Generic Products
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Name Brand Product
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Buy Generic?
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Comments
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Listerine
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No
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The generic we tried of Listerine tasted a bit watered down, or perhaps some sort of listerine mixed with Scope. It takes a while to get the same good tingle that Listerine gives you.
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Cheese
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Depends
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Generally I'd say "no way!" But there are some instances where you can get away with tested* generic cheeses. I've found that many sharp cheddar cheeses that you use for mixing in things are tolerable, as well as parmesan and romano cheeses you might top pasta with. Some generic swisses are good. As for more specialized cheeses that you'd use on cheese plates, I'd say ALWAYS go with Name Brand.
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Eggs
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Yes
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As far as I know, all eggs in grocery stores are grade A, so it generally doesn't matter which brand you buy.
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Milk
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Yes
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Unless you have particular needs/wants in your choice of milk (like, anti-growth hormone, wanting more/special ingredients), going with generic is fine.
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Bread/Rolls
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Depends
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I stay away from the "super cheap" white bread, but the inexpensive italian bread is good. From time to time I'll splurge and buy a nice $3+ loaf of sourdough or rye. When it comes to rolls I generally don't see a need to spend extra on them, regular small hamburger rolls are fine.
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Raisin Bran
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Yes
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Unless you are particularly attached to the specific taste of Kellog's raisin bran, I've found that most generics have just as much raisin and are pretty good when compared.
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Soda
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Depends
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Personally, I can't stand generic brand cola, or generic ginger ale. Root beer really depends on the vendor. Sprite/7up, and Orange sodas are usually fine to buy generic. I'd say try them out and see how you like them. If you don't like them buy the brand name stuff while it's on sale. And it's almost always cheaper to buy by the 2-liter rather than cans.
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Some Tips for when you go shopping
- Make sure you don't go shopping while you're hungry, even if this means having an uncommon snack before shopping
- Only use coupons for items you'd be buying anyway
- Always check unit price
- Be sensible when buying in bulk or a lot of items in a sale, I found that if I buy more juice on sale we have a tendancy to drink it faster
- Fresh vegetables are not very expensive, I've found they're often cheaper than frozen!
- Don't walk down "temptation aisles" I find that avoiding chip and cookie aisles goes a long way to saving money AND my figure *grin*
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