Top 10 Dollar/99 Cent Store Values

Published May 21st, 2008

Well I’m sure this is not the first post to be written about the dollar store, but hopefully a slightly different take than what many people use it for. Here’s a list of the top ten items found at my local dollar store, which I’ve found to be equivalent or the same for a much lower price than at the hardware, department, office supply, or craft stores.

First a bit about dollar stores themselves: There are many different brands of dollar (or 99 cent for my American friends) stores, some are true dollar stores where everything actually is $1 or less like Dollarama and Loony Lizard, or there are other “fake” dollar stores where they suck you in and in fact everything is of different prices rounded to the nearest dollar. I don’t generally bother with the fake dollar stores as they usually sell overpriced low quality items.

The store in my small town is a Dollarama, and I am actually pleased to report that some of the items on my list like the sponges and envelopes are actually made right here in Canada–not every single thing at these stores is made in China. Now there’s obviously different inventory at different stores, but hopefully this list will give you some ideas for ways to pay less on some items you might use and pay a lot for elsewhere in a pinch.

So without further delay, here’s my list of top ten things to be found at the dollar store besides the obvious greeting cards, gift bags, and candy…

1) Sponges- I love my bag of 12 yellow sponges with the green scrubby pad on the bottom. The bag usually lasts me a few months and these are great quality sponges made right here in Canada. I’ve seen these at the grocery store for about $3.

2) Water saver head for the kitchen tap- This isn’t a high tech head, but does a good job of saving water, and is adjustable for how much water spray you want.

3) Stickers- I picked up a box of 200 high quality motivational stickers on a roll in the cardboard dispenser for my husband, who’s a teacher. These are good quality stickers and there’s even 10 different types within the roll!

4) Envelopes-Many different kinds to be had, everything from 40-80 standard white envelopes, to a pack of 10 brown paper envelopes, to even packs of 2 bubble mailer envelopes–for a dollar. I saw one large size bubble mailer for $4.50 while standing in line at the post office.

5) Poster/bristol board-I don’t use this very often, but I imagine people with children probably do. I’ve seen everything from 2 to 4 for a dollar in different colours. This poster-board did come in handy when I was making the big charts to plan my wedding though.

6) Plastic zip ties- Those little plastic zip ties that you can pull on the little tab to tighten sure can come in handy around the house and in the garden. We picked up a pack of between 40 and 80 of varying sizes a couple of years ago and are still using them!

7) Tissue paper and napkins-I know many people get wrapping paper and gift bags here, but they often have a great selection of good quality tissue paper and big packages of brightly coloured paper napkins–that sell for a lot more in grocery and department stores.

Aluminum trays and roasting pans-These are great if you’re going to someone’s house who you don’t know very well, or an outdoor event where you need to bring large quantities of food and don’t have a dish big enough or are afraid you won’t get yours back. You can often get two big trays for a dollar. The thing I like best about these, is that they can be re-used or even recycled.

9) Scrapbook kits-Even though the scrapbook paper at the dollar store isn’t of the same thickness or quality as some of what you can get at a craft store, you can get a pack of between 5-10 sheets including some cutouts. stickers, and paper frames all for a dollar! Even if you don’t like all of the paper as background sheets, you can find another purpose for them, or give them to someone else who does like them!

10) Seeds-Maybe it’s a bit late for this depending on where you live, but I’ve seen packets of both flower and vegetable seeds for either 3 or 4 for a dollar. By any standards that’s a great value, but less of a selection than at your hardware store or garden centre.

Hope this list has given you some ideas to help you think outside the box on your next visit to the dollar store. Feel free to share any of your great finds with the other readers through the comment form below!

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