Do you do the Dollar store?
 

I haven't been to the Dollar Store or Big Lots much but I'm trying to cut costs on my grocery bill and am wondering if there are really steals there.....

If your a dollar stretcher, what bargains have you found there?

I save the most money on groceries at Walmart & Costco. I haven't tried it, but I've heard that you can get some good deals at Aldi's. When I go the the $ store and Big Lots I end up buying a lot of things that I don't need just because it's so cheap. I don't look at the food usually, just treats, toys, scrapbooking supplies, all kinds of things I don't need to be buying. Good luck! I need to lower the amount that I spend on groceries also.

I love the dollar stores - there are so many of them now too! I usually get household cleaners, detergent, paper supplies....Alot of it is name brand stuff too! There are really ALOT of great deals on name brand items that you can get - Big Lots is good too - but the one in my area really doesnt have much.

I don't really find that BigLots has all that great of deals on food and I read somewhere that you should be really careful buying foods from the dollar store.

I go to Big Lots quite a bit to buy craft stuff and dog toys. I occassionally buy food but usually its snack food type stuff. big lots doesn't take coupons and usually waht I get I could have probably gotten at the normal grocery store with a coupon for the same price I did at big lots.

I have been in the 1.00 store often and picked up cards,etc.
Recently a Dollar Tree has just opened by me and I have to tell you
that that will put the 1.00 out of business, I think.
They have name brands in there and the merchandise looks of a much
better quality. I have recently purchased Reynolds wrap, 75ft for 1.00,
zip lock bags, gallon size/20bags 1.00, plus crystal gourds which sell
for 2.50 and up each in the craft stores for 1.00 ea. to add to the ones
I have in a large bowl for fall. Really nice stuff.
Also we have a Christmas Tree Store in the area and their prices are
great for everything you can think of.

To save on food costs, I shop at walmart a lot (It's the same stuff as in grocery stores), but I get my meat at Sams Club, because it's better quality than at Walmart. Also, Publix puts out new deals every week. I love their buy one get one free's. Also, I clip coupons and use them a lot when stuff is already on sale, so I get an even better savings. I really bank on the b1g1's when I use coupons. Also, if you have privetly owned meat/grocery stores, those always have super savings.

If you want to save serious dollars, you should get into couponing. Check out some coupon forums and read all the newbie posts on how to get started.

It is a lot of work, but if you put the time and effort into it, you can save serious money. I'm not talking about saving $20 on a $150 grocery bill; I'm talking about spending $20 on a $150 grocery bill. I don't put as much effort into it these days, but I used to regularly buy entire carts full of groceries (including meats and produce) for only a few dollars.

Just this past weekend, with some petsmart coupons that were out, I was able to get:
3 bags of dog food (regularly $15 a bag)
several bags of dog treats
a squeaky ball
5 large cans of dog food (I don't use it; I'll donate it to a shelter or something)
all for $7.52

I have seriously got to learn how to do the coupon thing!

Grocery Outlets have great deals around here, but I don't know if they are in your area or not.

I don't go to the dollar store, but the dollar tree I sure do . . I get my diaper bag there to use as poopie bag; get my boxes to ship gofetch orders :) sometimes candies and stuff . . .oh they do carry roasted red bell peppers too for only $1 and they are sooo very good :thumbup:

i usually get all my coupons and go to wal-mart too, with a baby at home i can't run around like i use too. but i do get my cleaning supplies at dollar tree. garbage bags, and foil, plastic wrap and stuff like that, i do save money, but wal marts again i don't get there meat.... it just looks old to me....
every weds. i go on gerber and huggies web sites to and see if they got any coupons out, which sometimes they do, and sometimes on gerber they will let you print them two times before they catch you:D :D and i also get coupons from the sunday paper, there are alot of web site that will let you down load coupons and print them, i almost alway save $20-$50 every grocery trip.... and i always look on the end of the isles thats were they always have there specials, and i buy generic too... hey im cheap and im on a budget, and im not affraid to admit it... :D :D

I did not know there was a Dollar Store and a Dollar Tree.. I'm going to the Tree... I use Ziplocks a lot, what a deal!...

I was just talking to my daughter about coupons and we both where wondering how these women get all those groceries for so little with coupons, I have never seen coupons for meat or produce....it would be fantastic if I could come out of the store spending so little....

My husband would do a back flip if I could do what you just did!!... lol

Are there any coupon groups or forums that you would recommend? I've always wanted to be one of those ladies who can buy a cart full of groceries for $20! That would make my husband one happy man!

Me Too, I Only Save Like 20-$50.00 Bucks, I Need To Save More....

Whoa!! I would love to know more about coupons!!! I got excited the other day saving $13 but that was on a bill of $150!

Here can you get all the coupons and tips? For everything?
I would really love to know, as I do not work and stay home to homeschool my daughter!! Plus, I have 5 doggies too! Everything helps here!

We have Big Lots, but I never really found any "real" good bargains there, course, I am not a "serious" shopper though.

We only have Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree.
I like the Dollar Tree and Dollar General.

The Dollar Tree everything is only $1 and we normally get some great things there...but I tend to buy things I DO NOT need.

Dollar General is okay too....I also tend to by things that I don't really need when I am there...scrapbooking stuff, holiday stuff, etc. But I think they are generally cheaper than buying cleaning stuff at Wal-Mart.

Most groceries are bought at Wal-Mart...especially now that they are getting more healthy/organic items. AND it helps that it is a one stop shopping and the do sale prices if you have another stores ad (for something that is cheaper). I don't really care for their meat....but I normally go to IGA or Harps for fresh meat.

I shop at my Dollar Tree. They have cool dog toys that I got Cody from there..
when the holidays come they have beautiful decorations for christmas. I got my halloween decorations from there. they have good smelly dryer sheets.

best part everything is $1 !!

I like dollar stores but not for edible things. I've found them to be good for school supplies, some cleaning products, gag-type gifts, etc.

I actually went to a dollar store today and they had a lot of Sunbeam kitchen things... I got some tongs that I thought were a good find.

I also bought some supplies for Britney's Halloween costume. :p

I used to go to the dollar store often, but stopped because they started to bring too much junk. They just opened I Dollar Tree by my house and I really like it, they have good stuff and you can save in regular grocery items.