This video makes a couple of exceptional points about dollar food shopping that you may have missed and I would like to elaborate on.
 
First, discount dollar food shopping requires two main strategies to be truly successful. At the heart of the strategy is knowing your prices. While the values of the products carried at both discount and dollar stores generally range from good to spectacular when compared to the price, a few items are not a bargain. In order to know a deal when you see one it is a good idea to know your prices before shopping.
 
How much is produce per pound? What is the regualar price, and the usual sale price on canned goods, frozen foods and dairy products that you frequently buy? Finally, how much would you usually spend for the comprable name brand product when purchased on sale and with a double coupon? All of these factors play into the relative value of the dollar strore item. If the price you would normally pay for the nationally known product of known good quality is at or near the dollar store price of a generic, go with the national brand...a known good value is always better than a chance on a product that may be of lesser quality. I will readily admit that most generics are close to if not the same quality of their name brand counterparts although there are exceptions. When in doubt and the price is nearly the same, trust the quality of the product you have used in the past and know to be a good value fo the money. If in doubt of a product you have never used before, buy one to try either in the car or the same day, and return to purchase more if the product in question is an exceptional bargain. Don't forget that items come and go quickly in discount stores, and you may not see them again. If you plan to stock up, do so within the next day or two or you may loose the chance.

Second, creativity is key. While items may come and go quickly through the dollar store, your creativity will never fail you. Learn to know what kinds of foods will go well together to make meals. Keep in mind that even if you need to fill in from the grocery store to complete the remaining ingredients for a dish you can do so inexpensively. Because shopping in dollar stores is hit or miss for most items including grocery products, I carry the grocery sales fliers for the week with me as I shop. If in doubt as to what is on sale that could potentially help me to add variety to the ingredients I have to work with, I simply refer to the ad. This strategy is also particularly helpful when evaluating produce. Sometimes the supermarket loss leaders are just as inexpensive as the dollar store, so it helps to have a visual of what is available for the week at super low prices.

Dollar store food shopping reallyis not difficult, you simply need to know how to navigate the system to get the best values for your food dollars. The main thing to know is that "it's only a buck" mentality will keep you from getting your best bargains. It may only be a buck, but a buck is still worth a lot especially when money is tight.

Here is some basic information about shopping for dollar store food. Since dollar store groceries will make up the bulk of our shopping list it is important to get a solid understanding of how best to shop the grocery aisles in the dollar stores nearest you.

Bear in mind that the strategies presented here are also true of other types of discount reatilers and salvage stores like Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Grocery Warehouse. All are exceptional resources for cheap groceries if you know how to shop them correctly. Be sure to leave your questions and comments below, I'll try to answer as many as I have time for.

Remember that there is usually nothing wrong with dollar store food, many of  the products found here are clearanced due to packaging changes, or have been pulled from store shelves due to resets or store remodels.
 
Grocery chains have found that wholesaling out the leftover products is cheaper than spending hours of labor to sort and restock products on the shelves. Wholesaled merchandise is deeply discounted and often ends up in dollar stores.