21 Effortless Dollar Store Hacks to Save Money on Organization & More!
My Favorite Dollar Store Hacks
Almost every town has a Dollar Store or more than one type of 99¢ cent store. While the products there aren’t exactly high quality, they can be a great way to organize, decorate or clean without breaking the bank.
With a little bit of effort and altercation on your part, you’ll be able to quickly declutter messy, junk drawers and counter spaces. You can even decorate for cheap.
I’ll show you how I rearranged around my house 22 Dollar Store hacks.
For starters I decided to clean up some counter space in my kitchen:
1. Pen/Pencil Holder
Spruce up an over-sized glass mug by adding a bag of rocks. Neutral colored stones can go with most colors, or you can use more colorful ones. Instead of of having them laying around on the counter or being misplaced, they’ll all be in one convenient location. As an added bonus, it adds a little style to the space (at least more style than a plastic cup).
2. Soft Storage Bins
I had some clutter on the counter that was just there without any thought to as where it was placed. I used a cloth storage bin to put tissues, hand sanitizer and a few more items in one location. With just a few simple changes, it looks much more organized. I can even put my phone in the storage bin while it’s charging and have a place to put my wallet when I get home. You can use one of these in the bathroom as well to keep hair products, brushes, and more.
3. Acrylic Organizers
The next area that I needed to organize was my junk drawer. Almost everyone has a drawer like this where extra items that don’t really go any where else get tossed. My Dollar Tree had a lot of Acrylic organizers, and it gave me an idea. I bought a few different varieties, including some that had 3 compartments. I used one on the counter (by the soft storage bin) to hold cords. I used a few more of these to sort the items in the junk drawer and what a difference it made! Now I can quickly find what I want in the drawer.
Another great use I found for these acrylic organizers was to sort batteries by voltage, size and if they are rechargeable or not. This organizer was labeled as a “nail polish holder” in my dollar store.
4. Three-Tiered Tray
This next stop I made was to my bathroom, where styling products, jewelry and toiletries were spread out on the counters. I wanted to create more space, so I bought a few plates and candle holders and broke out some glue. This three-tiered tray is easy and straight forward to make. Choose colors/designs that suite you and then adhere them together with glue (I used a glass/wood glue I had). Once it is dry, you can use it to store your bathroom items to really free up some space. This little project cost just $5 to make.
5. Lazy Susan
A lazy susan is an easy way to organize spices. It will also make it easier to find what you need without having to take everything out of the cupboard. To make one, use 2 cake pans that are the same size and a bag of marbles. Put 1/2 the marbles in one pan and set the other pan on top. That’s it, it turns and spins easily! Now this is clever and useful.
6. Microfiber Dish Drain
Not everyone has the luxury of a dishwasher and some people actually prefer to wash by hand. Washing dishes is a pain, especially when you run out of drying space half way through doing them. Give yourself some extra drying space by purchasing a dish mat. The one I found was near the dishes, and has some plush cushion to it. The plus side of having a drying mat is that it can easily be stored in a drawer, unlike a bulky dish rack.
7. Reusable Homemade Swiffer Duster
Swiffer dusters work really well at picking up dust, but you might not always have enough money in your budget to buy them. Throwing them out after a couple uses is pretty wasteful, too. Make your own dusters that fit on a Swiffer handle by using microfiber cloths for them from the dollar store. You only need one pack of two to make one. To make one, there is a little bit of sewing machine skill needed. You could also ask someone who sews to help you. This can be done by hand, but it will take longer.
Directions:
- Cut (2) 7.5 ” X 7.5 ” pieces, and cut (2) 305″ X 3.5″ pieces.
- Round the corners on the tops.
- Put one of each piece (one small and one large) together.
- Sew down the middle.
- Stack them with the small pieces facing out and sew down middle again connecting everything
- Push the 2 small pieces to the side and sew the larger parts together on each side with a 1.25 X 6″ slot.
- Slide in the plastic Swiffer duster holder and snip around the edges.
- Take it outside to shake off any small fibers.
- All done – now you have a duster that can be washed and reused!
