Thursday March 13, 2014  Comments of Comment:

kevrob: There's a $T [Dollar Tree] near the gas station I use on my way home from work, and another just as I turn onto the last thoroughfare I take before pulling into my driveway.

I always find small quantities there much cheaper than I would find them elsewhere, such as a supermarket or convenience store.  There are good deals on brand name toiletries, frex.  I'm only buying for myself, so I appreciate spending $1 on, say, a stick of deodorant or a can of shaving cream when another store would charge me $3, or give me the same per unit price, but only if I purchased in bulk.  Since both stores are close by supermarkets I shop at, if I don't like the price on, say,facial tissue, I know where I can get a 120-count box of Scotties for a buck.

 I carry a 3-AAA battery LED flashlight with me that $T sells. Flashlight=$1, 4-pack of alkaline batteries = $1.  The thing is cheaper than "disposable" flashes sold elsewhere, and if I lend it out and don't get it back, lose it or break the demned thing, I still have gotten my money's worth.  The place is HQ for the /c/h/e/a/p/s/k/a/t/e/ frugal bachelor outfitting his quarters.  Then again, I shop places like Goodwill.

I echo the mention of Big!Lots.  There's a New England chain called Ocean State Job Lot that's good, too.  Just installed new RainX wipers on my car. OSJL sold me a pair for $10.  Both of those stores sell a lot more, and more expensive items than a dollar store, but also plenty of $1-ish items. OSJL has a great spice wall:  small containers of just about anything I'd want for a buck apiece.

Also, 40 count boxes of Barry's Tea Bags (Irish Breakfast or Gold) show up regularly, along with Newman's Own cookies, and various inexpensive imported pastas. An old housemate of mine can't eat gluten.  He was hurting himself making himself regular pasta, because the gluten-free stuff was too expensive.  The Pasta del Oro (made from corn) I found there for him solved that problem. There also one of the few places that regularly has affordable wild rice, and not only mixed with brown rice, but just by itself.

***From politicalwire.com:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) said the U.S. Constitution is 400 years old, TPM reports.

Said Lee: "Frankly, maybe I should offer a good thanks to the distinguished members of the majority, the Republicans, my chairman, and others for giving us an opportunity to have a deliberative constitutional discussion that reinforces the sanctity of this nation and how well it is that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a Constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not."

***From Twitter:

 Weird History ‏@historyweird 1967: "Stuffed girl's heads" - because no bar or living room would be complete without a memento of your "conquests". http://twitpic.com/dy7xtc