A Beacon of Value

If you've never seen the Anaheim 99 Cent Only store at night, you are missing one of the city's most appealing feature$ -


[ Click to view larger image. ]

This week's bargains

I didn't do a lot of dollar store shopping this week, but I did purchase three things.

1. Ten 6 x 9 inch clasped manilla envelopes on sale at the little dollar store in town during their Everything Is 89 Cents This Week Only sale.
2. A bottle of Ajax dishwashing detergent, citrus extracts/w BAKING SODA. The baking soda is what sold me on this purchase.
3. The world's smallest fully automatic Umbrella!
According to the label the umbrella features:
- Revolutionary pushbutton automatic self-open and close
- Poly-pongee fabric treated with TEFLON for superior water and stain resistance
- Folds so small, yet opens to a BIG 40 degree diameter, and 44 inch arc
- Wind-resistant frame
- Self-fabric storage case
- Unsurpassed quality and and craftsmanship
- Lifetime limited warranty
It really is an amazing umbrella for only a dollar. It stores like a miniature umbrella, yet opens to the size of a full size umbrella.





BONUS!!!
Operating instructions for the world's smallest fully automatic Umbrella.

Illustrative Clip Art

The proof is in the pudding

As you can see with one simple picture I disproved Jonnie's theory that there is nothing that costs a dollar at the Dollar General.



In addition to the small garbage bags I also bought a broom, 2 cans of vegetable beef soup, two cans of cream of celery soup, a box of cheese flavored snack crackers, and I was very tempted to buy a whoopie cushion, and all these items cost a dollar.

Granted, it isn't a dollar only store, and the name of the store is misleading, not only because not everything cost a dollar, but there was also no General to be found, I mean, I thought at least the manager would be a General, but nope, no General, and if there had been you can bet I would have gotten my picture taken with him or her.

In my strictly unscientific study I found that approximately 20% of the items at the Dollar General sell for a dollar.

The Ready Leady Challenge

I have decided to take Jonnie up on his challenge and see if I can find anything for a dollar at the Dollar General.
I will post my findings later today!

Comments that deserve to be a post

Comments taken from this post.

JohnnyC. said...
Does it mean by shopping at the Dollar Tree that you're selling out on the 99 cent blog?? CONFESS!!!

5:36 PM


Rebel Leady Boy said...
The 99 Cent Blog celebrates all $1.00 and all 99 cent stores of all stripes.

Cali has a fair sprinkling of fake 99 cent and 98 cent stores too, but they are scams. They use that title; but when you go in, everything is regular price. They're usually independent establishments and I've learned to avoid them.

Like "Dollar General" in Indiana was not a true dollar store. I don't think they had anything in there that cost a dollar.

But Dollar Tree is a whole different story! I remember going to Dollar Tree in Indiana and they are fully endorsed by the 99 Cent Blog since everything in there costs a dollar or less.

5:08 AM


Boz said...
We should link The Dollar Tree. There is also a stigma attatched to shopping at the faux dollar stores like the Dollar General or the Family Dollar. If you shop at the 99 cent store or the dollar store it's ok because it is kind of kooky, but the Dollar General and Family Dollar are considered white trashy.

5:33 AM

I Don't Mean to Brag

But -

My nearby Anaheim 99 Cent store shares a plaza with IHOP:


You can really spend the whole day there.

There's also a post office, so you can mail items from the 99 cent store immediately.

Also present in the same plaza - K-Mart, Hometown Buffet, and a bunch of other shit I forget about.

But yeah, IHOP! I think there should be a RW reunion in Orange County and we should all meet at the Anaheim IHOP, then walk over to the 99 Cent Only Store, then walk next door and mail each other postcards.

Black Cherry Shasta

With the Orange city lights in the background.

I got a 6-pack for 99 cents to celebrate the release of Black Cherry Vanilla Coke.

The Dollar Tree in West Branch

MB hadn't been out of the house for a few days so we went for a ride over to West Branch.
The Dollar Tree isn't my favorite dollar store, it is too antiseptic and too ordered for my taste, I like rooting around looking for bargains, but they had some pretty good deals today.



They had the perfect drink coasters!!!
Gleem is my favorite toothpaste. It doesn't have any of those extras, like peroxide, and whiteners, and baking soda, and mouth wash, that all the name brands have, it just gets your teeth clean and leaves you with fresh breath, and what more do you need?
Oh man, 75% off of xmas candy!!!
I got four bags of chocolate bells and four bags of peanut butter cups.

MB picked up some stuff too, but this isn't the MB, Jonnie, and Boz's 99 Cent Blog, is it?

Well worth the 80 mile round trip, and a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Travel Essential

Can you guess what this is?


It's a motherfucking switchblade toothbrush -


The proper name for this PreciDENT brand "travel essential" is the "Premium Folding Travel Toothbrush Advanced" and it is apparently no toy.

The packaging states Premium Folding Travel Toothbrushes are "ideal" for "the traveler or individual who wishes to brush after each meal".

The handle is described as "elegant" and the rubber grips are said to be "stylish" and "strategically placed to provide a sure grip while brushing".

The packaging also includes this helpful diagram -


Just to let you know it opens the full 180 degrees that would be required for a person to use it.

Finally, the packaging suggests some specific scenarios that would be ideally suited for Premium Folding Travel Toothbrushes -

Great For:
- Traveling
- College Dorm Living
- Desk Storage at Work
- Carrying in a Handbag
- Carrying in a Briefcase
- Gym Bag Essentials

Unfortunately, the 99 Cent Store only carries the Premium Folding Travel Toothbrush Advanced, so I was unable to compare it with the other models. I would guess the "advanced" model stands out from the others due to its stylish & strategically placed rubber grips and the fact that it opens a full 180 degrees, but I would have to do further research which I am not willing to do.

