10 best buys at my dollar store

The chain is Dollar Tree. And in recent years they have made a push to enlarge their grocery selection. You do need to know your prices, and do a little math in the store. But here's what I've found to be the 10 best buys at our local Dollar Tree.

1. Paper cupcake liners, 100 ct., both mini and regular-sized for $1
2. Graham Crackers (crucial ingredient in s'mores) almost a 10 oz box for $1 (they sometimes get Honey Maid Cinnamon Grahams, 16 oz boxes for $1)
3. Foil-wrapped holiday chocolate candies (Christmas, Valentine's, Easter), small bag of about 12 pieces for 25 cents, on clearance, after the holiday -- we use these for s'mores
4. Crackers, all kinds, 8 to 10 oz boxes -- I  don't know why anyone would buy crackers in a regular store. When we want crackers for a party or celebration, we head to the dollar store
5. Soy milk -- I buy Westsoy brand soy milk at the dollar store in a quart for $1. Soy milk has really jumped up in price in the last 5 years. I used to be able to frequently buy other major brands of soy milk in the regular grocery store for a dollar on sale. Just not happening anymore.
6. Individually-wrapped snacks, packages of 5, 6 or 8 for $1-- I don't usually buy these. But there is one occasion when I do. When we're traveling by plane I make a stop at Dollar Tree the afternoon before we leave and I buy the multi-packs of single serve, individually wrapped snacks of cheese and crackers, raisins, peanuts, trail mix, breakfast and granola bars. I put all these into a pile on the kitchen table, give each family member a bag, and tell them to choose 4 or 5 items from the pile. This is their traveling day snack, for in the airport, on the plane or any other time during that day, as they are hungry. I wind up spending $6 for the day's and flight's snacks, compared to maybe spending $6 per person in flight. And while it's kind of junky stuff, by our standards, we don't eat like this every day. So I don't feel bad about it.
7. Large sheets of poster board for school projects and signs, 50 cents per sheet.
8. Sweetened shredded coconut flakes for baking, $1 for 6 or 7 oz. bag (depending on brand). Do you make Dream Bars, the incredibly yummy, multi-layered coconut, graham crumbs and chocolate chip bar cookies? 
9. Sea Salt, $1 for  26 oz container of San Francisco Bay brand sea salt -- good for cooking, yes, but also nice for making bath salts
10. Panty liners, 40 ct. package, $1 -- grocery store brands have 22 ct. packages for about $1

Like I said, if you know your prices, you can snag some really great deals at Dollar Tree. What deals have you found at your dollar store?

I don't always shop at the dollar store ; )

I shave the budget where I can. But I do splurge when the purchase will benefit our family greatly.

I've been making our bread the old-fashioned way, with a bowl, spoon and a lot of muscle, for 25 years now. I also was gifted with a rather used, hand-me-down bread machine a few years ago. But my aging and crippled machine's days are numbered. The time has come to decide how we're going to make our bread. (And while buying bread is certainly an option, we've become so accustomed to our recipe for bread that we're quite spoiled!)

For 7 long years now I've been debating whether or not to buy a stand mixer, primarily to mix and knead bread and roll dough, but also for large batches of other batters or dough. Last week I found a very good deal. The stand mixer that I wanted, on sale at a good price, plus an extra 10% discount with a coupon code, plus free shipping, and I had a gift card in my purse to the store selling this mixer.

The day I took it out of the box I mixed a large batch of whole wheat bread dough, enough for 3 loaves of bread, a batch of hot dog buns and a pan of cinnamon rolls. The next day, I used the mixer to make a double batch of pizza dough, half for that day's pizza and half for the freezer for easy homemade pizza, on another day.

I think it's safe to say that I'll be getting a fair amount of work out of this mixer, and my injured shoulder might just get a break long enough to heal properly.

Have you splurged on anything lately? What's your criteria for splurges?