Are you buying more generic brand goods?

EarlJam · Post by **EarlJam** » April 16th, 2009, 10:26 pm

Since all hell broke loose last September, are you purchasing more generic (store brand) goods than usual?

I am. And I actually like some of it better. Plus, I think the names of some of the products can be down right hilarious.

-EarlJam, who is hoping he will turn this into a smarter lifestyle when things turn around (lots of lessons learned)

Miles · Post by **Miles** » April 16th, 2009, 10:55 pm

I will only buy generic if the packaging is white and the typeface is helvetica bold. I'm partial to san serif fonts.

DukeUsul · Post by **DukeUsul** » April 17th, 2009, 9:06 am

I'm buying some but not too much. The big thing I'm focusing on is waste. I found in the past we'd buy too many groceries and throw so much out that went bad. So I'm trying to be much better about using what I buy.

OZZIE4DUKE · Post by **OZZIE4DUKE** » April 17th, 2009, 9:25 am

There are some items I've always bought generics, and some items where I won't. An example of the first is Great Value (WalMart brand) aspartame in place of Equal. Tastes the same and you get about 2 1/2 times as many packets for the money. Same for spaghetti - once you put sauce on it, who cares what brand of pasta it is. And the Great Value "chocolate chip mint ice cream" is about the best I've ever tasted! An example of what I won't buy generically? How about Bud Light! But I bought a 24 case of that at WalMart yesterday for under $16 - Brunchgate here I come!

DukeUsul · Post by **DukeUsul** » April 17th, 2009, 9:39 am

OZZIE4DUKE wrote:There are some items I've always bought generics, and some items where I won't. An example of the first is Great Value (WalMart brand) aspartame in place of Equal. Tastes the same and you get about 2 1/2 times as many packets for the money. Same for spaghetti - once you put sauce on it, who cares what brand of pasta it is. And the Great Value "chocolate chip mint ice cream" is about the best I've ever tasted! An example of what I won't buy generically? How about Bud Light! But I bought a 24 case of that at WalMart yesterday for under $16 - Brunchgate here I come!

This reminds me of a story from a co-worker of mine. His father-in-law was staying with them for a few weeks while having a tumor in his lung checked out at UNC. Anyway, FIL spends all his time watching Fox News (my coworker is a devoted watcher of Olbermann and Maddow). That was the first thing that set him off. FIL also refuses to get up out of his chair to get himself anything from the kitchen (the man is physically fine except for this tumor). The last straw for my co-worker was when FIL made him (at 7:00 am) run out to Food Lion to buy artificial sweetener. Coworker offered him Equal. Nope. Not good enough. It has to be Food Lion brand aspartame. Cuz apparently it tastes better than the other kinds. Better enough to make your son-in-law go out first thing in the morning and get you some. $:-\$

Anyway I appreciate buying the generics, but geez, when you're a guest in someone else's house.....

colchar · Post by **colchar** » April 17th, 2009, 10:22 pm

EarlJam wrote:
I am. And I actually like some of it better.

As a grad student, I've had to buy them for a while. I used to find the vast majority were inferior (there were exceptions of course) but lately that has changed and I find that I really like many of the generic products.

CameronBornAndBred · Post by **CameronBornAndBred** » April 17th, 2009, 10:27 pm

I voted no change because I've always bought generic brands, I save a ton of money that way. There are only a few things that I will always buy the brand name for, just because the generic is so bad by comparison. But on the whole, there is little difference to me. I usually shop at Food Lion, and with the MVP card and generics I save oodles. (So I don't HAVE to buy Oodles of Noodles)

IamDuke · Post by **IamDuke** » April 23rd, 2009, 8:13 am

I too, have always bought generics if their good. I also save my coupons to use at Harris Teeter when they have triple up to .99 but use only if its something we use. Great for things like tooth paste, They have triple about every 6 weeks. Some things turn out to be free. Its sort of a hobby. Its fun.

knights68 · Post by **knights68** » April 25th, 2009, 5:30 pm

Dollar store bbbaaayyyybbbeeee ;)
Paper products, often the same exact stuff you get at the big retailers.... I get all sorts of other stuff there too.
I have been doing this off and on for like 10 years, economy be darned! 8-) I was dollar-store cool when dollar-store wasn't cool! 8-) :lol:

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Are you purchasing more generic brands?

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