8. Shower Cap
It turns out that shower caps can be used for more than just hair. Instead of using cling wrap or aluminum foil to cover a bowl full of left overs, snap a shower cap over the top. Plus, it can be used over and over again if you wash it. This will save you money on Saran wrap in the long run and it is environmentally friendly because you’ll be creating less waste. You may also find a box of Easy Cover ups like I did at my dollar store. It had various sizes to fit over different sized items. Mine came in a pack of 20.
9. Adhesive Hooks
Reusing plastic bags as trash can liners is another eco tip. Keep the bag from slipping off the edge of the trash can by attaching adhesive hooks to the sides. This packs of 9 hooks was in the automotive section of the dollar store. I wish I had known about this hack before, it would have saved me from the frustration of constantly having to rearrange the bag.
10. Bubble Gum Machine
If you like to make hand-crafted gifts, this is a simple & cute “gumball machine” you can make. Here’s what’s needed:
- 1 Tin Bucket (I choose a red one)
- 1 Half Dome Styrofoam Ball
- 1 Small Styrofoam Ball
- 1 Fish Bowl
Start by painting the Styrofoam pieces black. I used some spray paint I had left over from another project. Next glue the small ball to the top of the rounded sided of the half dome. Then add some Hershey kisses to the fish bowl and glue it to the tin bucket. The Styrofoam top will sit on top of the fish bowl. Finally I added some ribbon/rafia and words to bucket. All done! This could be an easy Valentine’s Day gift.
11. Hair Iron or Eye Glass Holder
Craft a hair iron traveling case or an eye glass holder with potholders from the dollar store. They come in a pack of two, so you can kill two birds with one stone. Fold them in half and then simply sew together leaving a hole at the top. Now you have a place to put your hair iron and even can hang it up. Put glasses in one to keep them safe from scratches while not in use.
13. Magnet Board Burner Cover
Here’s another super easy project. These magnetic burner covers also come in a pack of two. Glue on a piece of paper to make them look better and then attach some ribbon. I drilled 2 small holes and inserted ribbon to hang it on the wall, but glue could also be used. Now I have a magnet board to hang lists or pictures on! You can customize this to your own favorite colors and patterns and put it anywhere.
14. Storage Cups
During the winter gloves, hats and scarves get dumped by the door in my house. To fix this problem, I bought 5 cups and connected them using binder clips. Then I used Command Strips to stick them to the wall. Now these winter accessories can be neatly stored in this holder instead of tossed to the floor.
15. Ice Tray Trinket Holder
An ice tray is nice for organizing and storing small items like earring or bobby pins. Store it in a bathroom drawer for clutter-free counter space.
16. Shower Caddy
Grab a shower caddy from the dollar store to organize all your cars needs! An organized garage is a happy garage.
17. Wire Bucket
Need more bathroom storage? Use a wire basket to hold bigger sundries like deodorant, toothpaste, razors & more. As an added bonus, it is easy to carry around if you live in a dorm or a shared space.
18. Bookends
Make inexpensive book ends that you can tailor to your own tastes. I bought plastic Hippos (kids toys) and spray painted them. I found some old wood pieces and nailed them together at right angles.
19. Dry Erase Picture Frame Board
Get creative and make a dry erase calendar. I used 7 small picture frames and arranged them in a funky shape. I connected them with glue and hung them on the wall. Then I wrote the days of the week with a dry erase marker. Now I can easily plan my week with this reusable calendar.
20. Olive Oil Container
I found a really nice glass container at the dollar store. It makes it easier to control how much I pour so I decided to store olive oil in it. I added some garlic, too. As a price comparison, one of these olive oil dispensers is $10.25 on Amazon.
21. Keep Boots Upright
My Dollar Tree had a package of Blow Up boot holders! Yep, that’s right. For one dollar it comes with one pair that takes about 15 seconds to blow up each one. Put them in your boots and they stand up straight instead of bending over and needing more space.
Organizing and decorating your home (among other things) can be pretty inexpensive when you start your shopping at the dollar store. Why pay more for items that serve the same purpose? With a little creative thinking, its easy to improve your life on the cheap!
About Jen
I’m Jen, one of the co-founders of College Life Made Easy: a lifestyle blog that focuses on helping students navigate college life on topics of finance, organization, dorm living and more.