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Comment by code_duck | Hacker News Reader

Anecdotally... I have a close friend who is a PhD, has tens of thousands in the bank, a great job, and absolutely loves the dollar store.

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That's probably part of why your friend has lots of money in the bank.

You would need to know what to buy. Helium balloons...$1. Greeting cards, $.50, there are certain things that are much cheaper at Dollar Tree than else where. There are some items that they get you to splurge on impulse on that have a higher profit...Some candy you can get for $.70 at Walmart is $1 at Dollar Tree.

IMO, the best ting to get at Dollar Tree are gift bags. $1 for something that's usually $5-12 anywhere else!

I have noticed that too. Some items are a good deal, some are average, and some overpriced relative to standard discount stores. Clearly Dollar Tree cuts the corner on materials and durability. The items I am pleased are things like ceramic or glass dishes that are painted slightly imperfectly.

I love daiso - the Japanese dollar store.

It's amazing.

Except that they charge $1.50 for everything.

Which is only annoying because similar stores in Japan (which for me are a highlight of any trip to Japan) only charge ¥100.

I don't know if it's because of proximity to China or because Daiso knows they're offering better stuff than their literally $1 competitors here in the U.S.

daiso is great. in LA, we now also have http://miniso.com/ (which i'm sure will expand to other major US cities soon).

Thanks for that - there's one near me in Mountain View but I could not for the life of me tell what Daiso was from window shopping while going on trips to Trader Joes.

Q: Why does the guy with a Black Amex shop in a Walmart? A: Because he is the guy with a Black Amex

Exactly. How does someone with money stay in money? Buy it cheap, stack it deep. Get stuff for super cheap and get a lot of it while it's cheap, so you don't have to buy it again when it's much more expensive, and can wait for it to be cheaper again.

That's a foreign concept to people who bitch how poor they are while making $150k/year.

That's not the right comparison. The reported spend level for that card is $250,000 a year. Spending 250K on a credit card annually is not living frugally.

"You get rich by saving what you have" is a nice feel-good story, but you get a lot richer by getting magnitudes more in income.

Thank you, this string was beginning to sound like r/personalfinance was leaking -- a place where people think they can save their way to ultra-wealth.

You can be frugal enough to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle -- but the people who are rich just make a ton more than you. That's it, that's the secret!

You do realize that AWS and GCP take credit cards? If it was just that you are already at sub $25k/mo.

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