10 Fun Things We Found at the Dollar Store to Celebrate National Dollar Day
Shopping at the dollar store is an adventure.
It’s a great place to find inexpensive craft materials, emergency kit supplies, travel essentials and even basics like socks.
If you keep your eyes peeled, you also might stumble on something cool or weird to take home for just a buck.
In honor of National Dollar Day, I took a wander through my local dollar store looking for some hidden treasures. Here’s what I found.
1. Mystery Shopper Disguise
Whether you want to go incognito for your next mystery shopper gig or just think you’d look good with a little lip foliage, this seven-pack of fake mustaches is for you. Styles include Banker, Chopper, Wise Guy, Snob, Casanova or Villain to suit every occasion.
2. For the Kid in All of Us
Dollar stores carry a lot of home goods, but it’s typically pretty boring stuff. This coffee cup, however, is cool AF. I like the rainbow, and my coworker Jen Franko likes the unicorn, so we’ll have to rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to use it first.
3. Fly Catcher for Animal Lovers
You could use this gadget for its intended purpose: to catch butterflies. Personally, I’d repurpose it as a harmless way to harness any flies buzzing around your picnic — that ought to keep the kiddos busy for hours.
4. Extra Arm for Lazy People
I consider this long reach-and-pick-up tool to be the best purchase of the bunch because it indulges my inherent laziness. At home, I can use it to snag the TV remote off the coffee table or snatch a potato chip out of the bag in my husband’s lap. At work, it’s perfect for handing things to my coworkers without getting out of my chair.
5. A Fine Kettle of Fish
One of the best things about dollar stores are the aisles of cheap eats that help stretch your food budget. Dried beans, tinned tuna and beef jerky are great protein-packed options, but nothing puts your cooking skills to the test quite like a can o’ mackerel. Don’t laugh — some of these recipes sound downright tasty.
6. Look Cool While You Keep Cool
A lot of us do what we can to power through the summer heat even if it means doing weird stuff like freezing the bed sheets. If you want to look super fancy while fending off sweat, this foldable fan is on the job.
7. Krispy Kreme Kandle
This maple glazed donut-scented Krispy Kreme candle sat on my desk all morning as I wrote this. Not gonna lie, the cloyingly sweet aroma is a little much for me. The kitsch factor is worth it, though, as is watching my coworkers eyeball each other to figure out who’s hiding donuts under their desk.
8. #selfieimprovementkit
Any Instagrammer worth their hashtags knows a fly hairdo is the focus of most selfies. Though most women untie their updo or unwind their messy bun before snapping the pic, this emergency selfie kit is filled with bobby pins, hair elastics and a few other goodies in case you want to tame your tresses up and off your face before you perfectly frame the shot.
9. Travel Nachos
It’s always smart to keep healthy snacks on hand in case you find yourself getting hangry. But let’s face it, sometimes you just need some emergency nachos. I bought five of these little packages so I can be the hero of my social circle when I whip out my purse nachos while we wait for our Lyft.
10. Disco-Style Repair Tape
Anybody can cobble together a quick-fix with some thread or spray paint, but savvy DIY-ers know the mark of a true genius is duct-type repair tape. And not just any repair tape — gold repair tape. If you’re going to bother fixing something, you may as well make the repair visible from the International Space Station.
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Let’s be honest, we all know she wrote this while wearing a fake mustache and sipping tea out of the unicorn rainbow mug.
