I am a huge fan of shopping at Dollarama and even considered buying Dollarama stock in 2013 for around $30. Now the stock is selling at $149 as fo writing (Yahoo Finance), a quintuple-bagger or 5-Bagger as per Peter Lynch terminology. It is one of my biggest investing regrets that I never picked up the stock when it was $30, thinking it was too expensive. $##%&#(@(@&% #investingregret. Anyway, here are 8 absolutely amazing Dollarama products I usually buy when I am in the store.
This post will go over some great Dollarama products that are a ‘must buy’ or Dollarama must haves. Sometimes cash back apps that pay you to scan receipts like Caddle give you $0.10 for uploading your Dollarama receipt.
Is Dollarama a Canadian company? As Canadian as you can get.
Dollarama is a Canadian dollar store chain and first became a public company in 2009. It first opened its doors in 1994 and 24 years later, there are now 1000 stores in Canada and plans to expand into South America. The Dollarama head office is located in Montreal, Quebec.
I like the look of the dollar store, it’s not like your typical dollar store. Everything seems more ‘classy’ in there if you can use that word to describe a dollar store. Nothing is disorganized and things don’t look too ‘cheap’.
In fact, some things are of pretty good quality, and there are things that I only buy at Dollarama to save money. Not everything is $1 now, and they have items that go up to $4. Most items are $1 and I still find everything very reasonably priced. Every time I head to Dollarama, I step out with a bunch of things that I knew I needed but never got a chance to get. They just have everything that you have been meaning to get, all in one place.
I thought I would share what my favourite things are to buy at Dollarama whenever I go there.
Table of Contents
What Can You Buy at Dollarama?
Some of the items may not be found regularly because they are sold out but if you find them in your local Dollarama, grab them! D
ollarama purchases certain brands through liquidators and sells these products in their stores. Once they are gone, they are gone though.
This is the reason why you would find “brand name” items that would normally be much more expensive, at Dollarama, because they are being liquidated.
Dollarama Greeting Cards And Gift Bags
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I told myself I would only spend over $5 on a greeting card for an anniversary card or birthday card for my husband (c’mon, Hallmark or Carlton always has some nice cards that have a funny message).
Recently, I spent $7 on a greeting card and it just felt absurd. That’s the price of a meal at some places! I usually get greeting cards for birthday cards rom Dollarama (they have great ones for kids!) because it is only $1.
They also say “Hallmark” on the back so you don’t look cheap for buying a dollar store greeting card.
Dollarama also has great wine gift bags (or gift bags and coloured gift tissue paper in general). The ones at the wine store are $4 for each bag. At Dollarama, they are 2 wine bags for $1 or two fancier wine bags for $2.
Dollarama Party Supplies and Seasonal Decorations
Cups, balloons, plates, forks, knives, anything you might need for a party! When I hosted a baby shower and birthday parties, I headed to Dollarama to load up on streamers, and blue coloured cutlery for a mom to be who was expecting a baby boy.
Dollarama is also great for seasonal decorations- Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Halloween, Canada Day, if you’re celebrating in any way for these special days and are hosting a party, this is a great place to pick up supplies. In fact, according to Style Democracy, party supplies and seasonal decorations are one of their biggest sellers.
Dollarama Stationery
I love their white business envelopes and one box lasts me a long time. I have a pair of Dollarama scissors. I refuse to pay $8 for scissors at Walmart when they are not on sale. They have some nice pens even rainbow coloured pens and gold and silver pens (in fact, I picked up some pens to use for our wedding to sign the guestbook, they worked well).
Dollarama Cleaning Supplies
One of the best Dollarama products I always buy when I head into the store is cleaning supplies. You can get high-quality kitchen sponges for $2. I get always stock up on my cleaning supplies at Dollarama. Two kitchen rags (to wipe the counter tops) are $2. The microfibre Arm and Hammer washcloth is $1.50.
I also have a “Swiffer” type mop that is not a Swiffer and some wet sweeping cloths. These wet sweeping cloths are $3 (18 pieces) are great for my laminate floor, they are super thick and smell nice and fresh. There’s a little scrubbing edge that you can use to really clean those floors. I reverse the cloths to make them last longer and use both sides each time I clean. For my 450 square foot apartment, I usually use two wet sweeping cloths each time I wipe the floors.
Dollarama Doggy Poop Bags
My dog goes through 3-4poop bags a day. He likes to “double poop” much to my chagrin (like he poops and then walks a block and then poops some more after I have ‘sealed’ his poop bag). Sometimes I reuse the same bag (open it up and pray that I don’t get poop on my fingers and SOMETIMES I get poop on my fingers and I curse my attempt to save the environment when it happens).
Poop bags are expensive and I like to get the kind that is biodegradable. Dollarama sometimes carries the doggy poop bags that are in a box, and it costs $3 for around 160 bags. They are lightly scented. You roll it out and tear off.
This is much cheaper than buying it at a typical pet store for $11.99 for around 100 bags (that’s $0.018 per bag compared to $0.12 a bag for the typical pet store version).
The Dollarama poop bags aren’t always in stock in the store, though, and the plastic is very very thin (so thin that my husband refuses to use them, so we carry the Earth Rated brand as well at homeand the cheapest place to get this is on Amazon.
It is $11.99 for 18 refills. Normally that’s the price for 1/3 of what you can get from Amazon). Sometimes the perforated edges don’t tear properly and you get a hole on each side of the bag (which is NOT good!!). But at $3, I still buy it!
