I've had to find ways to lower my grocery budget just recently and have discovered that the pound shops in my city offer some real bargains. Previously, I thought that they only offered generic brands, how wrong I was! They offer many of my favourites at around a 50% discount, including PG Tips tea, Walkers crisps and multipacks of my favourite chocolate bars. Do you like using the pound shop or dollar store? Or do you find that visiting is not really worth the effort?
I visit the local poundshop quite frequently. I find that generally I can save upto 40-50% with most branded products by going to the poundstore opposed to a large retailer such as ASDA or Tesco. The pound shops definitely come in handy if you find yourself on a relatively tight budget, although be careful as *some* of them try to trick you by giving good prices but on substantially lower weight items etc.
I have noticed that too! Multipacks, for example, often have one less that they do at Tesco. You do have to keep a close eye on things! Often, though, the only real difference, especially with cleaning products, is that the labels are in a foreign language. Suits me fine!
I buy things at Dollar Tree ,ever since they opened two of them locally. I like that they accept coupons, so if Dollar Tree has Crest toothpaste for $1 and you have a 75 cent coupon, you get the toothpaste for a quarter.
Yes, you do have to shop around and look at the sizes though as some maybe smaller. Generally the pound stores do the same sizes, but there maybe the odd product like Heinz soup that maybe a smaller can. There are some good brands on soups, sauces, rice, crackers, biscuits and cakes, so it is a good place to stock up on some basics before you go to the supermarket.
I do like Pound stores, especially for the cleaning materials and toiletries. Sometimes they also do bigger size stuff, so you save more as you gain more than you'd normally get from a regular supermarket. I also like getting stationary and small tools from Pound Stores. You'll be surprised what you can unearth in those places! I think ever since the recession, you see many people from different backgrounds going into them now. I think the stigma and shame that used be attached to going into such stores have been lifted, not that it ever bothered me. I've always mixed and matched, and I usually invest more in my food.
I do hit up places like Dollar Tree and Deals from time to time, but only for specific items since as you noticed, some of them are of lower quantity but also sometimes of lesser quality too. Items like soaps, shampoos and detergents I don't bother with at all because they are typically watered down. But stuff like tape, notepads, or extra plastic serving plates or bowls for parties, certain condiments and such, I will buy there. One of my most favorite recent finds was that Dollar Tree sometimes carries Progresso brand Artichokes in a can for only $1 each. That's far cheaper than I would ever find those in a grocery store. Deals has some decent quality frying pans that have held up pretty well too. I bought a 5" pan for making fried eggs there for only $3. Another thing I save money on are dishwashing supplies such as scrubbing pads and brushes. No sense paying around $4 on up for these things when I can get them for $1 there. The things I got burned on though, and would advise against would be: Knives - they went dull and started to rust shortly after I bought them, plus they weren't very sharp to begin with. But what can you expect for only $1? Tomato sauce (some off brand) in a plastic pouch - horribly bitter and nobody in our family liked it at all. Plus I could have bought much better commercial brand sauces in a jar for only $1 each to begin with. Shampoo or Body Gel - it literally poured out of the bottle as if it had been diluted 50% or more with water.
I usually hit up dollar stores when I'm feeling like I have time to actually look around for the stuff I need. The products come indeed much cheaper than on more retail stores and the quality is the same. But sometimes when I am in a rush I kinda go to the first supermarket and just buy it from there. If I do a little math I think I will end up paying about 20-30% more for that product in a retail store if I don't check the dollar store.
