Generic Products

2/9/2014

Save a penny, save a pound is a favorite saving.  I'm all for saving money and will buy generic products to save that penny, with a few exceptions.  Here are some of the things I will buy to save pennies and sometimes dollars:

• Generic soap for the dishwasher and washer
• Toilet paper, paper towels and Kleenex
• The crackers shaped and taste like Triscuits
• Saltines
• Most cereals
• Honey
• Jam/Jelly
• Soup
• Dietsoda
• Dog Food and biscuits
• Shampoo
• Aluminum foil 
• Buttermilk (ick) and regular milk
• Trash bags for use in the house
• Most cleaners for the house
• Ice cream
• Cookies (unlike my Peppermint Patties, I'm not overly fussy about cookies)
• Canned fruits
• Frozen veggies
• Ice Cream
• Some frozen dinners/meals - like pot pies (which I love)
• Pain relieving medicine
• Jello

For the most part, generic products are as good as the "real" thing.  Likely the generic products might be made in the same factory and just given a different wrapper. That side, these are some products of which I will not take anything but the original, because generic just isn't the same, nor does it taste the same:.

• Peppermint Patties.  The generic ones are frankly no good.  I love candy so if I'm going to indulge, I want the real thing
• Mayonnaise.  I never use this unless it's in a salad, but Jeff loves Mayonnaise and we don't buy anything but the real thing
•  Neutrogena soap
• Pizza.  As far as I'm concerned there is only one pizza to buy - Tombstone
• Sliced cheese
• Hot dogs
• Toothpaste - always Crest - no substitutes

  For the most part, I'm not a brand name snob.  To be fair, I've given the generic products a try and they just don't measure up. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.  

Happy shopping.

P