Dollar Tree's 5 Best Camping Items For $1.25 Or Less

Camping is one of the best ways to combat the stress of everyday life. You can tell everyone you aren't going to have phone or internet service where you are. You're away from screens, so no doomscrolling, and you're out in nature where there is no one to lecture you about your personal life — the squirrels certainly don't care. However, you still have to pay money for the campground or RV site, food, and supplies, and your vacation budget is important. That said, there is a store you may want to hit to avoid breaking the bank. The humble Dollar Tree always has affordable travel and vacation items, including little clips that help make cruise showers more comfortable. However, Dollar Tree also has exactly what you need for camping trips, from tents to cover your food to mesh bags with a ton of uses to s'mores supplies, first-aid items, and even matches. Best of all, these essentials won't cost you more than $1.25 each, as of this writing.

To find these inexpensive items from Dollar Tree, we looked at budget blogs like Mama Cheaps and Passionate Penny Pincher. We also looked at YouTube accounts including Adventures with Spackmann, Best Life on a Budget, and The Family Fudge. In addition, I've actually tried most of these items myself. Not only can they make your camping trip less expensive, but some of these may even elevate your experience. (Do note that if you purchase online, you often have to buy in bulk. Additionally, some items aren't available online, so it's best to hit your local store.)

The one thing that keeps many people from camping in the first place is the bugs. On your own body, you can use bug spray and choose to wear long sleeves and long pants, or you can go camping in the winter when bugs aren't around. However, when you're dealing with food, you certainly don't want chemicals there, and what you're wearing won't stop them from landing on your delicious cooked-over-the-campfire hot dogs and s'mores. If you want to prepare food ahead of time, or you're cooking things one at a time, and your food is left out for a while, you can pick up a few Cooking Concepts Summer Fun Food Tents from Dollar Tree for $1.25 each. 

These little tents are 17 inches by 17 inches by 10 inches and come in cute colors like aqua, blue, pink, white, and red, at the time of this writing. They zip closed on one side and have clear mesh so you can see what's inside. The bugs won't get in, so you can wait a bit and enjoy your food in peace. Plus, if any of your kids play with dolls, YouTuber Evie Sunshine suggests using one as a Barbie tent.

When you're at home, washing your clothes is easy. However, when you're camping for more than a few days, whether it's in an RV or a tent, doing laundry can be much more complicated. Thankfully, there is a fantastic item from Dollar Tree that can help. The Essentials Mesh Laundry Bag is $1.25, and you get a three-pack of mesh bags that measure 12 inches by 15 inches. They're great for carrying your laundry to a laundromat or washing area on a campground. And even if you're not actually doing laundry until you come home, you can place your dirty clothing inside to keep it separate from your clean garments.

However, that's not the only use for these mesh bags. Take a tip from The Family Fudge and use them to hold the dishes you've just washed and hang the whole thing up to dry, so you're not leaving them out on a dirty table. You can use a carabiner clip or a bungee cord to hang them from the top of your tent, or above the sink in your RV to save counter space. Of course, you can also take them home and use them to keep your smaller items together in your washing machine.

Nothing says camping more than sitting around a fire, holding sticks with marshmallows on them. You can, of course, eat them alone and enjoy the debate about whether lightly toasted marshmallows are better than the ones with a bit of char on the ends. However, there are few things in this world more tasty than s'mores. If that sounds like heaven to you, Dollar Tree has all the s'mores supplies you need. 

You can get a pack of Global Brands Honey Graham Crackers for $1.25 for your s'mores base. Dollar Tree also sell marshmallows for some gooey goodness and chocolate to complete the stack. Of course, you can mix it up with different types of chocolate, and Dollar Tree often stocks some with caramel or peanut butter for a different flavor profile. You can also get 40 paper plates at Dollar Tree for $1.25 so you have something to put your s'mores on, as well as a pack of 100 bamboo skewers for $1.25 to toast them if you're not down with a twig from the campsite.

When you're out in the woods, the desert, or anywhere else you're camping, cuts and scrapes are pretty inevitable. Having supplies along is a great idea, especially if you're far from civilization. Best Life on a Budget suggests building out your first-aid kit with items from Dollar Tree. You can get a Care Pak Travel-Size Essential First Aid Kit for $1.25. Inside you'll find moist antiseptic towelettes, gauze pads, and different bandage sizes. That alone may hold you. However, you can also add in items like antibiotic ointment so any cuts you have don't get infected and liquid bandages to protect those cuts from the elements. 

Another idea is to add in pain relievers in case of swelling. You can also stock up on baby wipes, in case a fall just leaves you with dirty hands and legs. Make sure to pick up an unscented variety, such as Huggies Unscented Baby Wipes at Dollar Tree, so you don't have to worry about attracting insects.

Look, anyone who was in a scouting program as a kid was probably taught how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, or by using tinder and a spindle. You may even know how to do it using flint. That's great if you're out in the woods alone or on a long solo hike, but if you're just on a fun camping trip with the family, you can plan ahead. Dollar Tree has Diamond Greenlight Large Kitchen Matches, and there are 300 of them in each pack for only $1.25.

These are great if you have a grill available at your campsite. They're also much better than trying to use a lighter to start your fire in a fire pit, which can burn your hands. These matches are 1.37 inches long, so you can keep your fingers out of the flames. Of course, if you're really committed to the whole survival thing, you can certainly try the boy scout friction fire technique. It's good to know in an emergency.