The Specialty Drink You'll Find Cheaper At Dollar Tree Than The Grocery Store

If you haven't been taking advantage of the affordable food, snacks, and drinks at your local Dollar Tree, you've been missing out on some major savings. The discount chain isn't only useful for its party and craft supplies, cookware and bakeware, and household essentials. It also carries hundreds of name-brand food items that are often significantly less expensive than grocery stores, especially when you order in bulk from Dollar Tree. One specialty drink that you can get for a great price is Boost Protein shakes.

An eight-ounce bottle of Boost Protein is just $1.25 at the Dollar Tree, or six for $7.50. At Walmart, a six-pack of shakes is $10.48. If you buy these drinks in bulk on the Dollar Tree website, you can save even more money. Buying 24 shakes will only run you $30, while Walmart and Amazon sell the exact same quantity for $34.98. At Kroger, you'll have to shell out between $9.99 and $10.99 for six bottles, and Target sells 12-packs for $19.99 or $39.98 for 24 drinks.

Anyone who regularly consumes protein drinks knows how pricey they can be. Whether you're buying them for health reasons, post-workout refueling, or just because you like the taste, you may go through one or two a day. Buying pricey brands like Premier Protein shakes can end up costing upwards of $30 to $60 a month. By contrast, opting instead for Boost Protein from the Dollar Store could save you $3 to $5 each visit.

You'll find many other hidden gems in Dollar Tree's grocery aisles if you know where to look. Not only does the store carry brand name beverages like Arizona Ice Tea, Welch's juices, and Coco d'Isle coconut milk, it also offers six-packs of powdered drink mixes. These are perfect to take to the gym, stash in your purse or an office drawer, or just have on hand at home. One packet is enough for a single drink, or you can combine multiple to make a pitcher to keep in the fridge. At around 20 cents a pop, it's a much better deal than buying single cans or bottles of soda, tea, or juice. Plus, they come in great flavors, like Sunkist Blood Orange, Snapple Fruit Punch, and Sonic Cherry Limeade.

If you're a fan of on-the-go drink mixes, you'll love the cocktail mixes sold at the Dollar Tree as well. Its Margaritaville Pina Colada Zero Sugar Drink Mix offers six single-serving packets of low-calorie tropical flavoring to mix with water or to create a quick, sneaky cocktail. Add it to a blender with a cup of ice, your favorite rum, and half a cup of coconut milk or coconut water. Blend in some frozen pineapple chunks for added flavor. You'll also find a couple other zero sugar cocktail flavors from Margaritaville at the Dollar Tree, including ones you can use to make a simple frozen Strawberry Daiquiri cocktail or Caribbean Fruit Punch and rum. If you don't drink alcohol and the idea of mixing these with water isn't appealing, use one to make a high-protein tropical shake. Just pour one packet of the Margaritaville drink mix into a bottle of vanilla Boost Protein and shake well.