thoughts for thursday.

i love bounce dryer sheets.  i love tide coldwater laundry detergent.  i like huggies diapers.  but i also love buying some items that are not 'brand name' to save some benjamin's.  i started writing this post before jenn and i went to super walmart on monday.  because of this post, i pushed myself to try to buy a few things i normally would buy the brand name of.  they included: adult cough medicine, ibeprofen, and cheese singles.  i know there was more but i can't remember.  anyways...

here are some products that i buy the store brand of:

• baby wipes.  i buy the target brand.  love them.
• paper towels.  i love the heavy duty bounty ones, but i will buy sparkle or whatever is one sale.  when i made my own baby wipes, i had to get bounty.
• cleaning products.  anything works.  again, i like the target brand here or i make my own - alcohol and water mix for windows/surfaces/mirrors.
• pre-natal vitamins.  again, i buy the target brand.  maybe this should be a post about how much i love target.  geesh.
• plastic baggies.  sandwich, gallon size...i'll buy the store brand to save.
• dryer sheets.  even though i usually get bounce, i will buy the store brand for matt's work clothes.  yeah, weird.  i know.

there are some things that i always buy the brand name for:

• diapers.  i just do.  i don't have a good reason why i don't buy a generic brand.  i tried the target brand once, but just didn't buy them again. 
• most food products.  from looking in my fridge and cupboards i usually go with the brand name instead of the store brand.  i found this article on generic vs. name brand cereal.  they found: no big difference.  imagine that.
• toilet paper.  matt needs charmin.  i don't know if there is a store brand for toilet paper, but we don't even get the cheap stuff, it has to be good ol' charmin.

i think that there is some comfort in buying certain brand name products.  that's the only reason i can find in spending more money for essentially the same product.  i've bought nyquil or dayquil a million times, however there are store name brands such as equate (at walmart) that are half the price.  i see no reason why i should keep buying the higher priced item in this situation. 

as i said above, i seem to buy most brand name food products.  do any of you use store brands?  i am sure the store brands taste the same as the brand name products, but i have to try them.  i'm sure i've ate them at other people's houses and never known the difference.  what gives?  is this a mental thing?  i found this article in which a news team (in minnesota) did a taste test.  the results were very interesting.  maybe it just comes down to a personal choice based on what your taste buds tell you.  what do you think?

what about other types of products - electronics, beauty products, clothing, craft supplies?  any of you have thoughts on these? 

do you think that the products are that much different or is it just a mind thing?  what do you buy?  what are your favorite brand name products or what do you settle buying the store brand for?  i'm interested in what you all think about brand name vs. store brand!

after you leave me a comment, check out the other tft bloggers this week: nicole, cass, heather, michelle, denise, kristi, april and jessica. 

Comments

[Jenn]

Well Jen, I love this post!!
Clothes- I (as you know) pretty much only wear brand name jeans (silver jeans fill my dresser drawers) They fit so much better....plus they are all sooo cute. All the rest of my clothes doesn't mattter as long as they fit good.
Food- it depends...Peanut Butter only Jif, Ketchup-Heinz, Mac and Cheese- Kraft, Cereal- name brand, everything else can be the store brand for me.

Cleaning- Whatever is cheapest, except for I buy Tide, Shout, Bounce, and the force and flex garbage bags.

Diapers/wipes/everything else babies need- well I won't have a preference on these items for a few years I am guessing! :) But I will probably take advice from my favorite blogging mommy on which ones are good and which are bad! :)

[April (Mrs. Velvet Cak)]

I mostly buy brand name things, just due to habit and because we are members at one of those large discount stores where we buy in bulk. However, when I go to the supermarket and buy packaged cookies, I like the "America's Choice" kind. These are my supermarket's store brand. They taste really good! I also buy the store brands on things like Neosporin or Bacetracin, because it is all the same stuff. I've found that I like the store brand better on packaged American cheese, as well.
I'm not a partial to brand names, but I graviate towards them more because I know what I'm getting with them. I don't like that feeling of not knowing what I'm buying and, perhaps, being stuck with an inferior product that I can easily discern to be inferior.
However, in taking that leap and buying store brands of certain items, I am coming to find out that most of them seem to be the same if not better than the name brands.

[Robyn]

I buy a lot of store brand. Cheerios, plastic bags, aluminum foil. Target brand kleenex, diapers(I use huggies at night), baby wipes and fabric softener sheets. Their toliet paper has been run through pretty fast so I'm probably back to scotts. I was so happy when they came out with the select a size paper towel. Store brand frozen veggies and canned goods along with generic meds. I do have to buy Kashi cereal, always pantyliners, Muir glen ketchup, annies graham crackers, ecos laundry detergent.

[anne]

Ha- I like the diaper wars:) I buy lots of Target brand stuff for things like medicine, paper towels, kleenex, bags, and food (I like the Archer Farms and Market Pantry stuff), but I will not do the generic diapers!! We've found that Pampers work wonders with our darling's behind, and I am willing to pay the extra $$ to keep all that poop contained! I won't even risk purchasing a generic diaper pack for a trial run. But I do agree with that other commenter- the Sesame Street theme on the Pampers gets old.

