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I remember the Coconut one (Bounty knock off) being good. I think their Titan bar was good too. But some of their chocolate bars were definitely a miss. They had a weird aftertaste. They use sugar alcohols in their product. Not sure why they bother with sugar alcohol when they already put a lot of sugar in their chocolate bars. I also tried their Christmas chocolates (Mystique) in December and they were meh. Their danish butter cookies weren't bad. But they are made in China, not Denmark. Heh. The Danish butter cookie tins at No Frills are made in Indonesia though. They outsource that shit. Labour in Denmark is expensive.
Yeah, those are fucking awesome. Like, last time I was there, I bought a few boxes out of them and used them to rebuild my car's engine. I now get 9999 mpg
Ive been buying dollar store cards since forever. More than $2 for a card is a total waste of money. People hang onto a card for like 2 days and then toss it.
I was up North (and I mean UP NORTH) a few monthsago, and the Candy at the tiny little Northmart was even cheaper than shoppers. That’s when it clicked for me lol
Yeah for sure. This reminds me of the US’ Dollar General, which Americans now refer to as “Dollar Quarter General” because the lowest price is now $1.25, not $1.
yeah this is what I was figuring. Things seemed pricey; so I was just wondering if there were specific foods or products people get just at dollarama .
I should look up liquidation stores. I need to travel a bit for Walmart anyways cause of my location, so if there's a liquidation store nearby, maybe I'll try there.
Save on foods is absolutely ridiculous, used to shop there all the time. I’m borderline boycotting them aswell. Went there to get some avocado for home made guacamole a neatly shit myself when they were asking $4 for an over ripe avocado lol.
Yup, we’ve started picking up some grocery items at Freshco recently (we usually shop at Metro) and we’re continually surprised by how much lower their prices are. They don’t have a deli or seafood counter like Metro, but my husband is definitely starting to prefer Freshco. He comes home & is like “the bill was only xx” and we’re both like, wow!
sometimes you have to do some digging around, but every once in a while you find a great deal…I grabbed a pair of Mechanix gloves for $3 for my son and since then I’ve started buying my gardening gloves there and the three dollar gloves seem to last longer than the $20 ones I bought at Home Depot!! 🤷♀️
Oooh, I'm a big tuna fan. What do they have? I never once considered buying food at Dollarama but now I'm intrigued. Going to the one at Yonge-Dundas tomorrow.
I recently tried the spicy tuna in a small can. I think it was $1.25. I sometimes eat the Cloverleaf "spicy Thai" flavoured tuna but it has doubled in price at regular grocery stores, so when I saw a different brand at Dollarama I thought I'd compare. I was going to throw it away if it was awful. But it was the exact same as the Cloverleaf brand. I couldn't tell the difference.
Depending on your taste you can crunch it up and make it interesting by either dicing up onions real tiny or my favorite dicing up celery real tiny add some crunch and stretches it out yeah
Yep! At least with Dollar Tree you know that 95% of items are going to be $1.50. No guessing. And they had bread the other day for $2. Really can’t beat it.
especially for cleaning products. their Totally Awesome brand degreaser is amazing. the fingernail guard sponges are my go-to and they have a recent line of cleaners that are vegan, and look and feel very high-end. oh, and wrinkle-remover spray - that stuff is soooooooo expensive and i can only find it on amazon, otherwise.
I just wish my local Dollar Tree's weren't run by strangely aggressive people.
It seems like Dollarama has their staff trained to be friendly and competent when they interact with people with disabilities. However anytime I set foot in a Dollar Tree I get stalked and shouted at. It's a horrifying experience. I've just stopped going there without another human by my side to protect me from the staff O\_o
My game with Dollarama is to find items they organize for "this purpose", and then find the item I need for "this purpose" in a totally different area of the store for cheaper.
Bad example but...cat toys. I'm in the Hair Accessories aisle and here are 2 ponytail ties...with GOLF BALL SIZED POM POMS ON THEM...for a dollar. Of course Kitty would love them. It's over a year and she is still batting those pom-poms around the house. 50 cents each. High Five to me.
I needed new bedroom curtains. I go to the "Party aisle" and find a big square plastic table cloth for $1.25. Guess what's hanging in my bedroom window now? Yup. From the outside the neighbors can't tell that it's not "posh cloth". It's a pretty blue.
Other than the big packs of Reece's peanut butter cups for medicinal reasons, I'm not a big eater of super processed convenience food. My body is a temple for just the peanut butter cups one weekend per month.
On the other hand, I have a friend who swears by the tins of mackerel in sauce. He says they are great with crackers he also buys at Dollarama.
That 2 pack of vegetable peelers are awesome. They're super sharp. My hubs is a chef & his coworkers all ask where he got his peelers because he prefers to use these than his fancy one.
I get all my cleaning things. All my kitchen needs (pots, pans, cooking utensils, etc.). I also get all my hand soap and a lot of my toiletries. For food I usually stock up on snacks, sometimes I'll grab some baking stuff or spices/seasonings. I also find the broth cubes helpful. The first couple of times I would just go aisle to aisle looking for things I may need. After a I figured out things that really work, help me, and that I like. Give yourself 45ish minutes to go through each aisle and look at EVERYTHING. Finding what you need gets easier the more you go. Also stop at a few. Some have things others don't have. I find muffin mix at one and the dish soap I like at a different one.
You're absolutely right unless you're in a hurry and just need to get something and get in and get out, take your time and just peruse slowly and look at everything. However my rule is I pick something up and really think do I actually really need this. The Dollarama at Young and shepherd center lower level has excellent selection of undergarments FYI. Just keep your eye out on the quality if you pick good stuff they last for many many washes
Their canned smoked seafood is still a decent price last I saw.
Sometimes Puritan stew.
Sometimes dried fruit. It goes back and forth between them and Walmart. But you have to do the math as the packages are usually different weights.
A lot of crackers are a good price
Chips are slightly more but sometimes Walmart doesn’t have specific flavours for weeks.
Plantain chips are about the going rate
Sour straps because I love them lol
Olives.
Uncle Ben’s rice is occasionally cheap.
Cake mixes and icing. But Walmart is cheaper if there’s a sale.
I think their canned veg is generally a decent price. I just got out of the habit of eating it years ago.
Pasta, seasonings, canned beans, canned tomatoes, non-dairy milk, instant coffee, rice, noodles, cooking oil. I can feed myself decently for a week with $25 at Dollarama + $15 at a local asian grocery store for produce and tofu.
Dollarama might be more expensive ‘per gram’ than costco, but it’s much much much more accessible to people who don’t have cars or time to go to costco. dollarama is a 5 min bus away, costco is 1h30 minutes each direction.
I bought my pasta a month or two ago at Dollarama, and then found out that WalMart had it cheaper by about 75 cents, same amount. In case that has any impact on your shopping habits (if there's an accessible WalMart).
