7 $ store steals

First Person: Our 7 Favorite Dollar Store Deals

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Todd Craig, On Wednesday July 20, 2011, 5:41 pm EDT

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Since our family lost a paycheck last year, making smart decisions with our shopping dollars has become a necessary part of life. As painful as the transition has been, we've learned some difficult lessons and made some smart discoveries.

One of our biggest surprises has been the great values we discovered at our local dollar store. Every month we make a stock up run for a wide variety of products whose performance and prices have delivered the best bang for our buck when compared to store brand items.

These seven household items listed below have become dollar store staples of our day-to-day lives.

Bleach - This necessary laundry staple usually runs about two dollars at the local grocery store. So how does saving fifty percent by buying at the dollar store sound? It sounded pretty good to us, and we've noticed absolutely no difference in cleaning or whitening abilities. As an added bonus, our dollar store sometimes stocks a far larger bottle than the regular size that delivers even more value. Estimated savings - $1.00.

Fabric softener sheets - Dryer sheets perform two functions: they eliminate static and make your clothes smell nice. The dollar store sheets do both of these tasks adequately. One big difference we found was that brand name dryer sheets can quite often be used more than once, which is not the case with the dollar store brand. However, as most brand name dryer sheets go for three to six dollars more, the best value award goes to the dollar store brand. Estimated savings - $3.00.

Dishwasher detergent - The small box of dishwasher detergent delivers great cleaning ability and a nice, slight citrus scent. The dishes regularly come out of the dishwasher clean with no food residue on them. Since store brands can run three to six times as much, the question becomes how much money do you want to save? My only complaint is that the box is rather small, which means we usually buy two at a time, but the savings are still there even when buying multiples. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Toilet cleaning bleach tablets - Who doesn't love these? Open them up. Drop them in. Keep your toilet bowl clean and fresh. While the dollar store tablets tend to be smaller and not as long-lasting, the two tablets per box make these a great money saver compared to brand names that sell one tablet for five times the price.Estimated savings - $4.00.

Zipper sandwich bags - I like these. After all, when you're wrapping up your kid's peanut butter and jelly, he or she isn't going to know whether it's in a brand name plastic bag or not. And since the bag is ultimately going to be thrown out after one use, there's not much reason to pay the extra two dollars that brand name is going to cost. Now my family does prefer the brand name freezer bags for our meats and leftovers that we like to freeze, but for sandwich bags, we'll happily pocket the extra cash. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Dish soap - The dollar store in our area carries a wide selection of smaller bottles of brand name liquid dish soaps like Palmolive and Ajax. We prefer their smaller bottles since they are less obtrusive on the counter and easier to handle when diving into a big pile of dirty dishes. The savings here aren't much, but every little bit helps. Estimated savings - $1.00.

Bleach spray cleaner - These counter cleaners are kitchen and bathroom must-haves for their anti-bacterial and tough cleaning abilities. At a dollar a bottle, it makes daily cleaning both healthy and a good value. With store brands retailing for three to five dollars, you'll also notice a much fatter wallet, too. Estimated savings - $2.00.

Long story short, when it comes to these common household items, we can spend seven bucks at the dollar store or three times that amount at the grocery store or Wal-mart. Believe me, your family won't notice any difference, except maybe that extra cash in your account at the end of the month.