dancing on our windowsill.

Wrapping paper and party goods mostly. The 6 packs of Nestle's 100 Grand small candy bars, mop brushes and buckets for cleaning chores I don't want to use my good stuff for, aluminum take out containers and the like. I don't buy consumables, either edible or cleaning products. I can get a better value shopping sales elsewhere.

I haven't noticed any of these stores near us. I browsed one while waiting for an appointment and found largely cheap 'impulse buy' junk and imported and date-expired consumables.

Who owns these chains? Are they franchises?

Yardley bar soap is well under a dollar at Walgreens. I buy three-packs of glycerin bar soap for DH's allergic skin at our grocery -- maybe twice a year -- less than a dollar a bar. There's a Party Store not far from us that sells discounted cards, wrapping paper, favors, balloons, etc.

I have shopped Tuesday Morning's remainder goods a couple of times -- hit or miss for size or color, but good quality. There should be a ton of stuff in places like this as big chain stores like Sears, Penney's, Bon-Ton, etc. liquidate.

Love the Dollar Tree :)

Cards, wrapping paper, gift bags.

Stocking stuffer type gifts.

Candles, flip flops.

Lime scale cleaner, microfiber cloths, clothes hangers, super glue in tiny individual tubes.

Ramen, candy (in small bags thankfully!)

Hair accessories, make up brushes, witch hazel solution (a little dilute, but very gentle).

DD loves the scarves that they sell seasonally with prints. Oh and don't forget the rocking sit abouts that are solar powered.

Linda, I love those solar dolls!! I bought a couple, but no more, that's enough. Obviously your DH is a science guy. Next birthday, get him some kind of solar charger or solar something!

I go to Dollar Tree. It started out nice, but it's quite messy at this point. I'm not a super-neat person, but when I go through there I feel like I need to straighten up the messes!! I like the Awesome cleaning spray, greeting cards, gift wrap, junky/cheap holiday decorations, boxed tissue, small gravely rocks for top dressing on pots.

Cough drops!

My dollar store is right beside my gym. I'll go there this week to buy a birthday balloon for daughter's B-day. I must confess I have three solar dolls...one on the car's dashboard. I buy some cleaners in there like shower spray but no food items for us or animals.

I shop at Dollar Tree occasionally. I really love their kitchen wash rags, Dawn detergent, cellophane bags for presents. Sometimes they will have really pretty charger plates that we use as platters for cookies and then we put them in the cellophane bags with a ribbon and they are beautiful. I used Dollar Tree a ton when I was making centerpieces for my daughter's soccer banquets. Also their plastic tablecloths are cheap, but why spend any more when it is just going to be wadded up and thrown away. We tried their zip ties for work and we won't buy them again, they kept snapping in half. I also buy their bleach, window cleaner, carpet cleaner and wood cleaner.

I only get to one about two times a year, so never leave without spending around fifty dollars. I get foil pans for baking,gift wrap, some things like noodles,cookies,candy, plastic glasses with the straws, this dec. I got 12 neck scarves ( the three gs are in to them) gloves , and so many more things. I live. About one and a half hours to one and it is about one hour to the other one.

I always laugh at Dollar Trees price on the small bottles of Dawn and Palmolive..1.00 and at Walmart its 97 cents. I find this a lot in the DT...I do like the gift bags and wrapping paper.

I have a Ollies twenty minutes away. I love Ollies. Never know what you'll find. I found Vanish Oxygen Bleach from Germany not sold in the US for two bucks..this stuff is really good. I also found Queen size sheets from Portugal, 100% long staple cotton, percale weave for twenty bucks...that was a grand price for top of the line sheets. A huge box of Tide with Oxi professional formula for twenty bucks. And books tons of books...the boys can take 10 dollars and get at least five books often more.

Dollar General has a pecan nugget candy bar that I LOVE. I try to never go in that store because that candy bar sits on the counter while im checking out looking at me...I won't leave without one...ok two.

The Dollar General near me is a disaster. There is always merchandise on the floors and the stuff on is in disarray. What bugs me most, though, is that they have these big rolling containers full of merchandise that hasn't been unpacked sitting in all of the aisles blocking the merchandise that is on the shelves. It's often impossible to get to to the items that are the reason I went into the store in the first place!

Having said that, with greeting cards in the $5-7 each range at other stores, they cant be beat at their price of $1 per card. Same with gift bags, tissue paper and ribbon. I use all of those things a lot, so that is where i go when I need that sort of thing.

What's a solar doll?

Thank you littlebug. I was ready to post the same question!

Dollar Tree (s) here. Absolutely the greeting cards and gift bags and the READERS glasses (somehow I find if I spend $1 on a pair, I never lose them lol). Occasionally some make up, make up pouch, and random food /snack items. oh and sugar free hard candy. It's been a while but they did sometimes have the bags of flax seed which elsewhere were over $3....and at dollar tree they were yes one dollar.

I also get my button batteries there, they seem to work just fine. Someone mentioned they bought readers and they broke right away, I've never had that happen and have been buying them for years and have had some pairs for years. You just got a bum pair and if they broke right away, you could just exchange them for another pair assuming you don't have to drive an hour to get there...HA! Our store is five minutes away.

Fabuloso, gift bags, party supplies

Here are a couple of Youtube videos for those who have never seen a solar toy.

Solar flower collection

Solar toy collection

I find the Foster Grant reading glasses at Walgreens to be my best buy. Durable frames, clear accurate lens and come with a protective case.

I buy the readers and sun glasses. I get the thicker bows in fun colors. $25 gets me a year's worth stashed at home, in the car, and in the office.

I also buy round hair brushes for styling hair for a song!

Tissue paper, gift bags, greeting cards, wrapping paper and disposable aluminum pans.

I'm not crazy about Dollar Stores, but I buy reading glasses there....at Dollar Tree they are a dollar a pair and when I go, I buy six or more pairs at a time. I sometimes buy Awesome. There is one chain called 99 cents Only, but we don't have them here....(in Houston)....and they used to sell plants for 99 cents. They have gone up on them now and don't have the variety they used to have. They even had alocasias and hoyas.

My grandkids like to shop at $5 Below. Cheap stuff that isn't missed if lost or broken.

Gift bags, tissue paper, birthday cards, candy, orange or apple juice from the cooler I need a small amount for a recipe and Betty Crocker parchment sheets that come 10 in a bag, cat litter box when I need a new one. I know what I won't be buying there again, metal kitchen items. I bought a slotted spoon and just noticed last night it wasn't steel like I thought it was, it was coated metal and after I used it last night saw it was coated to look like steel and it was flaking off.

Gift bags, tissue paper, paper plates, cheap paint brushes, plastic shoeboxes.

I buy that Awesome cleaner and use it straight on my gas stove top. I hope I'm not poisoning myself. Fumes don't seem that bad to me.

Sardines in water, gift bags, cards. Our dollar stores charge $1.25 here in my part of Canada.

Fran, you would know it if Awesome got in your lungs. I think it could easily give you a chemical pneumonia.

Just remembered that we bought cream of tartar at Deals. It was recommended to me in the Harvest Forum for cleaning chlorophyll stains off of canning jars. It worked and was super cheap at the dollar store.

I buy as little as possible at Dollar stores. I do my shopping elsewhere.

EVERYTHING and anything, lots of snacks too.

I went to the dollar store today to get chlorine tablets for the toilet & office supplies....and found 4 packs of Dannon Creamy Yogurt for $1ea! WOW!!!!!