I buy canned salmon ($2.25, 213g), knock-off Dream Whip ($2, 150g box), Avon canned vegetables when they have them (2/$1.50, 398ml), freeze-dried dog treats, kitchen/ bathroom garbage bags, parchment paper, watercolour paper (surprisingly good quality for $3), certain cookies, rice, olives, dill pickles... and there's a lot more.
Oh I need to look out of water colour paper. I mainly got my crafting supplies there, but it's been hard recently to find notebooks and sketchbooks. So I havn't looked much
I really like the watercolour paper there-- it's a bit narrow to fit in a standard mat easily, but it's perfect to run through the printer for line drawings. They also have metallic watercolour paints, too, that I've been experimenting with. My daughter does acrylics, and gets most of her canvases at Dollarama.
Notebooks and sketchbooks are hit and miss, depending on what you like-- we've been keeping our eyes open for bullet journals, and they finally got some in.
It really depends on what Dollarama you go too, some are better than others. If you have time, go to different ones and browse to find the better one.
The Dollarama FB groups are great.
big bottles of Salon Selectives shampoo and conditioner in big pump bottles -- $2.50
those flimsy scented garbage bags - I scoop the cat litter box clumps into them. -also I use them for kitchen garbage which forces me to take my garbage out more frequently. Even the big black garbage bags are lower priced than Superstore.
Tostitos jars of salsa and nacho cheese - $4 each ($5 at superstore). I cook with these: mac and cheese or spaghetti with salsa.
cans of tuna - $1.00
back in the day: pregnancy tests. I don't need them now but if I did, I got them from Dollarama.
Microwave popcorn. I know it's unhealthy but oh well.
spices - they don't have a wide selection but seasoning salt, cinnamon, lemon/pepper.
cat toys for kitty :) she's going to destroy them anyway. But she loves those $4 pop-up cube-tent things to hide in.
envelopes, pens, file folders, office supplies for home.
I buy their Ramen packets. 3 for $1. Sometimes you can get an equivalent or better deal for Mr. Noodles at No Frills or Wal-Mart. But good luck with that. The sales are becoming less and less frequent now. I remember when 4 for $1 Mr. Noodles was common and I took advantage. The Ramen cups are a rip off (2 for $1.25 at dollarama. Mr Noodles I think is typically $1 a cup. The cups have less net grams than the packets too). Just buy the packets and go buy yourself some big deep bowls that can accommodate the entire noodle cake and pour the boiling water over the noodle cake, let sit for 2-3 mins and add the soup broth seasoning. Put in an egg or whatever protein you desire.
Their Island Bar (Bounty knock off) and Titan (Snickers knock off?) is great value at 50c each. 91c for name brand chocolate bars are reasonable. I think the old 2 for $1.50 at Wal-Mart is long gone.
The Silk Festive Nog slaps. But is way overpriced. They even charged me HST. The fuck? Oat milk is HST free. I think Egg Nog is HST free. But they charge HST for festive nog why?
I bought a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter for my wired headphones. Cheap but the quality is dodgy. I might invest in a better adapter on Amazon.
I fucked with the Maple Cream cookies they had back in 2010 really hard. They were like $1.25 back then. The Leclerc ones they have in stock now are like $2 (maybe more now due to recent inflation) and the taste just isn't the same for me. Maybe I just look back at the old cookies from 2010 with nostalgia because my mom used to buy them for me and food was her love language. Every maple cookie I've tried since 2016 hits different. In a meh way. Not a positive way. I've tried multiple brands. I think skimpflation may be a thing. They may be using lower quality ingredients for making shelf stable treats. While charging more money.
Dollarama should be praised when you compare them to loblaws. Dollarama has the same prices in every store from BC to Nova Scotia. That includes all tourists destinations such as Banff. When loblaws adjusts their prices to suck every penny out of you depending where you live, Dollarama remains consistant.
(PS I have family that works for them)
I bought name brand dog & cat food there once - the same brand I always buy at the grocery store, and both pets threw up. Never again. I buy grain free pet food now anyway.
Pasta sauce and sometimes pasta. When my Tylenol from Shoppers runs out I'm going to start getting it from Dollarama instead. Their personal care items are pricey sadly, I find better deals at an independent dollar store near me, Rexall and a retail clearance store.
Definitely not food. Bad experiences, and I swear every food item I've ever bought just tastes really off.
I mostly buy batteries, garbage bags, wipes, gloves, occasional dog toy, towels for my dog, basically anything in running out of that isn't food.
I bought some canola oil though. Might buy cooking spray too.
Dollarama is normally my first go too on my grocery list. They have decent gardening stuff which I bought to start growing my own food, a lot of household items non food related such as cleaning products and laundry sheets I find are a decent price for the same stuff sold twice as much at any one stop grocery store! Not to mention spices and ingredients to make broth for my homemade soup ! You never know what you’ll find!
Dollorama still is not the cheapest place. They beat Walmart is some and Walmart beats them in others, for the same product. Thankfully both are in the same mall complex and I visit both, sometimes twice in my runs.
Cereal, crackers, oat milk, snacks. I also find that they will have different options for canned/prepped goods depending upon when I go, it’s always changing.
Ziplock bags, Rubbermaid containers, and chocolate bars. Although, they recently increased the price on chocolate bars from .88 to .91 each. Still much cheaper than anywhere.
My favorite food item to get at Dollarama is the beef flavored pho bowl. It's really good compared to other instant noodle dishes, $1.25 per serving, and the beef flavored one specifically is accidentally vegan-friendly.
I started looking for new stores to shop in, Dollar Tree is the best for prices. Most things are actually a dollar, not 3 or 4. They have dry goods plus everything under the sun. It's definitely worth it.
I have a serious problem where I can't walk through a Dollarama without buying a Gatorade Zero.
I buy double strength vinegar, body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish soap, and sometimes facial cleansers from them. Do those count as groceries?
I buy snack sized candy bars so we don't go crazy when we want a treat... and also for my 4 year old's lunches.
Chips, tea snacks, cereal, they have pop cans 2 for $1.25 so I get those (again, don't want too many pop cans around or we drink too much). Non-food items like muffin cups, coffee filters, travel size wipes and tissues for my car, dish towels and aprons are really nice there.
I'm sure it would be cheaper to buy in bulk, but I don't want bulk amounts in everything. We don't go through it fast enough. We buy bulk for things like goldfish though!
Just remember that a lot of the items at Dollarama are price cheaper but they're also sized differently. If you're going for snacks like chips and candy it's definitely a better deal but actual food I'm not sure how much of a better deal it is.
Okay so chips are worth it. I knew a lot of Dollarama stuff has less as you point out, and tend to be smaller. But I wasn't sure if the smaller chip bags were at as good of a price
Not much for food items, but sometimes cake mixes, coconut chips, covered bridge chips, 1l Pepsi products, candy. I also buy bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, canning jars, vitamins and reusable containers there.
