You know the “five and dime
store” and the “dollar store”; but the “buck fifty-nine store”?
I read a week or two ago that
Dollar Tree, the franchise that sells “everything for a dollar”, will be
introducing a “Dollar Tree Plus” section in its stores where they will sell
merchandise that will cost more than a dollar—typically about $1.59.
I have to confess that I was
disappointed, albeit not shocked. I love
going into the local Dollar Tree to see what they can still sell for a
dollar. If you’ve never gone into one of
their stores, you’ve missed a treat.
Tubes of toothpaste, toys, candles, gift bags, boxes of cookies, gallon
jugs of spring water—every trip there is an adventure as they roll out new or
seasonal merchandise on a regular basis.
My grandson bought a toy police kit there, complete with badge, night
stick, and gun. And he used his own dollar
from grandpa. He was thrilled.
But a dollar for everything? C’mon, how long can that business model
last? As a boy I bought my favorite
candy bar for a nickel and was outraged when it went up to a dime. I’m lucky to find it now for 89 cents….AND
it’s smaller. And if you’re old enough,
you will recall how putting a penny into a gumball machine got you two pieces
of gum. Those machines won’t even
recognize anything less than a quarter nowadays. So how long did Dollar Tree think they could
continue to price everything according to their name? But ten years from now what would you find
for a buck in Dollar Tree? A glass of
spring water? One small chocolate chip
cookie? Sample-size tubes of toothpaste?
I suppose this could be a lesson
to entrepreneurs in what to name their business. Don’t box yourself into a corner, for
example, with a name like “Main Street Toys”, then move the business to Cary
Street. I have to say, though, that
Dollar Tree did an admirable job with the “Dollar Tree Plus” concept. Like you are getting more for the same
dollar.
But let’s get to the heart of the
matter. What will this change mean for
you and me? In the classes I teach on
personal finance, we talk about “leaks” in our budgets, the little (or
sometimes big) extravagances that scuttle our plans to save and which leave us
little or nothing in our bank accounts at month’s end. We typically cite the $4 cup of coffee people
buy each day before work, thinking it’s really nothing when in fact it costs
over $800 a year that they could have saved.
(A cup brewed at home: about 8 cents a cup.) My budget leak is Dollar Tree. I get so intrigued by what they are able to
sell so cheaply that I will almost always buy something I don’t really need
when I go in there. And since I don’t
want to look like a cheapskate spending just a dollar, I’ll tack on a bag of
chips, a packet of trail mix—something to make it worth standing in the
checkout line. My financial vice, as it
were.
Little things add up. Where is your budget leak? Try tracking your money—every cent, as nearly
as possible—and see where your money is actually going. You will likely be surprised and maybe even
shocked into taking action to save yourself some money. A buck fifty-nine, or just the threat of it,
little as it is, has me on the reform wagon.
Not going to Dollar Tree today, thank you.
Until next time,
Roger
“Money wrongly gotten will disappear bit by bit; money
earned little by little will grow and grow.” Proverbs 13:11 CEV
