The most I ever spent at Dollar Tree

I spent $88.30 at Dollar Tree today.

I ran through the store in about ten minutes and restocked my pantry and got some tide-us-over grocery items. I have never spent more than $35 in a Dollar Tree.

But here’s the deal– for some items, like snacks especially, I prefer having the smaller bags because then I can’t eat 800 calories in one sitting. And for other items, like condiments, it’s just the two of us and we don’t always agree so I don’t need a big bottle.

Shopping at Dollar Tree is low stress. I know the price and I weigh the size of the product with what I normally spend. For instance, I know I can probably get a larger loaf of cheap white bread for a similar price, but only my daughter eats the white bread so half of it will end up in the trash if I buy the “better value.”

I typically go to Dollar Tree when I have a tight budget for groceries. I had $120 in my grocery/discretionary money account and at least $60 cash, so I figured I’d let myself go wild.

Which I could not do in Wegmans.

I don’t eat much meat. I prefer to eat vegetarian, but my daughter could live on fruit and meat. I don’t like much fruit. Eva, the former The Teenager of this blog, works as an in-home pet caregiver, dog walker and animal trainer so she spends a lot of time away from home and on the go. I recently started the Omada program and am trying, once again, to shed oooooh 10 pounds as soon as freaking possible to 35 pounds longterm. These factors influence my choices.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Flights

When I got home, I planned to cook but Eva wanted to take the various ingredients from Dollar Tree and make “Peanut Butter Sandwich Flights” with apple crisps. She used her white bread, mine were on the cheap wheat.

We each had one half peanut butter and fluff, one half sandwich of peanut butter and hazelnut creme/cookie butter spread and one half peanut butter and honey.

A tasty evening meal on a hot summer day as she had been applying new contact paper on the kitchen counters.

Meats/Proteins

Hot smoked sausageBasic Bologna (They had a thin sliced and this one might have been regular, but I swear it said basic.)Chicken hot dogsTyson Honey Chicken Tenders ($5)Small jar creamy peanut butter, ten ouncessmall jar honey peanut butter, ten ouncesSpecial K Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar(two cans) Planters Salt and Vinegar peanuts, six ounceshoney roasted peanuts, 7.5 ouncesthree bags of nut blends (energy, protein and ‘yogurt’)Skippy salted nut roll barrefried beans, 20.5 ounces

Fruits and Veggies

Frozen California BlendFrozen straight cut french friesFrozen pepper/onion stir fry mixFrozen mango, strawberry, blueberry mix ($3)tropical trail mix (5 ounces)freeze-dried fruit, three bags (two mixed fruit and one apple)apple cinnamon crispslightly salted harvest snapssnack boxes of raisinstwo cans of Del Monte creamed corn, 14.75 ouncestwo cans of Del Monte no salt added corn kernels, 15.25 ouncescan of petite diced tomatoes with green chiles, 14.5 ounces

Condiments/spreads

Marshmallow fluffhazlenut/cookie butter spreadMiracle Whip, eight ouncesgarlic aioli mayo, nine ouncesbutter flavored cooking spray

Drinks

Dr. PepperDiet Strawberry Watermelon Juice (two quarts-ish)Mango-flavored coconut water (one quart)Strawberry banana nectar (one quart)

Crackers/snacks

Chicken-flavored crackersVegetable-flavored wheat thin crackerslemon creme sandwich cookiesmini nutter butter cookiespeanut butter breakfast biscuitsbirthday cake fiber cookiesspicy ranch pretzel crispsVeggie crisps chipsLance cream cheese and chive sandwich crackerstortilla chips, six ounceschili lime gummy bears

Pantry items

20-ounce box of rotiniGluten-free spaghettibox of baking soda, Arm & Hammersalmon-flavored lickables for the cats (we’re teaching them to use a cat wheel)potato gnocchitwo ultra thin pizza crusts (which I could make cheaper and better but these are for a quick easy throw together meal)100% whole wheat bread, sixteen ounceswhite bread, sixteen ounceseverything bagels (4)cinnamon raisin bagels (4)corn tortillasimitation bacon bitsspaghettios with meatballsdiced oliveskosher dill pickles