Smart & Simple Bath Tissue (Dollar General)

Toilet paper is a necessity. It just is. (Yes, there are hypothetically alternatives. That doesn’t mean they’re remotely desirable.) For those who don’t have a lot of money, not overspending on toilet paper is very important. Fortunately, there are a lot of options out there, including budget options. If you can’t or don’t want to spend money on a brand name, most stores have affordable generic options that are pretty close to the big names.

Dollar General sells a handful of toilet paper options, including some under the TrueLiving brand, which is a DG private label. The store also sells this cheap option, also a Dollar General house brand.

Smart and Simple Bath Tissue is a Dollar General staple product. It costs just $1 for a package of six rolls. The package totals 117.4 square feet. That comes out to about $0.009 — or about 0.9 cents — per square foot.  That’s among the cheapest cost per square feet I’ve seen for toilet paper. If you need budget TP, this is a good deal.

What about quality? Well, it’s not luxurious, I’ll tell you that. It’s not terribly thick and it’s not terribly soft. I wouldn’t say it’s the worst bath tissue I’ve seen — it’s not the terrible institutional stuff you see in public restrooms — but it’s also not great. The rolls themselves are also not all that big, so you’ll probably be replacing these more often than your average toilet paper roll.

The Verdict:

Smart & Simple Bath Tissue is one of those instances where you get what you pay for. While it’s as cheap per square foot as just about anything out there, it’s not a great tissue and the rolls won’t last too long. It’s better than institutional stuff, though, and it’s hard to beat the price if you need truly budget TP.