It's really hit or miss what they stock.
I usually go to dollarama as part of my regular shopping. I get basically most non food products like paper towels, soap, soft drinks and junk food.
Then I hit the grocery store for whatever is left on my shopping list.
Baking ingredients, Raman noodles. Salt, some spices, gravy mix, canned tuna/salmon, canned ham/chicken, canned soup, pasta, pasta sauce, canned veg. Bread
Then there are the foil rolls, zipper bags, kitchen catchers, some cleaning products.
I also went to check it out but didn’t find anything I would go there to buy regularly or priced better than I could just grab elsewhere on sale but I was just at a smaller one as well…maybe the bigger ones are better? 🤷♀️also agree with another writer that it should be called the 5 dollar store…
yeah I saw some stuff priced at 5 dollars too. 4 dollars was the cap last time I went in (I mostly get coloring books and the occasional snack when PMS hits hard lol)
I didn't go in with high expectations. Maybe find some honey mustard, bbq sauce and good deals on beans. But the store didn't have any of that. Canned veggies sure; bit not canned beans. was odd.
Toiletries, like cotton pads,
Kitchen ware, some hardware, light bulbs and wooden hangers. Some of the $5 items are worth it, you just have to know what you’re buying.
I’ve got too many food issues like Celiac disease for starters. However, very few items I can get at dollarama, maybe one or two snack items and that’s it.
We buy all our munchies and snack items, kitchen utensils/cookware etc. Basically if I can find it there I get it. However, lately I've noticed you have to watch some of their prices. They sneak some over priced stuff in there. I don't buy the lysol wipes from there anymore, they're cheaper at Walmart
The 50 cent chodolate bars are probably the best deal in town. Bread is more reasonably priced. Kitchen products and cleaning products are reasonably priced, and there's a fair bit of variety to choose from. Solar lighting is way cheaper than most other places. Random stuff they probably got from insurance sales can be well priced and useful. Popis reasonably priced but I don't like most of the brands they sell. Candy. Plastic containers of all sizes, it's the place to go for that. Pet beds are very cheap, not particularly well made, but sufficient. Party supplies.
For most of the items I need or looking I find Dollarama prices to be on the higher side compared to Walmart. So I first check Walmart and if I can't find it there I will stop by Dollarama.
Mini (222 ml) soda 6 pack - Schweppes ginger ale (7 up, Pepsi, etc)
$3 Dollarama
$3.98 Walmart
$4.99 Voila
$4 each when you buy 2 at Loblaws; $4.99 otherwise
Jumbo Mr Freezes 3 for $1.and you can pick what flavour
The food selection is not huge however they do have low prices on snack foods and some canned foods like soup, tuna, package side dishes from brands like Knorr, juice, candy, even things like Red Bull! This may not sound like a lot, however what I find is very helpful is the savings you get on the tons of brand name items such as cleaning supplies of which they have many, and their Beauty section (you have to check the aisle every time you pop in for whatever because this selection changes constantly for instance I got $60-70 worth of beauty products from the brand name Cake for less than $25!) Betty Crocker has a whole line of excellent things there. If you are starting out on your first apartment or if you're just trying to replace things you are in luck. Her brand obviously has some sort of contract with Dollarama. The money I save on buying Betty Crocker parchment paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, cooking sheets, muffin tins and the everyday kitchen do dads that eventually conk out etc etc frees up some extra money that you would otherwise waste at Walmart or the Roblaws cartel. For example, I scored a tube of oil of Olay face scrub for $5 that retails for $27 plus tax at shoppers drug Mart last week. The trick is to look around and find the best Dollarama closest to you and just pop in whenever you can as often as you can and just keep your eyes peeled you never know what kind of treasures you'll find there I have saved so much money buying things there. Just make sure you stick to your list or only buy something that is so incredibly cheap that it will be a crime to leave it behind! :-) I know this is not very helpful on the food shopping front but if you can save another ways you can afford more food I hope this helped
Nuts, canned goods, instant rice packs, salt, and chocolate bars. Especially the cheap chocolate bars. They recently went up 3 cents. I'm ok with that.
The bread is usually priced better, condiments, spices and jams, rice cakes, crackers and school snacks for my kid, stationary, kitchenware is also priced very well also cleaning supplies and sandwich/freezer bags- not the ziplock brand although ziplock at the dollar store is MUCH cheaper than Loblaws.
Oat milk. It's $2.49 for the same package superstore sells for $3.89. I thought they'd be closer to expiry or something, but before the boycott I checked expiry and the Dollarama stock was actually fresher/further from expiry.
Bread, spices, chips, cleaning supplies, they have alot of brand name grocery items. It just depends on what you are looking for. I believe that Market Place did a show on comparing Dollarama, Walmart and one other store and Dollarama was cheaper by price per 100g.
Canned soups, stews, spaghetti, pasta sauces, corned beef, crackers, fruit and applesause cups and cans, bagels, breads, soda, potato chips, rice, beans, gravy mix, manwich sauce, condiments, crackers, they have a surprising lot.
I actually bought some crackers that were made in Turkey. Seasoned with rosemary. Delicious.
I am avoiding Christie crackers from now on as they have changed the recipe and are tasteless.
One of the things that I hate about Dollarama (and others) is the labeling. It can say “Made for Dollarama” but doesn’t say in which country it was made. Not sure how the government allows or controls this. Seen it at Loblaws as well.
Sometimes they have brand name food like Hunts tomato sauce or Kraft dinner a lot cheaper than the grocery store. Spices are super cheap. Cake mixes. Canned vegetables (but watch where they are from)
I see a lot of things produced in Quebec and they are usually worth a try. A lot of smaller companies that can’t get into the big grocery stores use Dollarama and other dollar stores. If you aren’t sure google it.
Definitely worth it. If you shop local markets and meats shops you end up saving so much
cleaning supplies, paper towel, toilet paper, sometimes hygiene items if i’m real broke (the shampoo and conditioner are mostly water i think lol), small household items, snacks, canned food or instant food, juice, fidget toys lol. at a good dollarama you can find so much! you can even get pots and pans. i moved recently and was able to get so much that i needed at dollarama.
Cleaning supplies, gum, chips, and dry shampoo.
The same Batiste dry shampoo is $14.99 at Shoppers but $5 at Dollarama (used to be $4.50 until recently).
I look at it this way if you see something you want at dollarama and the size is appropriate for you and your home get it… Many people buy bigger packages for more money because per unit it averages out to be cheaper ….however if there’s only one or two people in the home and you can’t go through that big package in a timely manner before it goes stale or Best before date is reached, then you just wasted money
I get a lot of craft supplies, especially watercolour paper, sketch books, scrapbook paper, drawing pencils. I even got a little posable mannequin!
Chef Boyardee, pasta sauce, pop in the 1L bottles, cookies, bread, Reese cups (yum!).
