Do you buy food from the dollar store?

[mombrontrent]

No, I will never buy any food items from a dollar store. Would never buy any beauty products such a soap, hand cream, tooth paste ect. either. In general I really hate dollar stores for everything, it's mostly junk. Really the only thing I buy there is greeting cards or colouring/workbooks for the kids. My DH is the most frugal person ever and he will not step into a dollar store EVER and hates if I go there. He says you never know what's wrong with the products or what kind of factory it came from. He says it's probably made in sweat shops by children and covered in lead paint.

 

[Kat77]

FIL is a chemist, he ingrained a fear of dollar stores in me. I do not buy the cookware, food, meds/vitamins or cosmetics. The exception being name brand soda and movie theater boxed candy.
I still love dollar tree! It's great for holiday decor and office supplies.

 

[mbforbes]

Well, I am officially nervous again after all of these posts!! Glad I only bought frozen bread and sweet potato fries...lol. Won't be buying anymore.... We normally buy most of our groceries at costco or food lion, so I just picked those things up one time when I was in there to finish off a meal I was planning.... however, they tasted just fine.

 

[dgthree]

Like some PP have said, I will buy name brand chips/pretzels, drink mixes and sodas at my local Dollar Tree, but that's about it.

 

[KarenAylwood]

My local store carried name brand Nature's Own Whole Wheat bread - I used to buy that a lot since it was so much cheaper to get it for $1. I also used to buy woven wheats (dollar store triscuits). They weren't too bad.

I think that was about it since I shop pretty healthy. I used to buy their ziploc bags too.

I stopped shopping there just because I moved and now it's an extra stop for me and somewhat out of the way. I'd rather pay $2.30 for a loaf of bread than waste my time driving to the dollar store for just that. If I was in there for some other reason I'd definitely check out what they had though.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Our's recently added a frozen/fridge section at the back - we like the frozen pretzels and DH *who loves chocolate milk* likes the small carton they carry *packaging states the milk came from TX.

 

[lovehoney]

My local store carried name brand Nature's Own Whole Wheat bread - I used to buy that a lot since it was so much cheaper to get it for $1. I also used to buy woven wheats (dollar store triscuits). They weren't too bad.

My Dollar Tree carries Nature's Own 100% whole wheat bread as well. You just have to check the date. There are usually 4-5 days left on the sell by date. I bought 2 loaves and froze them. Sometimes they have the double fiber bread - a great savings!

 

[britfish]

So do you think if you stick with name brands you would be ok?

 

[neatokimmo]

I have bought things like pringles there. I have also bought jarred pickles and red bell peppers. Both were from a US company, I can't remember which off the top of my head.

Oh and I buy our extra gum there. They have more flavors than any place else. Hopefully they don't ship that in. Not a fan of food from other countries, not just because of the regulations, but the amount of fuel needed to transport it. Some day I hope our diet is all local. I am working on it but it is hard.

 

[tasha99]

Nope. I try to buy whole foods rather than processed ones.

 

[maleficentmom]

Tried their turkey bacon(think it was brand,but not something I recognized from our local store) and it was not as tasty and didn't cook up as nice as it should have...we really like the frozen breadsticks they sell.Also,we will do popsicle type items of brand name.I buy Lance crackers and peanuts.Basically anything I would buy at grocery that is a brand I recognize I feel ok with...we avoid any kitchen tools/pans and candy/food other than USA...especially candy. Also, I am a bit scared of their air fresheners and bath and cosmetic items that are at Dollar Tree and say made in china or "distributed by Greenbriar",which seems to be sort of their brand of stuff. We get cards,holiday decor,Hershey and M&M products and Cokes sometimes for movie snacks,paper plates and party items,and I like their brand of Mr. Clean type eraser sponges.

 

[debdreamsofdis]

I buy food from the dollar stores all the time. When I say dollar store, I mean the reputable chains,like Dollar Tree and 99 Cents Only stores. Like other people mentioned, my stores carry name brand packaged bread (Nature's Own, Roman Meal) for a dollar a loaf, which is a huge savings over regular grocery store prices. I've also found the large Lunchables (with the drink/sides/treat) which my kids love and are super convenient, and 6 packs of Jell-o puddings (another huge savings over grocery store prices). Other name brand items I've bought included Quaker Granola bars, Dole fruit, Vlasic pickles, Kelloggs PopTarts and Motts Juice. Sometimes I'll try an off brand product and it's hit or miss. They had boxes of graham crackers that tasted great, but the boxes of vanilla wafers were horrible. You do really need to do your homework and compare prices. Alot of the time you can get the same items cheaper at the grocery stores (look at how much it costs per unit), especially if you use coupons. And definately check expiration dates. I have good luck most of the time, but every once in a while, some expired or close to date food slips by.

 

[C.Ann]

Yes - there's no reason not to buy food items there.. You will see more recalls of food items from your major supermarkets and major stores such as Target and Walmart than you do from the Dollar Stores..

Watch the sizes/ounces (so you know what kind of deal you're getting) - watch your name brands (if you're fussy about that) - and you'll be fine..

We've been doing it since Dollar Stores opened and we have had no issues that I can recall..

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

I don't believe that you can trust the name brands to be real. A few years ago Colgate Toothpaste put out a statement saying they found counterfeit Colgate in dollar stores in 4 different states.

If people are willing to make and sell counterfeit toothpaste, what else could be counterfeit in those stores. There has to be a REASON they can sell these products for so little.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dy...//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282036,00.html

 

[turtlegirl25]

This one is easy. Never!

 

[valee]

I'll buy low risk foods, such as pretzels, and Lance snack crackers to keep in my office drawer so that I don't spend $1 for one pack in the office vending machine.
Whenever I happen to go in, I check the food aisles for name brand items. I've found unexpired food that seemed to be either failed test market or discontinued food lines, such as types of cereal and salad dressing that weren't successful, and the manufacturer is unloading. Most of the cookies and crackers are loaded with saturated fats such as palm oil, so I skip those. The only non-name brand cookies I buy are the graham crackers, which I use to make "gingerbread" houses for the holidays.
Several years ago, the Dollar Tree in a small Texas town where my sister lives was the last store in town to have Hersey bars with the silver wrapper and separate paper overwrap which were needed for wedding favors for my niece. We subjected several to "quality control" to make sure that they hadn't expired or been stored in heat - they all passed. We had the local office supply store print up overwraps which we put on ourselves. Since the candy bars were 3 for a dollar, the final cost was less than 50 cents each - lots cheaper than the $2+ the wedding store quoted.