When it comes to snagging the hottest deals around, many thrifty consumers turn to those old-standbys: their local dollar stores. If you’re personally a proponent of this type of shopping, then you know all too well about the pitfalls of these frugal wonderlands. After all, these shops are full of plenty of hits, but also quite a few misses.
Because quality is so hard to predict, we thought it would be a good idea to go through the absolute best and worst items the dollar store has to offer.
So, who better to take us through our dollar store dos and don’ts journey than the thrifty cleaning queen herself—YouTuber Melissa Maker from Clean My Space! In today’s clip, this handy gal lets us in on 13 of the best and worst things you can pick up at your dollar store of choice.
Here are some of the items she would never be caught dead skimping on:
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Personal Care Items
Why she passes on them: They tend to be made with “cheaper” ingredients.
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Tools
Why she passes on them: Their safety features are questionable, at best.
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Kitchen Utensils
Why she passes on them: They are too flimsy and can’t handle hot temperatures.
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Toys
Why she passes on them: They rarely end up being a kid’s go-to toy.
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Plastic Stuff
Why she passes on them: They are not eco-friendly or long-lasting.
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Pet Toys
Why she passes on them: They may not be durable enough for your pet.
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Microfiber Cloths
Clean My Space
Why she passes on them: They are made with up to 50% less material than the brand names’.
While we’ll gladly admit that we’ve fallen victim to purchasing some of these weaker options, this gal sure has done a good job of proving what we already knew—not every dollar store item is as good as their pricier counterparts!
On the other side of the coin are the things that are definitely worth that entire buck! Here are some of the most awesome dollar store buys:
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Cleaning Products
Why she nabs them: There’s a good mix of name brand and high-quality generics.
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Glasses and Glassware
Why she nabs them: “Glass is glass is glass.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
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Pantry Basics
Why she nabs them: The ingredients are usually identical to the pricier options.
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Greeting Cards
Clean My Space
Why she nabs them: The jokes are (almost) just as good as the ones you would find in a Hallmark card.
She just dropped some serious bargain basement truth—and we love it! To get some more brilliant inexpensive shopping strategies, as well as an interesting history on thrifty spending, and to find out the other items Melissa does and does not buy at the dollar store, be sure to watch Clean My Space’s video below. We’ll never shop at our local dollar store the same way again!
Now that you know this domestic goddess’ take on bargain items, we want to hear from you! Do you agree with Melissa’s lists? If not, which items would you add/defend? What is your dollar store shopping strategy?
