Dollarama Chronicles: The Good and the Bad

I really enjoy a bit of a jaunt around the local Dollarama. I realize that some people hate dollar stores, feeling an ethical tug due to the ultra low prices and how the products are nearly all produced overseas. I don't buy a ton of stuff at the dollar store, but I have to admit that I do love to buy certain products there, especially at Dollarama. Here are three things I love to buy at Dollarama, and a few things, well, not so much.

Good Things to Buy at the Dollar Store
1. Office supplies. Yes, the quality at certain dollar stores might be dubious at best, but I find that Dollarama really does have a good selection of certain office supplies. I like to buy sticky notes (generic Post Its) there, along with tape, and pens and pencils.
2. Greeting cards. They might not be ultra fancy, but buying greeting cards at the dollar store really makes sense. Instead of the $4 and up you can buy at a greeting card store, you can get a nice card for a buck. I really like it when I can snag a multi-pack of cute Thank You cards (or even blank cards with pretty fronts) for just a dollar. Score!
3. Name brand items. I hate to give away a great secret, but Dollarama here in Canada has recently had some pretty awesome brand name items for $3 or less. Yardley lavender soap from England (and yes, I checked the box and product before buying to make sure they were the real thing - they are) is only $1 a bar! Incredible! They sell for at least $3 in other locations. And, I bought a lovely big container of name brand apricot body wash (I can't remember the name now, and I'm done with the bottle! lol) for $2.50 and it lasted me for absolutely ages. You can sometimes treat yourself with a brand name for way less at a dollar store.

What I'm not so keen to buy at a dollar store
1. Certain food items - for instance, I tried the peppermint tea at Dollarama recently. I was on an uber frugality kick, meaning that I kicked up my natural frugality a few notches and started doing the unit price thing a lot more regularly. But, the peppermint tea was not very refreshing, to say the least. I'll give a pass on Dollarama tea, called 'D Gourmet.' lol I learned a valuable, minty lesson that day. I'll stick to my regular herbal teas, which still only cost around a dime a cup to brew. On the other hand, I love buying a big bag of SmartFood popcorn at Dollarama for only two bucks - it's my favorite snack food by far.
2. Electronics. Now, I'm not electronics or technological whiz. In fact, I often think I'm more like an old lady two and a half times my age! But, I know that little gizmos and gadgets likely aren't such a great idea from the dollar store.
3. Kids toys. Be careful, as certain parts might be a danger to small children in dollar store toys.

The dollar store is a great way to stretch our budgets. What DO you buy at them, and what do you REFUSE to buy there?

Frugal Tips and Hints - Pay with Cash

Why does paying with cash make a difference, and cause you to spend less?
No matter what method you use - envelopes, jars or other ways to stash your cash - it just seems to help us spend less if we have actual, physical money in our hands as opposed to credit or debit cards.

Maybe you can't use cash for every single transaction right away - so make it a goal to do what we've been doing recently - take out a certain amount of cash each week for just your weekly groceries. When the money runs out, you have to make do with the groceries you have left at home! You'll be amazed by what a difference it makes to your overall budget if you use cash more, and other (admittedly convenient) ways to pay - such as using credit cards - way less.

What do you think? Does paying with cash help you to spend less overall? Post a comment and let other frugalites know!

Frugal recipes: Gluten free bread pudding

Since going gluten free a few years ago, I've found that our grocery costs have gone up. The problem with gluten free foods are that they tend to be 2-3 times more expensive than traditional foods! There are some ways to get around this - try to use naturally gluten free foods more, instead of always heading to the gluten free section of the supermarket.

For now, I realize that I have some Udi's gluten free bread (the BEST gluten free bread around, in my humble opinion) that is sitting getting stale in my refrigerator. So, instead of wasting those slices of bread, I'm going to cube them up, and then make a custardy type mixture of milk, a couple of eggs, a squeeze or two of honey, a splash of vanilla and some frozen blueberries I have and tossing the whole mix together.

I'm going to bake it in a buttered baking dish - and see how it turns out! I love experimenting with food and creating my own recipes on the run. :) I'll post about how my frugal gluten free blueberry bread pudding turned out. Now...if only I had some ice cream to top it with...