Freezer Bags
Other Dollarama products that I always buy are the freezer ziplock bags. This is one thing I actually always go to Dollarama purposefully to buy. I love their freezer bags and I used them to put my organic baby food puree cubes, or I use them to put in a family serving size of chicken, ground beef, or pork to freeze (after buying in bulk and separating the meat into meal sized portions).
They also have actual Ziplock brand freezer bags too.
So I use them a lot since we often buy foods in bulk to save money and freeze meats to save money.
They are easy to label with a sharpie pen. I usually get the medium size and the large size Slide Seal freezer bags. They are $1.50 each I believe.
Aluminum Baking Pans
One time I checked out Safeway to buy aluminum baking pans and was shocked that they wanted to charge something like $5.99 for one disposable aluminum baking pan.
No thanks.
I’m not going to spend $6 for a disposable aluminum banking pan.
Dollarama has some great disposable aluminum baking pans which are great if you are bringing a loaf or some casserole to a friend’s house for a potluck and you don’t want to bother the host for your dish back before the party ends because you leave early because of #introvertproblems.
Food is always a great minimalist gift to give that won’t be thrown away.
Dollarama 3M Command Strips
When I find some 3M Command Strips at the Dollarama, I definitely buy a few packages because they aren’t found at Dollarama very often. Excuse the torn and ripped packaging as I couldn’t find a picture of a new 3M Command Strip package.
In fact, I think this is one of the brands that Dollarama buys from their liquidator because over the past few years I’ve only been able to find it a few times. These are great for hanging pictures or frames and not leaving a mark or a hole in the wall.
They are normally $8-9 at Home Depot or Canadian Tire.
Dollarama Pregnancy Tests!
This is a bonus Dollarama must-buy!
These Dollarama products idea is courtesy of Barry Choi from Money We Have who found some pregnancy tests (over 99% accurate) for $3 a pop! Usually pregnancy tests come with two tests but the price is definitely more than $6.
There are other medical based items that are normally very expensive at a drug store or grocery store, but very reasonably priced at Dollarama.
Dollarama Marijuana Home Drug Testing Kit
Okay this is an additional one that I added. Recently Dollarama introduced marijuana home drug testing cassettes! You can get a result in only 5 minutes for only $1.50. They think of absolutely everything, don’t they?
Can You Buy Dollarama Products Online?
Recently, Dollarama launched a delivery program where you can order certain items in bulk for a flat rate of $18 for delivery fee. You are able to order around 1000 Dollarama products, whereas in total they sell over 4000 products.
However, if you’re not buying in bulk, you’ll have to step foot into the store to buy your Dollarama products.
Is it Safe to Buy Food at Dollarama?
I often get candy, chips, and chocolate from Dollarama because it’s just so cheap. The amounts are smaller in portion so it’s easier to not binge eat.
It is really cheaper to buy it at Costco if you do the math but Dollarama makes money selling smaller quantities as a seemingly lower price.
As mentioned I also always get the organic rice crackers from Dollarama. My kids love them and they are healthy and organic, made in Poland.
Best dollarama Finds
Since Dollarama makes money by helping companies liquidate their goods that might not sell as well, you can find some ‘brand name’ deals at Dollarama.
I recommend checking out the Red Flag Deals Dollarama finds. You can see some great deals on the forums that readers post about.
Dollarama Products Recap
To recap, I find Dollarama amazing to shop at, and I find a lot of their goods are high quality. Here are the Dollarama products that are most ‘worth it’ next time you shop in store, that would be considered Dollarama best buys:
- Greeting cards and gift bags
- Party supplies and decorations
- Stationery
- Cleaning supplies
- Doggy poop bags
- Freezer bags
- Aluminum baking pans
- Command strips
- Pregnancy tests
Some other things that I love buying at Dollarama are organizational boxes and bins.
There are some freezer safe clear plastic bins for around $4 that work great to maximize your freezer and refrigerator space by keeping your foods organized.
Recently, I also like buying certain toys for my toddler there. We got a great hockey stick for him for $4 (it’s very sturdy, he hasn’t broken it yet) and Play Doh canisters for $1.25.
What Not to BUy at dollarama
Although I find the quality of the above items are stellar (for the price I pay for them), there are some not so stellar finds at Dollarama.
Here are some of them according to Buzzfeed in 21 Weird Items That are Actually Priceless at Dollarama. Some of these things are shocking, who would have thought you can get a breathalyzer test at Dollarama?
Additionally, although some Dollarama toys have been great and have held up, I find the some of the toys at Dollarama not to be of the best quality. They break within months (or some of them, even days).
Do not buy Dollarama toys!
In general, I find that you can save a lot of money at Dollarama even though their price point is not simply $1 or $1.25 anymore. I know some people who don’t like to shop at dollar stores because everything is made in China, but I find the convenience and deals too hard to resist.
You may also be interested in:
- Rexall Be Well Rewards Review
- How to save on groceries in Canada
Readers, have you shopped at Dollarama?
What are your favourite items to buy at Dollarama?
genymoney
GYM is a 40 something millennial writing about personal finance since 2009 and interested in achieving financial freedom through disciplined saving, dividend and ETF investing, and living a minimalist lifestyle. Before you go, check out my recommendations page of financial tools I use to save and invest money. Don’t forget to subscribe for a free dividend yield spreadsheet and the free Young Money Bootcamp PDF.
