Dollar store shopping: My top 5

I’ll be honest with you. For the longest time, I never understood the allure of a dollar store. To me, it just smacked of cheap, crappy items and people who love to shop for junk. But as I got older, I notice that

people everywhere–at work, at daycare, in my neighborhood–couldn’t stop raving about the damn place. So one day, I went into one.

And I understood.

For starters, the store was just so…clean. Not at all what I pictured. And it had everything! Toiletries, groceries, household staples, craft and school supplies, party supplies, candy, balloons…I don’t think there was anything I could have needed that I couldn’t find at the dollar store. From that point forward, I was hooked.

It made me glad I stopped being all judgy and went inside. My budget is stretched just a little farther in certain areas now that I shop at the dollar store, which, at certain times of the year (what’s up, December), pretty much reaches capacity no matter how much we save in advance.

I won’t say that I do all my shopping at the dollar store. For instance, I’m not big on grocery shopping at the there for a number of reasons (number 1 being there’s an Aldi 3 miles down the road. More items, similar prices). I’m also not fond of buying certain household products because the quality is somewhat compromised (unless I’m in a huge financial pinch. Then I’m not in any position to be picky). But there are certain items that I do buy with some regularity. Inspired by a post on Money Saving Mom, I’ve compiled my list of my 5 favorite things I buy at the dollar store (really Dollar Tree):

1. Storage containers. It may not seem like it on the outside, but I am a mess. Well, not so much me as my child, husband, and house. Since clutter drives my anxiety, I’ve been on a huge kick to organize as much as possible. Enter Dollar Tree. For under $20, I’ve been able to buy a number of storage containers, caddies, and laundry baskets to help organize all the shit that litters my house and my pantry closet. These have worked just as well as the fancy ones I bought at other places and will continue to work well as long as the other people in my home use them with the same regularity that I do (hint, hint, husband. I know you’re reading this). 
2. Greeting cards. I’ll say it. I hate greeting cards. It pains me to spend money on something that just gets thrown away or recycled almost immediately. And I don’t quite understand why the cards cost so much. I’ve thought about making my own since the discount card store went out of business but I’m not crafty at all so instead, I purchase them from the dollar store. This way, I still look all polite and fancy, and it doesn’t bother me as much to know that they’re going right in the trash when I’ve only spent $.50 on a card.
3. Gift wrap. Along the same lines as greeting cards, I can’t stand spending money on something that looks nice for about 17 seconds and then gets torn to shreds. While I usually use tissue paper instead of wrapping paper, it’s still a better value at the dollar store than anywhere else. So, when I’m in need of  gift bags, bows, ribbons, and all of the other accoutrements that go with making your gifts look fit for Pinterest, I hit up the dollar store. $10 and I’m set for 6 years, give or take. That’s a sweet deal.
4. Kid stuff. My daughter is one of those kids that will draw one stick figure on a piece of paper and call it done. As a result, we go through lots of construction paper, doodle paper, coloring books, crayons (which, I’ll admit, I stock up on during back to school sales), and assorted other craft supplies. Rather than spend unnecessarily at the craft store, I can hit up the dollar store and for $5, buy 5 pads of paper that last, surprisingly, for quite a while.  While we’re there, we also stock up on some of the other crafts they have as well. A few extra dollar to save my sanity on a rainy day? So worth it!
5. Candy. Here we go. Another confession. When I go to the movies, I bring in my own candy. And drinks. I hide them in my (very) large purse and once we’re settled into our seats, we dig in. Fortunately for me, the dollar store and the movie theater are in the same shopping center so I don’t have to lug the stuff around for a while. It’s just a nicer deal to spend less than $4 on snacks instead of close to $5 for a bottle of water. I’ll also buy bagged candy around the holidays and fine, yes, sometimes I go in and just buy myself a Butterfinger because I want one.

So those are my favorite and most frequently bought items at the dollar store. I’ve been known to purchase other things, too, but those really aren’t worth talking about.

Readers, do you frequent a dollar store in your area? What do you purchase the most often? Do you also sneak candy and drinks into the movie theater?