This brush does have one fairly serious drawback - When the brush is retracted, there is no mechanism to keep it in place. So when you hold it upside down, the brush falls out of the handle, allowing the bristles to attract travel debris. If I knew this ahead of time, I never would have purchased it.

As is stands, the Premium Folding Travel Toothbrush Advanced will require a rubberband or something to keep it retracted.

But then again, it was only 99 Cents.

Friday Purchase

A nice selection of Paper Mate pens in a real glass!!!
Note Cards for MB, because she is crazy for writing letters.
Blue mouth wash, and two toothbrushes, because I am all about dental hygiene.

The Dollar Only Phenomenon is Spreading

Up here everyone is getting into the Dollar Store business.
Both local supermarkets and one of the local drugstores now have extensive Dollar Only sections.



Check out the cool 5 inch by 5 inch shadow box picture frame I bought in the Dollar Only section of the Save-A-Lot.

Pet Cactus

I got a pet baby cactus at the 99 Cent Store last Friday -


Pretty low maintenance.

Did Pepsi make Holiday Spice for more than one season??

They didn't even give it a chance to become a holiday tradition. I'm sure egg nog wasn't a huge hit the first year it came out.

Short-sited bastards. They aborted a promising new flavor before it had a chance to come into its own.

Well thank god the 99 Cent Store was there to take the remaining stock off their hands and sell it off at a discount.

Triple Edge Razor Update

The Triple Edge Razors that I bought from the Dollar Store are crap.
A razor is supposed to glide over your skin like sliding down a freshly wax papered slide at the park. Shaving with these for shit razors felt more like trying to go down the slide standing up wearing your brand new for school only rubber soled PF Flyers.
Ouch!!!

Rubber Soled PF Flyers

Coming Soon:

A review of my latest 99 Cent DVD - Get Christie Love.


Get Christie Love.
The clerk kind of smirked when she rang this DVD up, I don't know if it was because of the fact I was buying it or because she had seen it before and it sucks.

Kiwis and Aspirin

Here's my trunk full of 99 Cent loot when I got home tonight -


[ Click to view larger image. ]

I love going to the 99 Cent Store on payday. I walk out with at least half of my groceries and most of my needed odds and ends for virtually no cost.

I got a lot of stuff tonight, but I'll start with two of life's basic essentials -


Kiwis and Aspirin!

8 kiwis and 250 aspirin for a total cost of $1.98!!

The kiwis aren't quite ripe, but I got some last week and they ripen up just fine in a couple of days. I'll sit them on my windowsill in the sunshine to facilitate the process.

Coming up empty handed

I went to the Dollar Store today with a certain item in mind and is so often the case when I go looking for a certain item I came up empty.
I was looking for drink coasters.
You know, the thing you put under a glass, or a bottle, or a cup to keep from leaving a wet ring on the table.
Anyway, I did find some. I think there were eight in a package, which would have been a heck of a bargain, but the workmanship was shoddy even by Dollar Store standards.
The coasters were just slick pieces of paper glued over a very thin piece of cork, but that wasn't the worst of it. The glue job was so bad that the coasters were already falling apart.
Still ...
I was very tempted to purchase the item, but didn't.

My latest Buck Store purchase

10 smooth triple edged razors.
Suggested price of $2.99.



They were made in China so you know they have to be good because we all know what tough beards the Chinese have.
There is also a warning on the back of the package to keep out of reach of children, which I wholeheartedly agree with, because I think most children start shaving way to young.

Do you remember the SNL parody about triple edged razors that they did back in the 70's?
Talk about life imitating art.

Easter at the 99 Cent Store

I took these pics last Easter at the Anaheim 99 Cent Store -



Note -
We should put the "99 Cent Only" Store's URL in the sidebar:
http://www.99only.com/about.htm

My latest purchase

Two 10 ounce bottles of cherry flavored Compare to NyQuil night time cold and flu medication, and a pack of triple AAA batteries that were originally made for Kodak.



I prefer the original flavor but at 10 Ounces for a Buck I can live with it.
I do prefer the originally made for Kodak batteries over the originally made for Polaroid batteries, but that is just me.

L.A.'s Totally Awesome Plumber

My first review will be - "L.A.'s Totally Awesome Plumber".

It is one of many cleaning product brandname knock-off's available at California's 99 Cent Only Store.


[ Note bag of glue in background. Also note 2-for-99cent avocado's on windowsill ]
My shower drain has been developing a clog over the past month or so. The water drains out extremely slowly. Drain cleaners are quite expensive, so I thought I would try "L.A.'s Totally Awesome Plumber" for 99 cents.

The label promises that it is "professional strength" and in all ways compatible with the leading name brands, but my drain clog still remains.

I applied the product to it's maximum impact. I poured in the whole bottle instead of half and I let it sit overnight before flushing with water (as directed "for stubborn blockages" on the label).

The water still takes forever to drain.

Though, to be fair, I have also tried a more expensive mainstream brand which achieved the same results (failure).

So, "L.A.'s Totally Awesome Plummer" may well be just as potent as higher-priced brands. Though, for this blockage, that is simply not potent enough.

Mission Statement

Awesome!
Whenever I go to the 99 Cent Store, I'm going to post what I got here.

I went on Friday and walked out with:
6 avocados
2 bell peppers
1 quart of strawberry banana juice
1 package of envelopes
3 liter bottles of orange Gatorade
1 6-pack of Shasta grape soda
1 loaf of bread
2 cans of spaghetti-Os
1 package of 15 cone-shaped coffee filters
1 bag of Tootsie Rolls
3 Snickers bars
and a few other things I forget

Total cost - $18.00

Fuck yeah!

The 99 cent blog

Finally, a blog I can relate to.