Tips to Make Dollar Tree Work for You

I admit it; I never wanted to learn anything about Dollar Tree. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I have frequently copped to not paying attention to money and budgeting for most of my life. I crashed into the savings world due to getting cancer and losing my career a few years ago.

Had I paid attention sooner, my nest egg would certainly be a bit chunkier at this point. No use crying over spilled milk! What I have learned is that it is never too late to become an educated, thrifty shopper. I have significantly reduced our monthly spending on “goods” by shopping at Dollar Tree. I thought I could share some of these bargains so you could benefit from them as well.

For starters, never buy balloons at a party supply center again. Dollar Tree sells all sorts of helium birthday, congratulations, anniversary, and solid color balloons. The ones I recently bought for my daughter’s graduation proudly flew on our stairwell for three weeks. I finally had to pop them and cut them down.

Ditto for party supplies like goodie bags, party hats, matching plates and napkins, banners, etc. They also have greeting cards and packages of cute thank you notes. Right now, they have all sorts of flags and flag napkins plus red, white, and blue plates and disposable dinnerware for 4th of July barbeques. That stuff sells quickly, so you need to get there soon if you want to pick up any of it.

They also always have seasonal plastic platters so if you want to put your hamburger buns on a nice serving tray I’m sure you can find one you like at Dollar Tree. Their platters are also great for when you attend someone else’s party and bring food. No need to worry about getting your dish back, you can just leave it as a hostess gift for your friend.

If you have little ones, Dollar Tree is great for sand toys, pool noodles, floats, and flip-flops. And, they always have those glow-stick things that you can make into a necklace so if you are at a block party at night you can see where your little munchkin is. I loved using them when the kids were little! I, of course, bought the ones from Party City that were three times the price. Please learn from my mistakes!

I try and go to Dollar Tree one time per week. I have a list of staples I always buy there:

• Paper Napkins
• Paper Plates
• Scottie Tissue boxes
• Dishwasher Pods
• Reynolds Tin Foil pop-up sheets
• Sandwich, snack, freezer storage zip-lock bags
• Yardley Lavender Body Soap
• Honey Wheat Twist Pretzel Sticks
• Prego Alfredo Sauce
• Ro-Tel Tomatoes
• Green Giant Canned Veggies when $.79/can
• Business size envelopes
• Tri-fold poster board for school projects
• Regular poster board for school projects
• Stick on numbers/letters for school projects
• Coloring books, crossword books, word-search books
• Windshield wiper fluid
• Spices
• Sweet Relish
• Bread and Butter Pickles
• Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns
• White or Rye Bread
• Bagels
• Tortillas
• Sun Flower Seeds (for my baseball player)

The tricky part about Dollar Tree is that they do not have everything on every day. That is why I recommend you go once a week. One week you may find name brand products and then the next week they will not be there. Name brands seem to be hit or miss.

All of the products I have listed above are things that I have tested and use on a regular basis. I have tried lots of other products that I was not impressed with and I suggest you do the same. Take some time to walk through the store and see what they offer. The good news is that if you decide to try something and you do not like it, you’ve only spent $1.00.

I also suggest you visit a few different Dollar Tree stores. There are three fairly close to me. The one I shop at is always clean, the cashiers are very friendly, and they have an excellent selection. The other two near me are always a mess – boxes waiting to be unpacked in the aisles and floors always looking like they need a good mopping. Don’t get discouraged if you walk into a store and do not like the ambiance. Just turn around and use your GPS and find another store to check out. One store is not representative of all Dollar Trees.

I hope this quick post has provided you with some insight on shopping at Dollar Tree. There are definitely bargains to be had there if you look for them.

Are you currently a Dollar Tree shopper? Do you have any tips you can share? If not, has this post enticed you to give Dollar Tree a try? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.

Happy saving!