The Bargain Bins.

Whenever I visit my sister in Ohio, I'd pass at the huge Premium Outlet in Grove City in Pennsylvania, if I'm driving along I-79, and in Steubenville itself, I'd always shop at K-Mart, and the Gabriel Brothers in the neighbouring city of Weirton, West Virginia.

A lot of times, I'd drive from Toronto to Buffalo on a whim,  a one and a half hour drive, to shop at another huge Premium outlet on I-98 at Military Road or at the Niagara Falls' Canada side- Outlet stores.

In Toronto, I'd drive to the neighbouring city of Vaughan for its Factory Outlet stores or to Mississauga for another mall with outlet stores where you can buy factory priced Adidas or New Balance sneakers, Levis jeans, Calvin Klein's, and other branded goods.

The big Premium Outlet stores are a bargain shopper's haven, with brand name stores like Bose for sound systems, and for shoes and clothing, there's Nike, Coach, American Eagle, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Gap and many other brands.

At Gabriel Brothers, it's best to shop at end of season days, and at K-Mart, it's everyday sale prices.

Then there are the franchised Dollar Stores; my favorite is the Dollar Tree, where you can buy a can of Hormel Vienna Sausage for 39 cents, and sometimes, 3 for a dollar.  Ziploc sandwich bags, a roll of aluminum foil and hardware items such as paint roller brush and gloves all cost a dollar each. A big can of Folgers or Maxwell ground coffee costs about $7.

In Manila, there are no Premium outlets nor Dollar stores. The closest things to a Dollar Store are the DIY and Japanese Home Stores where the cheapest items cost about 66 or 88 pesos.

My fave is the DIY where you can find good merchandise such as dog collars and chains, garden hose, electricals and computer accessories at cheaper prices, and hard-to-find items such as wrist bandage or bike tire air pump. At these bargain shops, you walk in to browse and walk out with a 1000- peso worth of purchase. 

Other known bargain areas are the Flea Markets of Greenhills, St. Francis Square near the Megamall in Mandaluyong, and one at the Market, Market at the Global City.

At the Greenhills' Tiange or Flea Market, you'd bump into foreigners haggling for Louis Vuitton bags or Nike shoes.

Of course, even before the word "flea market" came into the vocabulary of Manilenos, there were the Divisoria and Baclaran markets, the original bargain capitals of Manila.

The original baratillo, bargain market of Divisoria

Bargain sales used to be called "baratillo," the Spanish word for second hand or cheap goods. That's why Filipinos call those cheapskates as "barat."

Baclaran Market