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Dollar Tree for College Students 101: What To Buy

College is a time where most people are pinching pennies – and The Dollar Tree can be a great resource for college students. Here are some of the best products and categories to shop for at The Dollar Tree as a college studnet.

college student with glasses

College can be an expensive time in any young adult’s life.

Whether you’re living on or off-campus, those expenses will start to rack up quickly.

Between textbooks and just the cost of existing on campus, using the Dollar Tree can help you save some money on your college supplies.

While Dollar Tree is constantly changing its stock year-round, you can find most of these items during any time of the year!

Here are some of the Dollar Tree products to stock up on for college students.

Dorm Room Storage

fabric storage cubes

Dorm rooms are small, like insanely small! There is barely enough room to fit your furniture, let alone anything else.

The Dollar tree sells so many different storage bins and storage options that you can use to maximize your floor space. 

Room Decor on a Budget

pretty flowers in vase

If you want to decorate your new dorm on a budget, consider shopping at Dollar Tree instead of a big box store!

They will have many of the essentials you’re looking for.

Here are a few fun items you could consider:

There are way too many cute things to share – you can click here to check out their entire online collection.

Picture frames are really inexpensive and nice to buy at The Dollar Tree.

During back to school season, they’ll also carry things like desk lamps (like this one) and other room decor essentials.

School Supplies

Ruler and pencil

Dollar Tree has cheap school supplies during the entire year!

You can find everything from poster boards to pencils here.

While other stores might be a great deal during back to school season, Dollar Tree is the place to go when it’s the middle of the year, and you’ve run out of notebooks or folders.

Some supplies – like store brand crayons – aren’t awesome. But a lot of school supplies are a great find here. You can buy some of these items online, but I generally think of this as a better category to do some instore shopping with!

However, if you are wanting to stock up and buy in bulk, you can check out their online school supplies section. They have lots of great items, like pencils, glue, markers, and more.

College Apartment Cooking Essentials

plastic cups

If you are looking to stock your first kitchen, consider heading to the Dollar Tree first!

They have everything from plates, cups, silverware, and cooking supplies.

For only $1, you can get a lot of your necessities to get cooking in your first apartment. The plastic utensils are less than stellar, and I don’t particularly love their knives, but for a first apartment, you don’t have to be too picky!

I honestly got all my cooking utensils for my first college dorm at the Dollar Tree, and they worked great for what I needed them to.

I do find this section gets pretty picked over the sooner it gets to the start of school, so start looking sooner rather than later!

This might be a good option to buy online if you are finding your store is always out of stock! Here are a few things I thought would be particularly useful for a college student:

I really like to get cereal bowls, metal forks and spoons, plates, glass drinking cups, and mugs at The Dollar Tree.

I would suggest staying away from their plastic cooking utensils or anything plastic that you’d put in contact with heat. Stick with stainless steel!

Personal Care Essentials

razors

The Dollar Tree carries name brand products on everything from razors to soap and shampoo.

This means you can easily save hundreds over the course of a year by just shopping at Dollar Tree for your personal care items!

They even have name brand make up such as Wet N Wild and Maybelline from time to time. I would definitely stick to name brand when it comes to makeup – some people have complained about their non-name brand makeup being really poor quality and causing skin problems.

Make sure you check out our Dollar Tree couponing tips and tricks to make sure you aren’t spending more on these items, though!

Dorm Room Food and Snacks

top ramen noodles

Whether you are looking for a bag of chips or a package of ramen, you can find a lot of great options at the Dollar Tree.

This is great for study snacks or something to pack with you on the go when you’re in between classes. You can also find water and cheap soda here too!

If you have an apartment and are cooking actual meals, you can find basic pantry essentials, frozen foods, etc. My husband said he’d try and stretch his dollar a little more when he was serving a mission for our church by shopping at The Dollar Tree for food!

Laundry Supplies

laundry supplies and towels

One thing you won’t miss about college is the dorm room laundry rooms. Whether you are looking for dryer sheets or detergent, you can find all of your laundry room essentials for only $1 here!

They have name brands such as Gain and Bounce if you are looking for a name brand too.

As a college student, you will have to fork over money for many expenses that you can’t control. However, you can save money on so many products by shopping at Dollar Tree instead of a big box store.

Hopefully, this list will give you some ideas for how to use the Dollar Tree to save money on your college supplies.

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Cindy Maudsley lives in Utah with her husband and five children. Aside from writing, her passions include her family, faith, and spreading infertility awareness. She also loves a good book or podcast, true crime documentaries , Netflix binge, diet Coke and Target run

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