after i ate the last of my salmon bagel sandwich for lunch, i biked to the nearby walgreens to pick up a few things (yardley soap, gummi bears, necco wafers, clean & clear facial cleanser, dawn dish soap). i maximized my savings by going with sale items that were then additional discounted with online coupons. it was an elaborate process, but i had time on my hands so i put in the work to create the additional savings. i ended up saving 47% compared to if i just bought everything at regular price.

coming back, i wanted to check out the family dollar to see if i they had any small paint brushes (like the ones for watercolors) or foam brushes, so i could try painting the unsightly shingle nail heads from my insulation work. that's when i saw the sign: clearance sale. family dollar is going out of business! where will i get my unhealthy snacks and cleaning supplies? business seemed to be brisk, as people were taking advantage of the sale. some of the more popular shelves were empty of merchandise. i didn't see any brushes but i did pick up a package of superglue.

the sale sign was confusing: 50% on the lowest price. at first i thought it meant if you bought a bunch of items, the lowest priced item would be 50%, while everything else would be normal price. but then i saw a man pushing a shopping cart full of canned goods and suddenly i figured it out: everything was 50% off! so i grabbed a basket and went to work. i circled the store 4 times, ended up spending almost $60.

i asked the cashier when was their last day; he said in 2 weeks. i asked why they were closing; he pointed to a sign behind me: "dollar tree." so this is going to be a dollar tree now! as far as dollar stores go, i prefer family dollar because it's more like a small department store. the name is misleading because most items cost more than a $1. dollar tree on the other hand actually adheres to the rule, and everything they sell is actually a dollar. because of the price limit, they tend not to carry the name-brand good stuff, but rather most of their merchandise are cheap off-brand products.