When you’re in your highest earning years and have fewer budget restrictions, you have the luxury of buying brand names and focusing more on wants than needs. By the time you hit retirement, every dollar counts, and careful spending becomes a priority.
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What better place to shop on a budget than Dollar Tree — while it might feel like a step down from department stores or other places you’re used to shopping, retired boomers will appreciate the savings on a variety of items. Here are five items retired boomers may not want to admit they need but which are necessities that come at a great price at Dollar Tree.
Reading Glasses: $1.50
No one wants to admit they need reading glasses, but there’s nothing more frustrating than being in a room of your house, your car or out at the grocery store or pharmacy and realizing you can’t read the small print. With Dollar Tree, you can buy as many pairs as you need for every occasion at $1.50 each, so perhaps it’s worth sucking up your pride and being able to see, easily and cheaply.
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Pill Organizers: $1.25
There might be few items more emblematic of older age than a plastic pill organizer — the kind of thing your parents, or even grandparents, used but not you! And yet, retired boomers probably won’t feel very proud or youthful if they miss a dose of any prescription medications. Whether you pick up a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly option to simplify remembering your meds, it’s undeniably a useful tool. In this case, $1.25 might also save you big on medical bills when you don’t forget to take health-saving meds.
Socks or Slippers: $1.25-$3
If you’ve been overly brand conscious for a long time but are trying to downsize your costs in retirement, Dollar Tree socks are just as comfy as a higher price versions of the same. It’s also one of the few items of clothing no one is going to pay attention to anyway, unless you’re wearing socks with sandals. While it can hurt the pride a little to shift from bigger brand names to Dollar Tree variety socks, you might as well save the dough — your feet won’t know the difference.
Hair Color or Touch-Up Kits: $1.25
The retirement years should hopefully promote ease and relaxation, not only in less time working but also the stress and expense of “keeping oneself up” for the workplace or other environments. That doesn’t mean you have to let go of all aspects of your vanity, but you can probably stop paying salon prices for simple touch-ups. Dollar Tree offers plenty of kinds of hair color and touch-up kits to keep you feeling good without a big spend.
Skin Care: $1.25
The beauty industry will have people believing they need 10 different products for face and body to stave off aging. Most retired boomers have hopefully made peace with some softening and wrinkles, but that doesn’t mean you have to ignore your skin, nor should you spend hundreds of dollars on that kind of care. Dollar Tree offers simple products that can go a long way toward keeping your skin supple and radiant, like salicylic acid face wash with tea tree oil and many other products.
Editor’s note: Pricing is accurate as of July 24, 2025. Pricing and availability are subject to change.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Top 5 Dollar Tree Items Boomers Should Always Buy in Retirement — Even If It’s Begrudgingly
