What to buy at the Dollar Stores

What to Buy at the Dollar Stores:

Hand Sanitizer
Brand name Purell hand sanitizer costs $4.87 for 237 mL bottle with a pump, while the dollar store brand comes in a 236 mL pump bottle for $3.87 less.

Band Aids
The larger, patch type band-aids are 20 cents each at the dollar store, while brand-name ones are about 33 cents each.

School Lunches
Places like the Dollar Store make it easy to shop for groceries on a budget by stocking a wide variety of food items, including fresh produce. The grocery stores sell Jell-O brand instant puddings for $1.19 a package. The dollar store has instant pudding mix at 2 packages for $1, a savings of $1.38 on two packages.

Lunch Bags and Backpacks
Family Dollar is featuring Disney backpacks or lunch bags at $6 each. Meanwhile, Dollar General is offering licensed lunch boxes in assorted styles for $5 each and backpacks in assorted styles for $8 each.

Warm Socks
Socks are one item of clothing that you can save a lot of money on by shopping at a dollar store. Dollar Tree is featuring kids and adult sizes in solids and patterns for $1 a pair.

Hearty Meals
On a chilly fall night, nothing feels better than a stomach full of a warm, home cooked meal. A 23 oz. can of Primo spaghetti sauce that sells for $1 at the Dollar Store, costs $1.49 at the grocery store. For a dollar, you can also get Hunts Manwich in the 14 oz. tin which sells for $1.79 at the supermarket, and two 10 oz cans of Heinz tomato soup.

Dorms and Apartments
You can find everything from dishes and silverware, to trash cans and cleaning supplies at your local dollar store.

School Supplies
Staples has 200-page exercise books for $1.96 each compared to the Dollar Store's 140-page notebook for $1. That means you're paying 96 cents more for an extra 60 pages at Staples.

Battery Operated Cell Phone Charger
Need to charge your cell phone on the go? Easy -- a battery-operated cell phone charger. The Dollar Store has them in two different models, one that powers most Sprint, Samsung, Sanyo and LG phones and one that powers most Motorola and Nokia phones. Each one comes with four different adapters and you can try each of the different plugs from the back of the package before you plunk down your dollar.

Garbage Bags
Twelve 20 x 22" garbage bags cost 8 cents per bag at Dollarama. The same size garbage bag is sold at Costco for $11.49 for 100 bags or 11 cents each.

Lip Balm
You could buy a tube of Blistex at Wal-mart for $2.43 -- or you could always get a tube at a dollar store for $1. It's up to you.

I also buy make-up, hand soap, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, storage bags, cleaning supplies, candles and more at my dollar stores.

What is your favorite Dollar Store buy?