Appropriate Technology: The Dollar Store

My first paid job ever was in a discount retail store, a so called 'five and dime' where the five was a nickel.

Prices have gone up, and these stores are now called 'dollar stores.' Except for local variations such as Daiso (the $1.50 Japanese themed stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California), they price most items at $1 each. These include Dollar Tree and the $0.99 Cent Store, "open 9 days a week." [neat trick]

How is this an Appropriate Technology post? Because the mechanism by which these stores operate is itself a fascinating piece of tech, and understanding it can save many, many dollars.

Everything at the dollar store varies in actual price. That sounds strange when everything costs a dollar, but it is quite true. The difference is the _quantity_ not the numerics.

I comparison price shop constantly. This is a skill that should be taught as part of basic financial literacy in elementary school. Not high school. Elementary school. Because kids who know how to buy good food cheap get better nutrition, and all too many kids have to shop for their families.

Your local grocery store may have a pack of 100 tea bags for $3.99 when the big box store (Walget or Talmart, you figure it out) has the same product for $2.99. The dollar store has 20 tea bags for $1.

Price per each, the grocery store charges $0.04 per individual tea bag. The big box store charges $0.03 (and that 25% savings can add up.) The dollar store charges $0.05 and is actually the most expensive option of the bunch!

Unless you only need 20 tea bags. The ability to buy smaller quantities, titrated to what you need, is where the dollar store shines.

Note: an outlet store may sell you a thousand tea bags for $12.99 which sounds great. Break it down per each, and you are paying only $0.013 per bag. But will you drink a thousand cups of tea before the package goes bad, and do you have that much storage?

Unless you are deliberately stockpiling, or anticipate a major change in prices (always up), it is more efficient to buy what you need when you need it. This is especially true when it has an expiration date.

More about expiration dates soon. And also what retailers call "velocity."