We ran our Saturday shopping errands at Dollar General and Walgreens. You might be surprised where we saved the most money — by far. This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn...
I shop on Saturdays because my weekdays are a blur of working, remote schooling, preparing meals, doing dishes and everything else. And I’m on a budget because I’ve got two kids.
Where do I shop? While hunting for the lowest prices, I recently did a little price comparison at Dollar General and Walgreens, and you might be surprised to learn what I found…
Dollar General vs. Walgreens: Which is Cheaper?
Some of you might drive right past Dollar General, assuming it’s just another dollar store. But here’s some knowledge for you: It actually stocks a ton of national-brand household goods, pantry staples and toiletries.
And here’s an even better secret: Dollar General will give you an extra discount just for coming in on Saturday. Buy at least $25 worth of stuff, and you get $5 off — every Saturday with DG Digital Coupons.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way: Is Dollar General or Walgreens cheaper? I compared prices for some go-to personal care items, and here’s what I found:
| Degree Women's Shower Clean Antiperspirant Deodorant Stick, 2.6 oz., Twin Pack | $4.50 | $6.29 |
| Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum, 5.1 oz. | $5.00 | $5.99 |
| RICOLA Sugar Free Lemon Mint Herb Throat Drops, 19 ct. | $1.95 | $3.49 |
| Alka-Seltzer Heartburn Relief Chews, Assorted Fruit, 36 ct. | $4.50 | $7.49 |
| Children's Claritin 24-Hour Non-Drowsy Allergy Grape Chewable Tablet, 5mg, 10 ct. | $10.00 | $12.49 |
| Pond's Dry Skin Cream Facial Moisturizer, 3.9 oz. | $3.95 | $5.29 |
| Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes Refill Pack, 25 ct. | $5.00 | $6.99 |
| Bic Women Soleil Twilight Lavender Disposable Razor, 4 ct. | $5.00 | $6.79 |
| Saturday Discount | - $5.00 | |
| Total price | $34.90 | $54.82* |
At Dollar General, these eight items cost nearly $20 less than what they would have cost at Walgreens. In fact, the total price was noticeably lower, even before we added the $5 Saturday discount.
The long and short of it is, I basically got 36% off because I shopped at Dollar General instead of Walgreens.
Running Errands This Saturday? How to Get $5 Off $25 at Dollar General
Now, you might be wondering how I unlocked that $5 discount on $25 worth of purchases at Dollar General. It’s easy.
All you have to do is download the Dollar General App and sign up for a DG Digital Coupons account.
Once you’re in the app, you can claim an extra $5 off $25 coupon that you can use on Saturdays. It renews each week. You can literally buy anything you want. As long as you spend $25 on Saturday and enter your phone number at checkout, you’ll get $5 off. Simple!
Plus, through the app, you’ll gain access to hundreds of dollars’ worth of coupons, which you can easily click to add to your account.
Need Huggies diapers? Tide laundry detergent? CoverGirl makeup? When we checked, they all had coupons.
Once you sign up and “clip” all your coupons in the app, just enter your phone number at checkout, and these deals will be automatically applied to your total.
So before you hit up Walgreens on your Saturday errand run, it might be worth pulling into your Dollar General to grab that $5 off.
*Disclaimer: Walgreens® is a registered trademark of Walgreen Co. Prices and availability may vary by store and online. Walgreens pricing based on pricing on Walgreens.com on 09/21/20. Dollar General pricing based on Dollargeneral.com on 09/21/20.
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.