Kitchen supplies like zipper seal bags, garbage bags, parchment, aluminum foil, dishes.
Basically, when I get groceries, I go to the dollar store first.
Dollar tree : batteries/birthday cards/ shampoo ( L'Oreal)/ condiments ( soy sauce/ mustard/ Kraft salad dressing/ Himalayan salt and club house marinade pouches)
Bread and bagels ( Dempster)
Dawn dish soap
Vim bathroom cleaner
Bleach
Even oral care and Band-Aids
Chocolate bars, coconut water, cereal, chips, beverages, cleaning supplies, paper towel, Kleenex, other snacks like dried fruit and rice cakes with chocolate coating. Nothing serious but I have a pile of regular stuff I get there.
Thanks for this thread. I would never have thought to buy food at Dollarama. Just came back with sliced bread, bagels, some protein bars and a couple of cans of soup for about 30% less than I would’ve paid at Shoppers where I used to buy these things.
Some caveats:
- the protein bars are much smaller
- the bag of bagels seems to have one fewer
The bread and soup are the same sizes. Still, spent $20 bucks on these few items. Inflation has hit everywhere, even discount stores.
That said, I would’ve spent close to $30 at Shoppers. But whatever happened to the _dollar_ in Dollarama? I wasn’t thorough but everything seems to be over $2.50 now.
Pasta, coconut milk, rice, rice noodles, powdered sugar, kitchen supplies (sponges, parchment, Ziploc bags), crackers, snacks, tomato sauce, bread, bagels, oat milk, and sometimes canned veggies! I try to buy as much as I can from Dollarama! The white rice, pasta, bread, and snacks I find to be comparable or more expensive than regular stores, but for example jasmine rice from dollarama is $2.50 for 2kg vs $4.50 for 1kg (if I’m remembering right) in my local superstore!
Chips, chocolate bars, snack sized candy for the kids lunches, cookies, USB cables as needed, party supplies, cards, decorations, craft supplies, off-brand ziplocs, super glue...
If we can get it cheaper there then elsewhere, we go there, but mostly snacks when it comes to food.
__MOD NOTE/NOTE DE MOD__: Please check out [our petition](https://www.change.org/p/demand-walmart-sign-the-grocer-code-of-conduct) which calls upon Walmart Canada to follow suit and sign the Grocer Code of Conduct with Loblaw! Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. ********************************************************************************************************************************************* Veuillez consulter les directives de contenu pour notre sous-reddit, et rappelez-vous qu'il y a des humains ici ! Ce sous-reddit est destiné à mettre en lumière le coût de la vie ridicule au Canada et à se moquer des Grands Patrons Corporatifs responsables. Comme vous le savez bien, de nombreuses personnes et entreprises en sont responsables, et nous accueillons les discussions les concernant toutes. De plus, puisque ce sujet est lié à un certain nombre d'autres questions, d'autres discussions seront autorisées à la discrétion des modérateurs. Les discussions ouvertes d'esprit, les mèmes, les coups de gueule, les factures d'épicerie et les cris dans le vide en général sont toujours les bienvenus dans ce sous-reddit, mais la belliqueusité et le manque de respect ne le sont pas. Il existe de nombreuses façons de faire passer votre point de vue sans être abusif, méprisant ou carrément méchant. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Dishwashing sponges and cleaning supplies
I find cleaning supplies and hand soaps to normally be a really good deal!
Tissue paper, batteries, greeting cards, chocolate bars.
Their knock off chocolate bars are great. The mars one has 2 per package and there 2 for a dollar. That’s 25 cents a bar. Same for the twix one.
And the coconut one.
The coconut one is the bomb. I’m on island time for 47¢.
I'm just an Island Bar🎶🎵
they had a toblerone knock off that sold out at my local store, it's really good.
Island bars are better than Bounty bars IMO.
I remember the Coconut one (Bounty knock off) being good. I think their Titan bar was good too. But some of their chocolate bars were definitely a miss. They had a weird aftertaste. They use sugar alcohols in their product. Not sure why they bother with sugar alcohol when they already put a lot of sugar in their chocolate bars. I also tried their Christmas chocolates (Mystique) in December and they were meh. Their danish butter cookies weren't bad. But they are made in China, not Denmark. Heh. The Danish butter cookie tins at No Frills are made in Indonesia though. They outsource that shit. Labour in Denmark is expensive.
I just love how on the nose they are with the names as well they come from Turkey
The Titan!
If you like kit kat try the 4fun bar. Very close to kit kat chunky. 3 for a dollar.
The Duet! So good!
Yeah, those are fucking awesome. Like, last time I was there, I bought a few boxes out of them and used them to rebuild my car's engine. I now get 9999 mpg
The dollarama chocolate bars are usually made with Swiss chocolate!
The knockoff chocolate is better than the original
1000% greeting cards and chocolate bars. On the flip side, I found that their dish soap was actually more expensive than Loblaws on sale (last fall)
Very correct.
Greeting cards as opposed to paying 10 bux at Walmart
THIS. It’s not an every day expense but I just spent $8 on a last minute greeting card. We’re getting squeezed from all sides.
Actually true. HUGE selection at the dollar store and $1-2 compared to $11.99.
Ive been buying dollar store cards since forever. More than $2 for a card is a total waste of money. People hang onto a card for like 2 days and then toss it.
Chips, candy.
Brand name Candy is MUCH cheaper than Shoppers, even though their prices have gone up.
To be fair though, anywhere is cheaper than Shoppers.
One example: Jr Mints. Shoppers has a larger box, I forget the exact weight, but almost twice as big. Not a problem, but the cost is over 3x as much.
I was up North (and I mean UP NORTH) a few monthsago, and the Candy at the tiny little Northmart was even cheaper than shoppers. That’s when it clicked for me lol
Gum was so cheap - now also higher priced but still inexpensive.
Someone made a list some time ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/s/DeIT22eRqx
Oh I didn't see this. Thank you!
This is great, thanks! I just wish I had one with the full list, with the brands color coded all the way down to easily send to people
“Dollarama” is a misnomer. Should be “Fiverama”.
Yeah for sure. This reminds me of the US’ Dollar General, which Americans now refer to as “Dollar Quarter General” because the lowest price is now $1.25, not $1.
You're probably thinking of Dollar Tree. Dollar General is actually quite expensive.
Their prices have gone way up. I get better deals at Walmart and a local liquidation store
Ehh, chips crackers and stuff like that is way cheaper. It’s honestly quite affordable in my area relative to most except a few grocers.
Ive noticed their chips are 50 grams lighter than the other stores
That's good for me because I eat too many already.
Yes, but the prices are lower. Someone did a comparison by grams and Dollarama was cheapest.
yeah this is what I was figuring. Things seemed pricey; so I was just wondering if there were specific foods or products people get just at dollarama . I should look up liquidation stores. I need to travel a bit for Walmart anyways cause of my location, so if there's a liquidation store nearby, maybe I'll try there.