[Denise H.]

I buy a lot of groceries with the store brand name instead of the brand name. Mainly because I am cheap when it comes to groceries and try to save every penny that I can. To me Food is such a Waste to buy. You eat it and then it's gone. Nothing to show for it except for added pounds if you eat a lot of it. hehe

As for toilet paper, paper towels, Q-Tips, launry detergent and such I always buy the brand name. I just think that they are better products. Charmin, Bounty, Tide, Downy.

[Nicole]

Children's Motrin is the only medication that I buy that isn't store brand or generic - my son refuses to take the Safeway brand, but will gladly take the real thing, which I can thankfully buy in bulk at Costco. The FDA regulates medications - there is absolutely no difference between the name brand and the generic, though they may be flavored differently or be different in color.

We buy Huggies, (1) because they fit our kids better than any others that I have tried and (2) because I can buy them in bulk from Costco. We use the Costco brand wipes.

When it comes to food, I buy what we like. For example, I generally buy brand name cereal because I prefer the taste over generic. I buy a lot in bulk, and will choose the Costco brand if I have tried it and like it. I am trying to buy more organic and non-processed foods, and there are not a lot of generic choices there.

If there is not a cost differnce or I have a coupon, I usually lean towards the name brand - I guess I am the perfect target for advertising companies!

Great post!

[zoe]

i never buy generic food. i'm not sure why really. or generic beauty. i do buy generic things like baggies, paper towels, window cleaner. stuff that really doesn't matter.

[kristi sauer]

I think we are on a similar wave length...I was just thinking yesterday about posting about product preferences....Coke vs Pepsi, Kleenex vs Puffs, etc. Hopefully I will get to it sometime soon! I always have a million thoughts but blogging about all of them is a different story! LOL

[Sarah S.]

I usually compare prices, if a brand name is on sale and cheaper than store brand, we'll probably get the brand name, otherwise it's usually store brand.

-We use Luvs diapers except for a few months when Matthew would leak during the night so we used Huggies overnights...we're back to Luvs 24/7 now.
-Cereal is usually store brand and sometimes we like it better than the name brand
-laundry detergent we compare prices/size and go with cheaper unless it's one I've used and don't like.
-Peanut Butter-brand name (Jif)
-Cottonelle TP and usually a middle ground paper towel
-Baby wipes, we use Pampers, the only other brand we tried was Huggies and didn't care for them, haven't tried anything else
-Clothes/shoes whatever is cheap and looks/fits well which can be brand name at times

[jessica]

i'm wanting to change the way we do a lot of things around here, but one baby step at a time. it's down the road, but i want to be more organic. especially with things like milk. that will be a lifestyle change and a whole other story, since i'd need to cook and eat less stuff from a bag or box.

that said, we've been doing a LOT of buying target brand. a lot of their food, especially frozen, is great. i love the archer farms stuff, at least what we've tried.

kraft mac'n cheese can't be beat, though. and we usually buy no name when it comes to steaks. and skippy honey nut peanut butter.

i recently switched FROM target diapers, though. after size three they just didn't do their job. either luvs or pampers. and i lean toward luvs because i HATE elmo and he's plastered all over the diaper butts.

[Jan]

I mostly buy name brand. I've done lots of trials for store brand, but they usually were TRIALS. Ugh. Also, when I find a brand I like, I try their other products. Of course, I always look for the deal, I'm a bargain shopper.

[Jaime]

Ok... I'll save a few $$ myself, whatever works.
But, remember back to when you were a kid, you know, just a measly few years ago:)
Could you tell the difference between Kraft Mac N Cheese and Food Club?
Heck yeah, you could! Mooooom, don't buy that "icky" kind again!
And that's all I'm saying.....

[April]

Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm excited to stay tuned with yours now. This is actually like my sixth time doing ww, I love it too cuz I know it WORKS! :-)

Now, onto your post...I go fifty-fifty when it comes to name brand versus store brand. I LOVE a lot of Target brand (including their TP) and I'm also fine with getting store brand for most cleaning products (cuz I'm cheap LOL). And I do buy the store brand now for Dayquil type meds. But a lot of my foods? Hmmm, I'm a name brand girl, I think. I admit, I'll try out certain store brand food items but I almost always end up going back to name brand foods!

[Cass]

I went on a kick about three years ago when we were first married and I was trying to show what a good frugal little wife I could be my buying a lot of store brand food products and I have to say I'm SO glad I got off that kick. People "say" that the cereal is the same - but it isn't....I really believe that the store brand becomes soggy faster then the name brand - particularly in Cheerio's. Some stuff I go generic with still - but not just any name brand the Target stuff I'm a fan of but my local grocery stores name brand is just not as good.
Here's the stuff I do store brand from target
-Tuna. I think it's actually better then the name brand
-Organic Milk. Much cheaper and really good.
-Orange Juice
-Bread
-Cheese sticks

Some items MUST be name brand though:
-TP
-Cookies
-Tortilla Chips
-Cat food (they can tell the difference my finicky little felines)
-Conditioner (Shampoo is pretty much all the same to me but a good conditioner is NOT something to skimp on)
-Popsicles. This is really random but I love Popsicles and the store brand really can't compete.

