MONEY DOESN'T GROW ON TREES

It’s an old expression that dates back, some would say, to the 1800s.

One source I’ve read dates the expression back to 1820 while another to the 1890s.

In both cases, the meaning was the same. Once established, trees produce plentiful fruit, year after year with little effort. One could pluck fruit from the backyard tree but money didn’t come as easily. Effort had to be made for one to come by money. It wasn’t as easy as picking fruit from a tree.

When the Great Recession hit, the Dollar Tree stores surged in popularity. These stores come by other names as well, such as the 99 Cent Store. Everything in the store is one dollar.

Some locations even have a frozen food section. They carry both name brand and generics. I find that if a recipe calls for mango, I can go to the freezer section of my Dollar Tree and purchase a frozen bag of pre-cut mango for just a dollar.

The store shelves carry name brand items such as Heinz, Kellogg’s, Nature Brand breads, Libby, Hunts, etc.

Recently, Dollar Tree store began accepting coupons. I’m finding the savings to be substantial.

I excitedly purchased two bottles of Heinz “no salt” Ketchup for 50 cents each. They were a dollar a bottle but I had two 50 cent coupons which brought them down to half price. Meanwhile, the national/regional grocery stores were selling the exact bottles of ketchup for three times the price.

Money may not grow on [dollar] trees, but on some items it sure seems to go a lot further!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Make a list of items to routinely purchase at the dollar store. Not only for food and grocery items but other household staples as well such as gift wrap, cards, baking tins, plastic trash bags, pot holders, etc. Being frugal is all about stretching your hard to come by money, because it doesn’t grow on trees.