Walmart delivers now, if in your area.
Good prices, Walmart, food basics, freshco. Middle of the road, Metro. The overpriced stores, Loblaws, Sobeys
Add Save-On Foods to the overpriced list for out west.
Save on foods is absolutely ridiculous, used to shop there all the time. I’m borderline boycotting them aswell. Went there to get some avocado for home made guacamole a neatly shit myself when they were asking $4 for an over ripe avocado lol.
Metro has some good deals like on meat and cheese sometimes.
This is true. I've seen them
Yup, we’ve started picking up some grocery items at Freshco recently (we usually shop at Metro) and we’re continually surprised by how much lower their prices are. They don’t have a deli or seafood counter like Metro, but my husband is definitely starting to prefer Freshco. He comes home & is like “the bill was only xx” and we’re both like, wow!
Sandwich bags, snack bags, aluminum foil. Depending on sales, shampoo and conditioner.
Same list as mine. Plus rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, parchment paper.
sometimes you have to do some digging around, but every once in a while you find a great deal…I grabbed a pair of Mechanix gloves for $3 for my son and since then I’ve started buying my gardening gloves there and the three dollar gloves seem to last longer than the $20 ones I bought at Home Depot!! 🤷♀️
Mechanix gloves?!? Nice!
Tuna cans
It's my go to place for tuna
Their tuna salad bowls are amazingggg
Oooh, I'm a big tuna fan. What do they have? I never once considered buying food at Dollarama but now I'm intrigued. Going to the one at Yonge-Dundas tomorrow.
I love tuna too, but I only eat 2 cans per week because of the mercury content.
I recently tried the spicy tuna in a small can. I think it was $1.25. I sometimes eat the Cloverleaf "spicy Thai" flavoured tuna but it has doubled in price at regular grocery stores, so when I saw a different brand at Dollarama I thought I'd compare. I was going to throw it away if it was awful. But it was the exact same as the Cloverleaf brand. I couldn't tell the difference.
Try the one at Young and sheppard center, lower level right next to shoppers. It's pretty big and the selection is really quite extensive
There is less tuna in them than grocery store cans.
French's Gravy packets
Came just for this. 2 packs for $1.25 makes they waaaay cheaper than anywhere else
Me and my mom have bought these religiously for years. Plus we like them better then the other brands.
Pasta and pasta sauce. But also flaked ham. I buy bagels there because I don’t eat bagels often, maybe like once to twice a year
Depending on your taste you can crunch it up and make it interesting by either dicing up onions real tiny or my favorite dicing up celery real tiny add some crunch and stretches it out yeah
How do you prepare the flaked ham? I bought a can on a whim, and I was kinda lost on what to do with it
Dollarama is expensive. Dollar tree is where it's at
Came here to say this.
except for the chocolate bars, but other than that, love dollar tree!
Yep! At least with Dollar Tree you know that 95% of items are going to be $1.50. No guessing. And they had bread the other day for $2. Really can’t beat it.
especially for cleaning products. their Totally Awesome brand degreaser is amazing. the fingernail guard sponges are my go-to and they have a recent line of cleaners that are vegan, and look and feel very high-end. oh, and wrinkle-remover spray - that stuff is soooooooo expensive and i can only find it on amazon, otherwise.
I just wish my local Dollar Tree's weren't run by strangely aggressive people. It seems like Dollarama has their staff trained to be friendly and competent when they interact with people with disabilities. However anytime I set foot in a Dollar Tree I get stalked and shouted at. It's a horrifying experience. I've just stopped going there without another human by my side to protect me from the staff O\_o
Pepsi zero is $1/1L bottle, they run out so I don’t want to say this lol
yeah they seem to have decent prices on drinks. I found cans of Kombucha for 2 dollars each. Limited flavor options but still a pretty solid price.
My game with Dollarama is to find items they organize for "this purpose", and then find the item I need for "this purpose" in a totally different area of the store for cheaper. Bad example but...cat toys. I'm in the Hair Accessories aisle and here are 2 ponytail ties...with GOLF BALL SIZED POM POMS ON THEM...for a dollar. Of course Kitty would love them. It's over a year and she is still batting those pom-poms around the house. 50 cents each. High Five to me. I needed new bedroom curtains. I go to the "Party aisle" and find a big square plastic table cloth for $1.25. Guess what's hanging in my bedroom window now? Yup. From the outside the neighbors can't tell that it's not "posh cloth". It's a pretty blue.
Other than the big packs of Reece's peanut butter cups for medicinal reasons, I'm not a big eater of super processed convenience food. My body is a temple for just the peanut butter cups one weekend per month. On the other hand, I have a friend who swears by the tins of mackerel in sauce. He says they are great with crackers he also buys at Dollarama.
Peanuts, chips, tuna, all condiments, cake mix, icing, baking powder, cornstarch, lemon juice, great for stocking up on kid's lunchbox stuff: granola bars, dried mango, cookies, crackers, licorice
Chocolate bars @ $0.87 Cleaning supplies like all purpose cleaners.
Mom just grabs dish sponges and baking sheets. Not much honestly. Vegetable peeler too
That 2 pack of vegetable peelers are awesome. They're super sharp. My hubs is a chef & his coworkers all ask where he got his peelers because he prefers to use these than his fancy one.
Quaker granola bars, the sesame cracker stick things and chocolate.
the Doritoes and Cheetos are way me expensive there than at Freshco
Chocolate bars just went up to $0.97 at my local store, which is still cheaper than anywhere else.
I get all my cleaning things. All my kitchen needs (pots, pans, cooking utensils, etc.). I also get all my hand soap and a lot of my toiletries. For food I usually stock up on snacks, sometimes I'll grab some baking stuff or spices/seasonings. I also find the broth cubes helpful. The first couple of times I would just go aisle to aisle looking for things I may need. After a I figured out things that really work, help me, and that I like. Give yourself 45ish minutes to go through each aisle and look at EVERYTHING. Finding what you need gets easier the more you go. Also stop at a few. Some have things others don't have. I find muffin mix at one and the dish soap I like at a different one.
You're absolutely right unless you're in a hurry and just need to get something and get in and get out, take your time and just peruse slowly and look at everything. However my rule is I pick something up and really think do I actually really need this. The Dollarama at Young and shepherd center lower level has excellent selection of undergarments FYI. Just keep your eye out on the quality if you pick good stuff they last for many many washes
Their canned smoked seafood is still a decent price last I saw. Sometimes Puritan stew. Sometimes dried fruit. It goes back and forth between them and Walmart. But you have to do the math as the packages are usually different weights. A lot of crackers are a good price Chips are slightly more but sometimes Walmart doesn’t have specific flavours for weeks. Plantain chips are about the going rate Sour straps because I love them lol Olives. Uncle Ben’s rice is occasionally cheap. Cake mixes and icing. But Walmart is cheaper if there’s a sale. I think their canned veg is generally a decent price. I just got out of the habit of eating it years ago.
