I have never lived anywhere that gets trick or treaters, so I can’t even admire the costumes of other people’s kids. I don’t have any kids to dress up and I still have scars on my arm from my attempt to dress up my cat Pumpkin when he was a year old (he was Yankee 1 st baseman Mark Teixeira, the man that gives Pumpkin one of his middle names). I really enjoy Halloween, so it’s kind of a shame that I don’t really get to participate much in it anymore. However, horror movies naturally got me thinking about Halloween, which will be here before you know it. So instead of a midnight movie, I took a nap and then yelled expletives at the Yankee game. After only getting three hours of sleep the night before, I figured another late night would probably be pushing it, especially when I have a full slate at work today. “Small accessories, like hats, glasses, crowns, or gloves are fine, but you don’t want to be itching all night from the fabric of your dollar store costume.I had slated today to have a write up of the new horror movie Sinister, but I had to call an audible last night. “While your dollar store will be brimming with costumes every season, remember that they will be of very poor quality,” Bodge says. Because the toys may be poorly made, there are also potential safety hazards, like small parts that could break off and be swallowed, or battery-operated toys that could overheat.”īodge also isn’t too keen on getting costumes for any season from dollar stores. The quality is always disappointing, and the last thing any parent needs is a sad child whose toy broke on the first day of play. Even if they're only $1 or $2, that still amounts to wasted money that could've been spent better elsewhere.”Īdds Bodge, “I would skip toys across the board. “And if you aren't seeing name-brand toys, odds are they're going to be cheap playthings that break pretty easy. “It's rare that you find name-brand toys at dollar stores,” says Ramhold. Toys rank high on our experts’ list of things not to buy at dollar stores. In most cases it’s best to opt instead for supermarkets, which frequently mark down prices on canned goods and also offer trusted store brands that are especially cheap even when they aren’t on sale. At a nearby Walmart supermarket in central Virginia, the same-size can of Goya red kidney beans cost $1.22. For instance, a 15.5-ounce can of Goya red kidney beans was $1.25 at Dollar Tree. Also, while I’m pro-generic at the grocery store, in this case I would opt for name brands over generics.”Īnd even if you’ve verified freshness, is that $1.25 price tag really a value? Not during our price checks. “Because you have no idea how long something has been sitting around, look for expiration dates. “With perishable and packaged foods (including candy and drinks), freshness and quality can be questionable, so I would proceed with caution, unless the food is in a can (canned goods have a longer shelf life than other packaging options),” says Bodge. Those munchies and cheap eats call your name when you’re shopping at the dollar store, but, again, beware any products you’ll actually put in you. Take a look at 17 of the worst things to buy at dollar stores, either because the price is high or the quality is low – or, in some cases, both. You need to keep a close eye on unit cost and even what those units are – items? Ounces? Pounds? For the consumer, this isn’t necessarily a show stopper, but it does make comparisons to offerings at other retailers difficult. Manufacturers will often offer special versions of their products as they work to make a profit at the dollar stores’ fixed price point. One tip right off the bat: Pay attention to sizes and quantities. We also talked to shopping experts for their guidance. We were careful to compare prices and packaging of those items with prices and packaging at other retailers, a key step to successful dollar-store shopping. We wanted another look at what was on the shelves. and Canada operating under the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar names). We recently revisited Dollar Tree stores, where everything sells for around $1.25 or less, in central Virginia (Dollar Tree operates more than 15,000 stores in the U.S. If you find yourself filling your basket with dollar-store buys that you never use because the quality is poor or the brand is unfamiliar, then you’re simply wasting money.
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