Food at the Dollar Store - Dos and Don'ts

One thing about the dollar store that can be less than thrifty is the grocery section. You have to be careful, because a lot of the stuff they sell is less than a dollar at the normal grocery store. Here are a few "do's and don'ts" I've created for myself.

DO buy a loaf of bread
The bread at my local dollar store is the good, name brand stuff. They have a good selection if you go there on the right day, too. You rarely can get even store brand bread at the grocery store for $1 unless it's on sale. The catch is obviously that the sell by day is probably a few days away. In my experience, that bread lasts way after the sell by day. I've also noticed that the store tries to hide the fresher bread with a later expiration date in the back of the store. (Can't fool me, I look at EVERYTHING!) 

DON'T buy their off brand soda
OK, so I honestly haven't tried it. I just know it must be gross. They usually have 20 ounce bottles of the good stuff for a dollar, though. I can't seem to resist that on a hot day. I like to think of it as a reward for another dollar store trip successfully accomplished.

DO try new things
Sometimes you see products at the dollar store that didn't sell at the regular store. It might have an expiration date on a product where most stores want a little more shelf life, but it's still good. It might just be some odd ball product that didn't take off. But if it sounds interesting, why not try it? After all.....It's only a dollar!

Haven't tried this yet, but I'll let you know when I do:

DON'T buy canned vegetables
Well, you really shouldn't eat them anyway, because fresh or frozen is better, but canned vegetables are always cheaper in the grocery store. Even if they have them for 50 cents a piece, sometimes the grocery stores have them on sale for less than that.

DO check serving sizes/ounces
Sometimes a product that seems like a good deal, really isn't because it's smaller than you realize. I bought a biscuit mix that made me dream of having Red Lobster cheesy biscuits at home every night. The result was delicious, but it only made 6 biscuits. A can of biscuits at the grocery store usually makes more. That said, I totally went back and bought 4 packages because they were pretty tasty and I wanted to eat them again. (Did I mention my other addiction is carbs?)