WINSTON SALEM, N.C. — Are you the kind of shopper who goes to a specific store for a specific product? You know the type. Bread, meat and milk come from one store, while sandwich bags and laundry detergent come from another. What, if anything, do you buy at dollar stores? Consumer experts agree there are some deals that are just too good to pass up at stores that charge a buck - or less - on items.
"With three kids, and one in college, you need to be able to save as much as possible," North Carolina mom Stephanie Grimes told WGHP.
So, what are the best buys at dollar stores? Here's the list:
- Greeting cards
- Gift bags
- Seasonal decor
- Reading glasses
- Hair Accessories
- Pregnancy tests
- Vases/decorative bowls
- Mugs and glasses
- Dishware
- Storage containers
When Consumer Reports took a closer look at dollar store savings, it found you can save about 30 percent buying "store-brand" products over national "name brand" items. Consumer Reports also sent secret shoppers into stores around the country in an effort to figure out where to find the best deals.
For our scan, we sent our secret shoppers across the U.S. to price a list of 38 items, including food, cleaning supplies, paper products, drinks, and other staples at the two biggest dollar stores, supermarkets, Target, and Walmart. Supermarkets were by far the most expensive places to buy groceries (unless you shop when lots of items are on sale and hit those coupons hard). Walmart had the lowest prices overall, beating its competitors’ prices on 29 of the items on our list.
