DOLLAR
STORES
ADD UP
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEF T: ILLUS TRATION B Y ERIN SUPINSKI; MASTERFILE; ILLUSTRATIONS ( 6) B Y CHI BIRMINGHAM
Big brands, clean spaces,
one-stop shopping—now
dollar stores are actually…
nice. “It’s a treasure trove
of surprising finds,” says
Janet Spencer, 51, of her
Helena, Montana, dollar
store. Even when items
cost more than a buck
(77 percent do), these
stores boast especially
good bargains on cleaning items, party supplies,
plastic containers, and
toiletries, says Don Mays
of Consumer Reports. And
chefs will flip for the food.
“Some of the greatest bargains we recently found
are gourmet items: dried
porcini mushrooms, black
pearl rice, and exotic
spices and teas,” says Sue
Perry of Shop Smart.
But not every deal is
a steal. Avoid over-the-counter medicines—they
may be cheap because
they’ve expired, Mays says.
Shun electrical products,
which often lack safety
certifications. And always
check quantities: That
box of foil could be 20
square feet, not 200, leaving you short when lining
your $1 cookie sheets this
season. —Laura Daily
PE TS MAKE
US HAPP Y
When they pass
away, the loss can
be devastating.
The Scoop
Getting
Over Rover
When his cat Basile died in February,
Edward Kienzle cried so hard he got a head-
ache. Basile had joined the family in 1996,
when he was “the size of a baking potato,”
says Kienzle, 65, who lives in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. After burying Basile, Kienzle
talked to Jane Nathanson, an area counselor
specializing in pet loss, and she helped him grieve. Now more counselors offer this kind
of support. Wallace Sife, Ph.D., author of The Loss of a Pet, says the field has grown from
about three clinicians 14 years ago to hundreds today. And though every grieving owner
doesn’t need therapy, says Nathanson, many do. Some struggle with decision making;
others are upset by a lack of sympathy. (“It’s only a dog!” is a common reaction.) But it can
be hard to cope with this loss: 93 percent of boomers who are pet owners consider their
pet like family, a new Harris Poll finds. “Your bond with a pet is very different from the
bond you’d have with a human—it’s like your surrogate child, your little pal, a source of
strength,” adds Sife. “And that bond must be grieved in its own way.” —Christina Ianzito
You likely see at least one
skeuomorph each day,
and no, you don’t need
an exterminator. The word
(pronounced
SKYOO-uh-morf ) describes an
old design feature applied
to a new product—even
though the feature
isn’t functional. It’s how
designers make modern
items seem familiar.
Our favorite fake-outs:
OLD MEETS NEW
Shoe buckles once
secured straps. Lots of
decorative versions may
not unbuckle at all.
Slot machines in casinos used to clang when coins
were released. Today that
ka-ching sound remains, but
you get a paper receipt.
Syrup-bottle handles
once were big enough to hold.
Now only a kid could clutch
these tiny versions. —L. D.
