The 10 Best Bargain Places in Youngstown, Ohio

1. Jay's Hot Dogs-One of the best fast food eateries around. You can get a sandwich, fries or other side order, AND a drink for three dollars or less, depending on your hunger. There's not much healthy food here, but when you want an affordable lunch that fills you up to dinnertime, who cares? I highly recommend the staple, hot dogs and fries.

2. St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store-The main downtown location was recently cleaned up and renovated after a fire closed it down for several months. (And the renovation was sorely needed: even before the fire, the store had a dark, dingy interior and filthy floors. If you dropped something, forget it!)

3. Napoli Pizza-It's not as cheap as Jay's, but still very reasonable. Serves a variety of pizzas, soups, sandwiches, salads, and soft drinks. Everything's homemade here, and it's delicious. And you get nice portions!

4. E.M. Memorial Foundation Outreach Center Thrift Store-This is my favorite, so far, of the area's abundant thrift stores. The staff's always very nice, and sometimes you can dicker with them over a price to get it lowered! There are weekend specials, "special color" days (when items carrying certain colors are half-price or greatly reduced), and sometimes a two-for-one sale. I can casually go through a rack of clothes and automatically know if I can wear an item without having to "test wear" it first. Everything's clearly marked not by number, but by the magic words of: "large", "extra large", "medium", "small or petite", etc. It makes clothes-hunting so much easier. It's also fun to browse among the household goods and products; there are many vintage items.

5. Big Lots is a local area tradition. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone here that doesn't like it. "Lots" is a retail chain that's set up like a regular department store, but much cheaper. There are bargains galore and dollar specials (it's not a dollar store, though). Not only will you find name brands here, but you'll also discover brands you never heard of that work beautifully!