I went to Dollar General to find $1 groceries. Here's what I'd buy and what I'd skip.

Dollar General is leaning back into $1 items — roughly 2,000 $1-or-less SKUs and plans for a $1 freezer door — as inflation bites; the strategy helped lift recent quarterly sales about 3%.
A store visit found a “Value Valley” aisle of $1 cleaning supplies, snacks, some frozen items (like pot pies) and pantry staples, but little fresh food — handy for quick buys, not a full weekly shop.
The $1 zone appears to act as a loss leader (placed toward the back to encourage extra purchases) and is even drawing more affluent shoppers; rival Dollar Tree, by contrast, raised its base price to $1.25.