I regularly shop at the 99 cents only stores and Habitat for Humanity Restore (where I work) but does this save any money or waste it?

During the next week I’m going to go about my every day life and try avoiding the 99 cent store and only shop at grocery stores for food (Target and Walmart count in this case). This experiment is to see if I spend more money on longer lasting food or less money on crap. Dollar stores pull people in by saying that the dollar doesn’t matter because whatever you get there is most likely worth significantly more in the regular stores. This notion is wrong because that dollar did take time to earn and it could be better spent on items of a better quality even though they may be slightly more expensive. This also makes sweets more of a treat, I can easily eat a box of Swiss Rolls but it is $1.79 for a box and is very unhealthy so if I do get a box I need to make it last a few days at least but it should last about a month!

I’m not telling anyone to do like me and just stop going to the dollar  store but try to look for the value while I do the same thing. Pretzels are one thing I get there often and I’ll have to get another brand but I can do it and I hope to better understand what that dollar spent on pretzels is truly worth. Is it better to get a smaller bag for 99 cents or a large bag for $3.29. I’ll tell you what I find after a week.