Alex Carson
The Dollar Store
Everyone loves the dollar store. You walk into the store and literally everything costs a dollar. Many people walk into this store with the intention of picking up just a few things, and they leave with a carriage full of items. While they have some great stuff at the dollar store, there are certain things that you shouldn’t buy there.
Steak
Buying steak for a dollar seems too good to be true, and it probably is. Steak is one of the more expensive meats; therefore, if you buy it at the dollar store, you get what you pay for. A new station who tested out dollar store steak discovered that it is utility cut steak, which is the type of stalk that they serve in school cafeterias. If you want steak, you should stick to the supermarket.
Chips
You may think that you are getting chips for a bargain if they cost $1. They cost $1 because the net weight of the chips is much smaller than the chips that you pay full price for in the supermarket.
Soda
There is soda on the shelves of this store, but they often sell single liter bottles. Many supermarkets sell two-liter bottles of soda for $1 when they are on sale. In the end, you are better off buying a two-liter of the name brand soda at your local supermarket.
Cereal
Name brand cereal can be ridiculously expensive. If you are lucky enough to buy name-brand cereal at the dollar store, chances are you are only going to get a fraction of the amount in each box that you would get at the supermarket. If you can find your favorite brand on sale at your supermarket, you are better off buying it there.
Gum
Like most stores, the dollar store keeps gum at the register for impulse buyers. If you compare the size of a pack of dollar store gum with a pack of supermarket gum, you will find that the gum at the supermarket or drug store register is larger.
Condiments
Paying $1 for ketchup or mustard seems like a good deal. However, you can buy larger sizes of these items at other stores for $1. You can get better deals if you buy the store brand or if the name brand is on sale.
Baking Soda
If you think $1 is a good deal for baking soda at this store, you are wrong. Plenty of stores sell baking soda for a lot less, and they come in bigger sizes.
Spices
Spices in the supermarket are really expensive, which leads many people to buy theirs at the dollar store. The only problem with this is that the spices sold in the dollar store contain way less product than what you would find in the store. In some cases, you may need double and even triple the amount to get you what you need.
Cheese
Dollar store cheese isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. If you look at the ingredients on Dollar Tree cheese, the first eight ingredients listed aren’t even dairy. If you are worried about what you are putting in your body, cheese might not be the best option. Since cheese is supposed to be a dairy product, you want yours actually to contain dairy.
Milk
If you need milk, you might want to think twice about getting it at the dollar store. The freshness and quality may be quite questionable. You have no idea if the coolers in the dollar store are cold enough because their focus isn’t on food. Also, buying it at the dollar store may not be cost-effective. Most dollar stores sell 16-ounce cartons of milk for $1, which equals to about $8 per gallon. This certainly isn’t a deal.
Frozen Burgers
If you love frozen burgers, you might be better off getting them at the supermarket. The burgers they sell in at the dollar store are mostly bun and very little burger. If you don’t mind getting a mouthful of bread and no meat, $1 frozen burgers is a good deal. Since meat is the most important part of the burger, you might want to buy yours at the supermarket.
Canned Goods
You should never buy canned food at the dollar store. Here’s why. Buying canned vegetables for $1 isn’t a good deal. You can buy Walmart brand vegetables for 50 cents a can. Even the store brands in major supermarket chains are cheaper than the dollar store. You can get two cans for the price of one in most other places. Even the soup is cheaper or of equal value in the supermarket. If you are going to make a special trip to the dollar store to buy your canned goods, it’s not worth it.
