by Matt Benoit
The state of our nation’s economy, combined with unrelenting budget cuts and resultant higher fees at institutions of higher learning, have no doubt made buying holiday gifts tough for today’s poor college student.
Fortunately, the Bargain Hunter (who is so thrifty that he merely chews around the mold on rapidly aging Wonder Bread slices) is here to save you from certain financial ruin this holiday shopping season by showing you that lower prices don’t necessarily mean lower quality.
Perhaps the best deals of any stores can be found at your local “99 cent” or “dollar” store (the Bargain Hunter suggests the 99 cent store because you save one cent in the title alone). These stores are fantastic places to discover great bargain treasures, and I’m not just talking about products with poorly translated warning labels.
For instance, you can buy all kinds of great children’s toys, many of which resemble animals so deformed that it appears they were standing right outside the reactor when the 1986 Chernobyl disaster occurred.
So, with this in mind, a colleague and I ventured to a couple area dollar stores in search of gifts, and in addition to sharp knives and colorful hookahs, this is what we found:
