What Is 'Penny Day' at Dollar General?

If you want to keep your credit card bills low, buying items that cost only $0.01 could be a great way to do it. After all, paying a penny for something allows you to use the spare change you find in your pocket or sofa to make a purchase rather than having to take money out of your bank account.

It may seem impossible to believe you could actually get something for a penny. But, it could be possible at Dollar General if you know one simple fact about how the store works.

This is what penny day is and how it can help you score deep bargains

At Dollar General, like at most stores, items are sometimes marked down. The official policy is that items are supposed to be priced as low as 90% off. After that, any remaining items that have not sold are supposed to be removed from the store.

When the products are supposed to be removed, they are priced at just $0.01. This is meant to alert employees that they're supposed to be taken from the shelves. Often, however, employees are busy, the items don't get removed, and they should ring up for a cent.

While not all clerks will sell these items to you for a penny, many will. If your store does, you can walk away with an unbelievable bargain on the item.

How to score items for a penny

If you want to take advantage of penny day, there are a few things you should know.

• Markdowns usually occur on Tuesday, so that can be the best day to try to find penny items.
• Updated lists are published online each week detailing which products are for sale for a penny. Do not ask a store clerk, as these items are supposed to be pulled from the shelves, so employees will remove them rather than assisting you with locating them.
• If you want to buy multiples of an item on sale for a penny, bring all of them up at one time. Once a store clerk has been alerted to the fact that penny items remain on the shelves, they'll remove the rest of them.
• If an item happens to ring up for more than a cent, you can always just ask to have it removed from your cart. This can be better than price-checking it first, which would alert the clerk to the fact it should have been removed from the shelf.

You'll also need to be prepared for the fact there's no guarantee the clerk will actually sell the item to you. So, you may end up disappointed depending on your store's policy. And, different stores may mark down items at different times or pull items at different times, so if an item doesn't ring up for a penny when you go, try to check back later on and see if the discount comes up.

The good news is, taking advantage of penny day at Dollar General is just one of many ways you can save by being a smart shopper. Use coupons and cash back apps, compare prices, and maximize your credit card rewards to help you get more for less.