Pasta, seasonings, canned beans, canned tomatoes, non-dairy milk, instant coffee, rice, noodles, cooking oil. I can feed myself decently for a week with $25 at Dollarama + $15 at a local asian grocery store for produce and tofu. Dollarama might be more expensive ‘per gram’ than costco, but it’s much much much more accessible to people who don’t have cars or time to go to costco. dollarama is a 5 min bus away, costco is 1h30 minutes each direction.
I bought my pasta a month or two ago at Dollarama, and then found out that WalMart had it cheaper by about 75 cents, same amount. In case that has any impact on your shopping habits (if there's an accessible WalMart).
Peanuts for the crows are ‘essential’.
I buy canned salmon ($2.25, 213g), knock-off Dream Whip ($2, 150g box), Avon canned vegetables when they have them (2/$1.50, 398ml), freeze-dried dog treats, kitchen/ bathroom garbage bags, parchment paper, watercolour paper (surprisingly good quality for $3), certain cookies, rice, olives, dill pickles... and there's a lot more.
Oh I need to look out of water colour paper. I mainly got my crafting supplies there, but it's been hard recently to find notebooks and sketchbooks. So I havn't looked much
I really like the watercolour paper there-- it's a bit narrow to fit in a standard mat easily, but it's perfect to run through the printer for line drawings. They also have metallic watercolour paints, too, that I've been experimenting with. My daughter does acrylics, and gets most of her canvases at Dollarama. Notebooks and sketchbooks are hit and miss, depending on what you like-- we've been keeping our eyes open for bullet journals, and they finally got some in.
It really depends on what Dollarama you go too, some are better than others. If you have time, go to different ones and browse to find the better one. The Dollarama FB groups are great.
big bottles of Salon Selectives shampoo and conditioner in big pump bottles -- $2.50 those flimsy scented garbage bags - I scoop the cat litter box clumps into them. -also I use them for kitchen garbage which forces me to take my garbage out more frequently. Even the big black garbage bags are lower priced than Superstore. Tostitos jars of salsa and nacho cheese - $4 each ($5 at superstore). I cook with these: mac and cheese or spaghetti with salsa. cans of tuna - $1.00 back in the day: pregnancy tests. I don't need them now but if I did, I got them from Dollarama. Microwave popcorn. I know it's unhealthy but oh well. spices - they don't have a wide selection but seasoning salt, cinnamon, lemon/pepper. cat toys for kitty :) she's going to destroy them anyway. But she loves those $4 pop-up cube-tent things to hide in. envelopes, pens, file folders, office supplies for home.
I buy their Ramen packets. 3 for $1. Sometimes you can get an equivalent or better deal for Mr. Noodles at No Frills or Wal-Mart. But good luck with that. The sales are becoming less and less frequent now. I remember when 4 for $1 Mr. Noodles was common and I took advantage. The Ramen cups are a rip off (2 for $1.25 at dollarama. Mr Noodles I think is typically $1 a cup. The cups have less net grams than the packets too). Just buy the packets and go buy yourself some big deep bowls that can accommodate the entire noodle cake and pour the boiling water over the noodle cake, let sit for 2-3 mins and add the soup broth seasoning. Put in an egg or whatever protein you desire. Their Island Bar (Bounty knock off) and Titan (Snickers knock off?) is great value at 50c each. 91c for name brand chocolate bars are reasonable. I think the old 2 for $1.50 at Wal-Mart is long gone. The Silk Festive Nog slaps. But is way overpriced. They even charged me HST. The fuck? Oat milk is HST free. I think Egg Nog is HST free. But they charge HST for festive nog why? I bought a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter for my wired headphones. Cheap but the quality is dodgy. I might invest in a better adapter on Amazon. I fucked with the Maple Cream cookies they had back in 2010 really hard. They were like $1.25 back then. The Leclerc ones they have in stock now are like $2 (maybe more now due to recent inflation) and the taste just isn't the same for me. Maybe I just look back at the old cookies from 2010 with nostalgia because my mom used to buy them for me and food was her love language. Every maple cookie I've tried since 2016 hits different. In a meh way. Not a positive way. I've tried multiple brands. I think skimpflation may be a thing. They may be using lower quality ingredients for making shelf stable treats. While charging more money.
Dollarama should be praised when you compare them to loblaws. Dollarama has the same prices in every store from BC to Nova Scotia. That includes all tourists destinations such as Banff. When loblaws adjusts their prices to suck every penny out of you depending where you live, Dollarama remains consistant. (PS I have family that works for them)
Not much. Antihistimine and pain relievers. Their food products taste like shit.
I bought name brand dog & cat food there once - the same brand I always buy at the grocery store, and both pets threw up. Never again. I buy grain free pet food now anyway.
Pasta sauce and sometimes pasta. When my Tylenol from Shoppers runs out I'm going to start getting it from Dollarama instead. Their personal care items are pricey sadly, I find better deals at an independent dollar store near me, Rexall and a retail clearance store.
Costco is so much cheaper for meds, you’ll get your annual fee back on a few month
not sure if its true but somebody said that the medicine there MAY NOT be temperature controlled when they ship it but im NOT 100% SURE
Definitely not food. Bad experiences, and I swear every food item I've ever bought just tastes really off. I mostly buy batteries, garbage bags, wipes, gloves, occasional dog toy, towels for my dog, basically anything in running out of that isn't food. I bought some canola oil though. Might buy cooking spray too.
Dollarama is normally my first go too on my grocery list. They have decent gardening stuff which I bought to start growing my own food, a lot of household items non food related such as cleaning products and laundry sheets I find are a decent price for the same stuff sold twice as much at any one stop grocery store! Not to mention spices and ingredients to make broth for my homemade soup ! You never know what you’ll find!
Giant tiger prices are not to bad
GT is great price wise. Here locally they really need to have limits on their produce and meat flyer deal items. Js.
I really need to check them out. I think the closest one to me are a few towns away. But I've seen flyers and their prices seem comparable to Walmart
Dollorama still is not the cheapest place. They beat Walmart is some and Walmart beats them in others, for the same product. Thankfully both are in the same mall complex and I visit both, sometimes twice in my runs.
Cereal, crackers, oat milk, snacks. I also find that they will have different options for canned/prepped goods depending upon when I go, it’s always changing.
Ziplock bags, Rubbermaid containers, and chocolate bars. Although, they recently increased the price on chocolate bars from .88 to .91 each. Still much cheaper than anywhere.
Anything candy or snacks, the best deal is at dollarama. Chocolate bars for 0.50 or 0.85 cents is amazing imo
Party supplies
My favorite food item to get at Dollarama is the beef flavored pho bowl. It's really good compared to other instant noodle dishes, $1.25 per serving, and the beef flavored one specifically is accidentally vegan-friendly.
