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Bargain Outlet

We've begun regularly shopping at Ollie's, which is a closeout liquidator chain that buys up unwanted stock from other retailers and sells them at a discount. This includes print editions like this slow cooker cookbook for $2.99.

I bought it because it had a lot of recipes I thought would appeal to my guy that I could also tweak to be safe for me.

I needed some new large jar candles for hurricane season, but the prices the stores want for them (lately, $28.00 for a big jar candle) are too much. Ollie's sells an offbrand in the size I want for $4.99, and they smell just as nice.

I don't usually endorse a store chain, but I think Ollie's is worth a look if you have one near you. For food items do remember to check the expiration dates, as liquidators often get food lots close to expiring. Also, look at sizes and weights and compare them to the unit price of what you're buying at other stores. Ollie's had a smaller jug of clothes detergent that I thought was a better price, but when I worked out the per-ounce cost it turned out that the same product on sale at Target was cheaper.

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