Walk down the aisles and look at the prices. One thing you will notice is that the generic and store brand products can save you a lot of money over name-brand products. This topic is one of the most talked about topics in the personal finance world. However, it is still one of the areas that a lot of people waste their money.
On Jul 13th (my birthday) last year, Aaron Crowe of Wallet Pop wrote a piece titled 10 products to always buy generic.
The generic labels may not be as fancy as the brand-name products, and the taste of generic items, such as soda, may not appeal to you depending on your tastebuds, but it's worth trying generic brands to see if you like them. The savings can add up over a lifetime, as a savings calculator can quickly show you. And if the savings isn't enough, or the brand name is much better than the generic, you can always go back to the branded product. You can even buy popular brands from the past.
- Wallet Pop
So what is Aaron's top 10?
That should be a given, and that is probably why Aaron put it in the number one spot.
When it comes to taste. The taste is exactly the same. The difference is the price. When I lived in Kansas, there was a much bigger disparity between the store brands and the name brands in the cereal aisle. Here in Texas, the store brands are still cheaper then the name brands but are about twice what I paid in Kansas for the store brand cereal. Especially the bagged cereal. For example, in Kansas I paid $1.99 for a bag of Always Save cereal. Here in Texas I pay $3.50 for a bag of Hill Country cereal. The boxes of store brands of cereal are about the same in both regions.
When it comes to flour, sugar and such don't waste your money on name brands. Buy the store brands instead. They are the exact same product, just in a different label.
In some ways I disagree with Aaron on this one. Like him I can tell the difference between Coke
and Pepsi
in a blind taste test. When it comes to cola, I haven't found many store brands that I can tolerate. I love my Coca-cola
, and no other cola can substitute that for me. Other flavors though, I can easily drink the store brands. So, I will give the same advice Aaron gives, taste them and see if you like the taste. You may just find a cheaper alternative that will be easier on your wallet. You don't need to go to a name brand gas station to get your gas. Instead fill up at the most economical station. Even if it isn't a brand name. In my area I have 3 Chevrons with in 2 miles of me. Two are currently selling gas at $2.92 while the other one is selling it at $2.89. The same can be said about the shell stations in my area. For me I would have to drive several miles before I found an no brand station and the would still be paying the same price as one of the closer stations.
If you're going to spend $1,500 on a new TV, why not $100 or so on HDMI and other cables to connect it? At least that's what you hear from the salesman. Because $9 cables will make the same connection and work just as well, Gurwin said. People are afraid they'll screw their TV up if they don't buy the highest-priced connecting cables, and sales people pounce on that fear. The copper conductors on the expensive cables are claimed by the manufacturer to give a better signal transfer, but in reality any cable will work just as well, Gurwin said.
- Wallet Pop
Corn is corn. Lettuce is lettuce. Bananas is Bananas. No mater what the label is on these produce items they are the same. So why pay more for a name brand?As you see
Buying generic can save thousands over your lifetime.
Save just $5 a day, or $150 a month, for 30 years — earn 10 percent on it — and you'll end up with a nest egg of $342,000. Would that make a difference in your life? (By the way, if you're wondering how the heck you can make 10% on your savings, you can't — at least without risk. It is possible, however: see my stock portfolio.)
- Yahoo Finance
Think about that. Could you use an extra $342,000? I know I sure could. In yahoo's top 7 list, I found 3 items of interest. Those three I will list below:
3. Milk
I'm sure there are connoisseurs of moo-juice that could distinguish name-brand milk from store-brand — but I'm not quite sure how they'd do it. Bouquet? Finish? Sounds like a bunch of bull to me.
Name-Brand Milk: $5.45
Store-Brand Milk: $3.39
Difference: $2.06 (60 percent)
4. Margarine
It's already a substitute for butter. Is it really going to negatively impact your quality of life to substitute the substitute?
Name-Brand Margarine: $1.79
Store-Brand Margarine: $1.19
Difference: $.60 (50%)
5. Bleach
You're taking a cup of chlorine and adding it to gallons of water in your washing machine. How could any TV commercial possibly convince you that a brand name will make your clothes come out better?
Name-Brand Bleach: $2.25
Store-Brand Bleach: $1.67
Difference: $.58 (35 percent)
- Yahoo Finance
So, now what's your excuse? Why aren't you using the store brands?
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offer you the consumer a way to get necessities, and even a few luxury items, at a fraction of the cost of those same items in larger retail stores. 
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