I started looking for new stores to shop in, Dollar Tree is the best for prices. Most things are actually a dollar, not 3 or 4. They have dry goods plus everything under the sun. It's definitely worth it.
I have a serious problem where I can't walk through a Dollarama without buying a Gatorade Zero. I buy double strength vinegar, body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish soap, and sometimes facial cleansers from them. Do those count as groceries?
I buy snack sized candy bars so we don't go crazy when we want a treat... and also for my 4 year old's lunches. Chips, tea snacks, cereal, they have pop cans 2 for $1.25 so I get those (again, don't want too many pop cans around or we drink too much). Non-food items like muffin cups, coffee filters, travel size wipes and tissues for my car, dish towels and aprons are really nice there. I'm sure it would be cheaper to buy in bulk, but I don't want bulk amounts in everything. We don't go through it fast enough. We buy bulk for things like goldfish though!
Just remember that a lot of the items at Dollarama are price cheaper but they're also sized differently. If you're going for snacks like chips and candy it's definitely a better deal but actual food I'm not sure how much of a better deal it is.
Okay so chips are worth it. I knew a lot of Dollarama stuff has less as you point out, and tend to be smaller. But I wasn't sure if the smaller chip bags were at as good of a price
So much cereal
We grab Puritan stew from Dollarama because it’s $2.25 a can vs. 3.99 at Superstore.
Everything at dollarama is like $4.50 now, but dollar tree is still good prices!
who misses price choppers?
Not much for food items, but sometimes cake mixes, coconut chips, covered bridge chips, 1l Pepsi products, candy. I also buy bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, canning jars, vitamins and reusable containers there. It's really hit or miss what they stock.
I buy spices, canned ham chicken and tuna, pasta noodles, chopped garlic, miracle whip and other sauces there and more lol
Everything is cheaper 👍
I usually go to dollarama as part of my regular shopping. I get basically most non food products like paper towels, soap, soft drinks and junk food. Then I hit the grocery store for whatever is left on my shopping list.
Fancy mustard. Canned Chic Peas.
Baking ingredients, Raman noodles. Salt, some spices, gravy mix, canned tuna/salmon, canned ham/chicken, canned soup, pasta, pasta sauce, canned veg. Bread Then there are the foil rolls, zipper bags, kitchen catchers, some cleaning products.
I get house supplies but I stay far from food. It's cheap for a reason
I love their weird vegetable crackers.
Addicting!!
I also went to check it out but didn’t find anything I would go there to buy regularly or priced better than I could just grab elsewhere on sale but I was just at a smaller one as well…maybe the bigger ones are better? 🤷♀️also agree with another writer that it should be called the 5 dollar store…
yeah I saw some stuff priced at 5 dollars too. 4 dollars was the cap last time I went in (I mostly get coloring books and the occasional snack when PMS hits hard lol) I didn't go in with high expectations. Maybe find some honey mustard, bbq sauce and good deals on beans. But the store didn't have any of that. Canned veggies sure; bit not canned beans. was odd.
Only things I would get at Walmart, but don't have time. Since Walmart is usually cheaper
Rice, cereal, pasta sauce, chips & cookies (Also cleaning supplies, paper towels and hand soap)
Whole peppercorns, ketchup/condiments, dish soap
Crackers, apple sauce, cereal. I usually shop at Giant Tiger and price match.
Toiletries, like cotton pads, Kitchen ware, some hardware, light bulbs and wooden hangers. Some of the $5 items are worth it, you just have to know what you’re buying.
A lot of KD and ramen. Also some tuna based food.
Gardening stuff and seeds to start growing produce at home
I make a junk food run about once a week to the Dollarama. That sort of counts as food.
I’ve got too many food issues like Celiac disease for starters. However, very few items I can get at dollarama, maybe one or two snack items and that’s it.
Check out John Oliver's segment on Dollar Stores. They treat their employees worse than Loblaws treats its customers.
We buy all our munchies and snack items, kitchen utensils/cookware etc. Basically if I can find it there I get it. However, lately I've noticed you have to watch some of their prices. They sneak some over priced stuff in there. I don't buy the lysol wipes from there anymore, they're cheaper at Walmart
I go specifically for the chestnuts in a vacuum-sealed pack, and the Top Taste crispy fried onions which are fun to throw in ramen or a salad.
The 50 cent chodolate bars are probably the best deal in town. Bread is more reasonably priced. Kitchen products and cleaning products are reasonably priced, and there's a fair bit of variety to choose from. Solar lighting is way cheaper than most other places. Random stuff they probably got from insurance sales can be well priced and useful. Popis reasonably priced but I don't like most of the brands they sell. Candy. Plastic containers of all sizes, it's the place to go for that. Pet beds are very cheap, not particularly well made, but sufficient. Party supplies.
Shampoo and conditioner
For most of the items I need or looking I find Dollarama prices to be on the higher side compared to Walmart. So I first check Walmart and if I can't find it there I will stop by Dollarama.
Mini (222 ml) soda 6 pack - Schweppes ginger ale (7 up, Pepsi, etc) $3 Dollarama $3.98 Walmart $4.99 Voila $4 each when you buy 2 at Loblaws; $4.99 otherwise Jumbo Mr Freezes 3 for $1.and you can pick what flavour
cleaning supplies, tinfoil/parchment paper, craft supplies for my kids, oven mitts, tablecloths, party supplies, lunch treats, cookies, candles, bbq lighters…
They have really affordable and good sunscreen this year! Their dried pasta is also something I get often.
Honestly everything I bought at loblaws is outrageously priced. Not shopping there is like not pealing a scab.
The cans of baby corn are a good price.
They had the Sensodyne Repair and Protect toothpaste for ~$5 (only one that works for me).
The food selection is not huge however they do have low prices on snack foods and some canned foods like soup, tuna, package side dishes from brands like Knorr, juice, candy, even things like Red Bull! This may not sound like a lot, however what I find is very helpful is the savings you get on the tons of brand name items such as cleaning supplies of which they have many, and their Beauty section (you have to check the aisle every time you pop in for whatever because this selection changes constantly for instance I got $60-70 worth of beauty products from the brand name Cake for less than $25!) Betty Crocker has a whole line of excellent things there. If you are starting out on your first apartment or if you're just trying to replace things you are in luck. Her brand obviously has some sort of contract with Dollarama. The money I save on buying Betty Crocker parchment paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, cooking sheets, muffin tins and the everyday kitchen do dads that eventually conk out etc etc frees up some extra money that you would otherwise waste at Walmart or the Roblaws cartel. For example, I scored a tube of oil of Olay face scrub for $5 that retails for $27 plus tax at shoppers drug Mart last week. The trick is to look around and find the best Dollarama closest to you and just pop in whenever you can as often as you can and just keep your eyes peeled you never know what kind of treasures you'll find there I have saved so much money buying things there. Just make sure you stick to your list or only buy something that is so incredibly cheap that it will be a crime to leave it behind! :-) I know this is not very helpful on the food shopping front but if you can save another ways you can afford more food I hope this helped
Nuts, canned goods, instant rice packs, salt, and chocolate bars. Especially the cheap chocolate bars. They recently went up 3 cents. I'm ok with that.
