Life in hell: The Dollar General Diet.

[Oliveloaf]

Just wondering, do people live only on food purchased at dollar stores?

What would it be like to live, for a month, only on food purchased from a dollar store?

Would you save money? Would you feel like crap? How much would it suck?

[Oliveloaf]

[OneCentStamp]

Scurvy.

[Zuul]

Bleh. I suppose canned veggies, some grain products and milk (most of them around here have a small cooler, at least) wouldn't kill you in a month. You'd just want to die.

[Orual]

Scurvy.

And constipation.

[OneCentStamp]

Also:

[Zuul]

I like this one:

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Well, I dunno. We don't have Dollar Generals here, but I assume it's like Dollarama. There you can get rice, pasta, sauce, canned meat and fish and stew, tinned fruits and vegetables, etc. it wouldn't be fine dining, but I bet you could be as well nourished as, say, you would be in the Army on deployment.

[RabbitMage]

I smell a challenge.

[The Original An Gadaí]

Our equivalent only really sells junk food. Can you live on chocolate, crisps, and fizzy pop?

[artifex]

I smell a challenge.

I think it would be a good idea to get your kidney function checked before taking this on, because it sounds like a veritable sodium-fest.

I am completely skeeved by the idea of eating food from the dollar store. I've never really even liked buying sodas from the case by the register. I'm not sure why, other than that I feel like the durable goods from there are always a level or two crappier than what you'd get at Target or whatever, and I assume the food would be the same, even when it's the same brands available in other stores.

[OneCentStamp]

I think it would be a good idea to get your kidney function checked before taking this on, because it sounds like a veritable sodium-fest.

I am completely skeeved by the idea of eating food from the dollar store. I've never really even liked buying sodas from the case by the register. I'm not sure why, other than that I feel like the durable goods from there are always a level or two crappier than what you'd get at Target or whatever, and I assume the food would be the same, even when it's the same brands available in other stores.

If there was an equivalent of "day old bread" for other foods, it would be on the shelves at the dollar store?

[What Exit?]

Our equivalent only really sells junk food. Can you live on chocolate, crisps, and fizzy pop?

I know people that have tried it.


The Dollar Tree, another $ store chain has Ramen and enough other stuff where I suspect for a healthy person to live on their food would be no worse then many college age diets.

[Sarahfeena]

I smell a challenge.

I think it would be a good idea to get your kidney function checked before taking this on, because it sounds like a veritable sodium-fest.

I am completely skeeved by the idea of eating food from the dollar store. I've never really even liked buying sodas from the case by the register. I'm not sure why, other than that I feel like the durable goods from there are always a level or two crappier than what you'd get at Target or whatever, and I assume the food would be the same, even when it's the same brands available in other stores.

I'm with you. I always wonder how the food got there.

[Oliveloaf]

This goes hand in hand with my fear of food from China.

I wont eat anything with nuts or soy from China. I have no faith that anything edible from China has been handled in a safe manner, or not grown in soil blended with refuse chemical smegma.

[Oliveloaf]

Just back from Dollar General. Lots of off-brand salty snacks and soda.

[OneCentStamp]

Just back from Dollar General. Lots of off-brand salty snacks and soda.

Check in on him in a few days, willya Sarahfeena?

[Sarahfeena]

Just back from Dollar General. Lots of off-brand salty snacks and soda.

Check in on him in a few days, willya Sarahfeena?

No kidding...I think I'd better.

[Zuul]

Oh dear. If he didn't have high blood pressure before...

[Sarahfeena]

And he's not logged in right now, so I hope he's not in some sort of junk food-induced coma.

[Zuul]

If he doesn't post anything by tomorrow, I think we should assume the worst.

[Oliveloaf]

Good God, I'm not doing this!

We were there to pick up some stuff for a science experiment my daughter is doing for school. I did look around for good items. Slim, disturbing pickings. Most impressed by all the looks-like-Lay's off-brand salty snacks.

[Zuul]

It's good to know you're still with us.

I'm not sure if they're still around these days, but there had been a chain of stores simply called The Dollar Store in Las Vegas when I lived out there. During my brief tenure working in a hotel, there was a convention of what I assume were the franchise owners. At the time, the stores had real groceries in them. It was just that everything was imported from Mexico. My sister, the ravenous deal hunter, would shop there at times.

[Oliveloaf]

[Oliveloaf]

[Zuul]

Dr Thunder and Twist Up? Oh man, we're talking some high quality stuff here.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

I'd actually try the Sweet Sue Chicken & Dumplings. I'm a sucker for chicken and dumplings, and hey, they're made from scratch!

[RabbitMage]

The nearest Dollar Store to my house is Dollartree, and they also carry some limited groceries. There's a new 99cent Only store nearby, and I think they have a wider selection.

I'm tempted to take $10 or $20 over and see what I can get.

[OneCentStamp]

I'd actually try the Sweet Sue Chicken & Dumplings. I'm a sucker for chicken and dumplings, and hey, they're made from scratch!

"Scratch" = name of Sweet Sue's dog.

[Oliveloaf]

[Zuul]

Oh, look! You can get rapper flavored potato chips.

[Sarahfeena]

Oh, look! You can get rapper flavored potato chips.

Tastes like sweat and Axe body spray. Yum.

[The Original An Gadaí]

Milk Chocolate with popping candy?

[Rube E. Tewesday]

So over lunch I went into Dollarama for some tissues and such like, and made a brief note of the food, without trying to be comprehensive.

Lots of salty snack and candy, but also: canned fruit, many kinds; canned vegetables; bread (white, whole wheat, 9 grain); Kellogs Corn Flakes and Cap'n Crunch; canned ham and luncheon meat and chicken flakes; canned stews and soups; canned tuna and tuna salad nicoise; vegetable cocktail and Perrier water; dried past and canned sauces; canned beans; canned pasta; boxed mac and cheese; stove top stuffing and ricearoni type stuff; pancake mix. Mix of major labels and small brands.

Didn't see any cow milk, but there was soy drink.

I really think that you could eat adequately, if not well, for an indefinite period out of stuff you bought there.

[OneCentStamp]

That's not too bad, honestly. I would take the Dollar General Month Challenge assuming I could keep taking my current supplements. I'd just have to make sure I got plenty of water and potassium to prepare for what would probably be a serious uptick in sodium intake.

[Oliveloaf]

My most recent visit was actually to a Dollar Tree, a place with far fewer--and far less healthy--food options. The Dollorama board of fare seems almost decent.

[Elendil's Heir]

Oh, look! You can get rapper flavored potato chips.

Tastes like sweat and Axe body spray. Yum.

"The only breakfast cereal with healed blunt-force trauma wounds and a criminal record!"

[Anacanapuna]

Spam? I could do Spam. Lived on it for months at a time in the Army (mid-'70s, right after Vietnam, lots of leftover C-rations.) I loves me some Spam.

Is Dollar General worse than Walgreen's?

[OneCentStamp]

Much worse. The Walgreen's, at least the ones I've known, actually have a pretty good food selection, because they have a refrigerator and freezer. I was at my local Walgreen's last week looking for an Ace bandage and ice for artifex's sprained ankle and they had milk, eggs, cheese, lunchmeat, frozen pizzas, (prewrapped) deli sandwiches, and quite a bit of cereal, chips, and canned soups and stews. It would be brutally expensive, and there was no produce or non-processed meat, but you could do a decent job of grocery shopping there in a pinch.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

My kid and I were at a different Dollarama today. Food was about the same, but something that struck us was that they offer gift cards. I imagined some Homer Simpson type running into the Dollar Store on Valentine's day and buying his lady love a one dollar greeting card and a ten dollar gift card.