I am always looking for ways to live frugally, and I think dollar stores have their niche, and there is good reason for their success. In my experience, they a

I am always looking for ways to live frugally, and I think dollar stores have their niche, and there is good reason for their success. In my experience, they are one of the best options for buying budget non-food items at low volumes where quality is not the most important factor. Things like cleaning products, office supplies, arts and crafts supplies, batteries, deodorant, candles, even common tools and repair equipment. The reason is that if I want to save on many of this items, I would need to buy in bulk at a large store like Costco, or order on Amazon - at a greater volume than I need, and at a steeper price. (e.g. batteries, pens, superglue, oven cleaner, drywall patcher,rope etc..) Not everything you use needs to be of premium quality, and these are the kind of items that large department stores and large online retailers have trouble competing against when selling at low volumes. Now when it comes to food, there are better cheap ways to help undeserved communities. Large department stores waste a lot of good produce because it is close to their expiration date. Where I live, a couple of grocery stores specialize on selling this type of produce at a discount.