I have learned a few secrets from being a cook's assistant at a couple restaurants, and I brought them home to try out on my husband. (Sad but true that many restaurants do just what I am about to tell you).
I buy a bottle of name-brand ketchup to put in the fridge and a couple of store brand bottles to stash in the cabinets. When the one in the fridge is about empty, I fill it up with the store brand. I rarely have to purchase name brand items this way. I just keep refilling with the store brand. No one seems to notice!
Ketchup is just one example. I do the same with flour, salt, sugar, mustard, mayonnaise, etc. I also add a few instant potatoes to my mashed potatoes, and no one ever knows the difference.
I will admit that there are items we buy that cannot be generic. Almost everyone will agree that toilet tissue and coffee are two such items. But, I buy the cheaper toilet paper and put it out for when guests are here - stashing the good stuff for my husband and me! I know this seems a little mean, but it is just how I do things.
In this day and age when prices are sky-rocketing, and yet you live with a picky person, you have to figure out ways to save.
By AuntieAnn from USA
Do you have a frugal story to share with the ThriftyFun community? Submit your essay here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_myfrugallife.ldml
Do you buy WalMart generic (Great Value) products? Have you found that's just as good as name brands? I just tried their peanut butter and found it to be just as good as the major brands. Some things I've been reluctant to try, but being the economy the way it is I'm having to really stretch my dollars.
By Betty
I use the WalMart brand of several items. I particularly like their grape jam (not jelly) which tastes just like Welch's. I've been using their brand of powdered dishwasher detergent for years.
Wallmart brands that I buy are their Great Value coffee and cranberry juice.
Also their laxatives and lubricant eye drops are good too. They have good cranberry capsules and fiber capsules.
This is a question that is often asked and debated. Not all generic brands are created equal and not all name brands stand up to the hype.
Share which generic brands you use and which name brands you can't live without.I am doing a Science Fair Project on this
I loved this page and agree with it fully.
I'm doing a science fair project on Name Brand vs. Generic Brand and this site really helped me!
I'm doing a research paper and this site was very helpful and informative! Thank you!
I'm doing a persuasive speech on this topic. Great help!
My opinion is this; brand products are better in quality. just because another product is produced that looks exactly like the original product, doesn't mean its good. Some times manufactures have to really watch out and make sure that their products are not wiped out of market because of and imitating products. Brand name is what makes your product solid and also helps in building customers confident towards your product.
Getting faithful customers is not easy. So if you have any, it's good to keep as well attract new ones than lose all.
This helped me a lot on my project as well. I love thrify fun and all of its properties even though I don't know who wrote this website. And how do you do?
This has helped me for debate compettion!
I'm doing a power point on "VALUE FOODS" so I want to do a graph.
Which cake mix is better(generic or name brand) I would like a % of people. I am doing this for a science project
I'm doing a research paper about this topic for my science fair project. It was really hard finding information on this topic amd this website has really helped me.
Megan: I prefer Betty Crocker cake mix when I use a boxed mix (which isn't often) and WILL NOT buy Duncan Hines. Gereric cake mix is (in my opinion) not good at all.
Does anyone know if one might be better for you than another? For instance, might a name brand use better or more wholesome ingredients?
When my 3 boys hit puberty, they wanted name brand hair products. I bought one bottle and as it emptied, I added about 1/4 cup Dawn regular dish detergent and then filled with water. It thickens and I never bought another bottle of expensive shampoo again.
I just wanted to throw my two cents in about the generic Zyrtec. My husband does real well on Zyrtec, the allergy medicine. Well we tried to save a little money and bought the Walmart brand equate, there are some differences in the ingredients but we didn't think a lot.
Does everyone know that there are generic heartworm pills? Just ask your vet and you will be very pleased with the price difference between generic and name brand...
A generic just became available for the brand name Allegra. The generic name is Fexofenadine and it comes in the 30mg, 60mg and 180mg.
Most generic cleaning products contain the exact same ingredients in the same percentages, making them typically interchangeable. This is a page about generic versus name brand bleach.
At least once a month, name brand stuff is on sale. I buy brand name products like; dish liquid, laundry soap, cereal; then I mix it with my generic.
Del Monte is the producer of Great Value canned fruit, I worked for a trucking comapny that hauled it, and it comes for various DelMonte plants around the country but, a lot is from California.
I like to clip coupons for products I use regularly. I've noticed that even with a coupon, the name brand item may still be more expensive than the generic store brand.