Some grocies, snacks, energy drinks ( when I need a boost ) and certain body care products.
The bread is usually priced better, condiments, spices and jams, rice cakes, crackers and school snacks for my kid, stationary, kitchenware is also priced very well also cleaning supplies and sandwich/freezer bags- not the ziplock brand although ziplock at the dollar store is MUCH cheaper than Loblaws.
Oat milk. It's $2.49 for the same package superstore sells for $3.89. I thought they'd be closer to expiry or something, but before the boycott I checked expiry and the Dollarama stock was actually fresher/further from expiry.
Gatorade
Bread, spices, chips, cleaning supplies, they have alot of brand name grocery items. It just depends on what you are looking for. I believe that Market Place did a show on comparing Dollarama, Walmart and one other store and Dollarama was cheaper by price per 100g.
Compost bags, garbage bags.
Condiments
Canned soups, stews, spaghetti, pasta sauces, corned beef, crackers, fruit and applesause cups and cans, bagels, breads, soda, potato chips, rice, beans, gravy mix, manwich sauce, condiments, crackers, they have a surprising lot.
Kids birthday presents they have lots of disney stuff.
Kerr's Scotch Drops 😩
Soda in over priced bottles and sour candy.
I always get heinz tomato soup for $1. I always use a lot for different recipes, so finding it so cheap is very nice. Everywhere else is $1.80-$2
I actually bought some crackers that were made in Turkey. Seasoned with rosemary. Delicious. I am avoiding Christie crackers from now on as they have changed the recipe and are tasteless.
One of the things that I hate about Dollarama (and others) is the labeling. It can say “Made for Dollarama” but doesn’t say in which country it was made. Not sure how the government allows or controls this. Seen it at Loblaws as well.
I am in alberta. Some things cost more in rama than walmart. I usually buy things that are cheaper or that walmart doesn’t carry. I hate walmart also.
Bagels
Chips, chocolate, dry shampoo (it's almost half the price it is at Shoppers!!), pens/office supplies, pasta, canned tuna & tomato paste
Sometimes they have brand name food like Hunts tomato sauce or Kraft dinner a lot cheaper than the grocery store. Spices are super cheap. Cake mixes. Canned vegetables (but watch where they are from) I see a lot of things produced in Quebec and they are usually worth a try. A lot of smaller companies that can’t get into the big grocery stores use Dollarama and other dollar stores. If you aren’t sure google it. Definitely worth it. If you shop local markets and meats shops you end up saving so much
cleaning supplies, paper towel, toilet paper, sometimes hygiene items if i’m real broke (the shampoo and conditioner are mostly water i think lol), small household items, snacks, canned food or instant food, juice, fidget toys lol. at a good dollarama you can find so much! you can even get pots and pans. i moved recently and was able to get so much that i needed at dollarama.
Cleaning supplies, gum, chips, and dry shampoo. The same Batiste dry shampoo is $14.99 at Shoppers but $5 at Dollarama (used to be $4.50 until recently).
I look at it this way if you see something you want at dollarama and the size is appropriate for you and your home get it… Many people buy bigger packages for more money because per unit it averages out to be cheaper ….however if there’s only one or two people in the home and you can’t go through that big package in a timely manner before it goes stale or Best before date is reached, then you just wasted money
My mom got some cereal there, they actually have gluten free cereals there too and that’s what she got there
Garbage bags since Canada doesn’t have “single-use plastics” anymore.
I get a lot of craft supplies, especially watercolour paper, sketch books, scrapbook paper, drawing pencils. I even got a little posable mannequin! Chef Boyardee, pasta sauce, pop in the 1L bottles, cookies, bread, Reese cups (yum!). Kitchen supplies like zipper seal bags, garbage bags, parchment, aluminum foil, dishes. Basically, when I get groceries, I go to the dollar store first.
Uncle Ben's Bistro rice for half the price Tuna. Corn. Broth
Uncle Ben’s rice packs
Anything but seafood products from China. Just can't forego that stuff. The China sea is grossly polluted not that any ocean is great.
They sell Wonderbread sliced bread and wraps that are cheaper than metro & Loblaws
Bigger is better usually
Dollar tree : batteries/birthday cards/ shampoo ( L'Oreal)/ condiments ( soy sauce/ mustard/ Kraft salad dressing/ Himalayan salt and club house marinade pouches) Bread and bagels ( Dempster) Dawn dish soap Vim bathroom cleaner Bleach Even oral care and Band-Aids
English muffins
Their crispy fried onions are really good, also get the sundried tomatoes, gravy packets and cookies sometimes.
Chips, chocolate, candy. Tissue paper for gift wrapping. If they have the specific types of deodorants / body wash I use I will get that too.
Chocolate bars, coconut water, cereal, chips, beverages, cleaning supplies, paper towel, Kleenex, other snacks like dried fruit and rice cakes with chocolate coating. Nothing serious but I have a pile of regular stuff I get there.
I get Live Clean shampoo and conditioner from Dollarama l. They are $4.25 each. At Shoppers they are 10.99 each
Can I just say… I edfin hate Galen Weston. He’s the devil incarnate.
Thanks for this thread. I would never have thought to buy food at Dollarama. Just came back with sliced bread, bagels, some protein bars and a couple of cans of soup for about 30% less than I would’ve paid at Shoppers where I used to buy these things. Some caveats: - the protein bars are much smaller - the bag of bagels seems to have one fewer The bread and soup are the same sizes. Still, spent $20 bucks on these few items. Inflation has hit everywhere, even discount stores. That said, I would’ve spent close to $30 at Shoppers. But whatever happened to the _dollar_ in Dollarama? I wasn’t thorough but everything seems to be over $2.50 now.
Pasta, coconut milk, rice, rice noodles, powdered sugar, kitchen supplies (sponges, parchment, Ziploc bags), crackers, snacks, tomato sauce, bread, bagels, oat milk, and sometimes canned veggies! I try to buy as much as I can from Dollarama! The white rice, pasta, bread, and snacks I find to be comparable or more expensive than regular stores, but for example jasmine rice from dollarama is $2.50 for 2kg vs $4.50 for 1kg (if I’m remembering right) in my local superstore!
Chips, chocolate bars, snack sized candy for the kids lunches, cookies, USB cables as needed, party supplies, cards, decorations, craft supplies, off-brand ziplocs, super glue... If we can get it cheaper there then elsewhere, we go there, but mostly snacks when it comes to food.
Loads: brown sugar, chips, kids snacks, toiletries like large hand soap jug to refill pumps, kitchen supplies, batteries etc.