[michelle]

Hmm, I'm pretty random when I buy name brand vs. store brand. I go off of my experience. I won't buy store brand tp or paper towels, they just don't hold up, but I will buy sb tissue. I will buy sb diapers, but only from Sam's and I will buy generic formula and wipes. Food it depends. Canned goods and milk are sb all the way, but snack items and such are name brand. I will buy store brand laundry supplies, but I have to admit, the real thing smells soooo much better. Oh, my list could go on.

As for electronics, well the hubby is in charge of that and he will choose the best of the best, of course!

[Kim]

We buy Pampers diapers, but Target formula. :)

Let's see... just trying to think of the Target brand stuff I have in my house right now... medications, dryer sheets, shaving cream, lotion, plastic baggies, cleaning products...

Food, I usually buy the brand name... we've bought some generic stuff and it doesn't always taste as good. Could just be in my mind though. :)

Oh, and I don't like the Target garbage bags, we buy the real ones. ;)

[MLBDaddy]

MLBDaddy poses this question: Will the generic brand meet the same needs and serve the same purpose as the name brand?

If the answer to the question is yes, then it makes sense to me to save some bling and buy the cheap thing. I'm not much of a shopper, but if I were I would follow this rule.

I agree with BarCatz's take on the Kraft Mac n Cheese though.

[Mary]

Great post Jenny!
We buy store brand for a lot of things:
*any over the counter medicines (tylenol, motrin, etc. etc.
*toilet paper
*plactic wrap, tinfoil, lunch bags, napkins
*fabric softener
*baby wipes
*some food items (certian cereals, pasta, butter, cream for coffee)

I've tried two different kinds of store brand diapers and won't do it again. I'll always use pampers although I bargain shop around for them. Papertowels are another one that I just can't buy store brand. It's Bounty select a size all the way for us!

Bottom line, I try to cut and save in regards to buying store brand as much as I can. I also clip coupons but sometimes that is hard because they want you to buy 3, 4 or 5 of something just to save a buck. I'll buy if it's for 2 but not any higher!

[amy]

i try to buy store brand as i know they are cheaper but when i see only a few cents difference in some things then i opt for the brand name! i know i could do better in this areas and save myself much more money.

laundry deterg. and fabric softener - all or tide depending which is on sale and which i have a coupon for.

diapers - don't need them now but i only used pampers as anything else leaked on this guys!

peanut butter - only skippy!

jelly - welches only!

i am going to make more of an effort to buy store name. perhaps i can do it without my family knowing and see if it really matters.
thanks for the idea!

[heather]

Hehe- I did a little post about this awhile back too... I think it's so interesting how we each have our habits and different tastes. Growing up my mom bought store brand EVERYTHING. Or whatever was the best price. I'm about half and half... things I HAVE to buy name brand are
-Jif Peanut Butter
-Mrs. Butterworth's syrup
-Kraft mac & cheese
-All free and clear laundry detergent (but I'll buy store brand softener)
-Pampers diapers. I won't use anything but Pampers. Too many leaks otherwise in my experience and it's worth it to me to save the hassle.

[Wendy]

I try to buy store brand for a lot of things, but for others I just can't. Like diapers! I have to buy name brand because Lani leaks out of all others at night. I also always buy sensitive pampers because they have no smell. The Target sensitive smell so yucky to me:( Most paper products I buy store brand though. I haven't found much difference in them.

As far as food there are certain things that I have learned through trying that name brand is best. I do try most things though just in case:) We have Hannaford grocery stores here and most of their store band is actually better than the name brand. Strange, but I am happy since it is way cheaper. Wesley (my 7 year old) gets so mad because I always make him buy store brand cereal, but once he gets home their is no difference. It just when he is standing in front of all the pretty boxes at the store that he is bothered.

[Nicole Barczak]

Ooh wait I *always* buy Target baby wipes as well. :) I love them!

[Nicole Barczak]

Things I regularly buy store brand of:
-medications (Nyquil, cough drops, children's motrin etc)
-diapers (either Target or Luvs, which is still lots cheaper than Pampers or Huggies)
-cheese
-toilet paper/paper products/plastic baggies etc
-Laundry detergents/fabric softeners (although... I just sucked it up and bought Downy liquid fabric softener and it smells SOOOO much better... I'm totally converted now!)
-Granola bars
-

Things I have to have name brand:
-Cereals. I'm weird and I think its a mind thing. I'll admit, Store brand Fruit loops are good, but very sugary. If I'm using them for a recipe I can use store brand, but for me to eat with milk... must be store brand. Porter adn Ry will eat store brand though.
-Kraft Mac n Cheese. Probably another mind thing, but I am partial to Kraft. I NEVER buy other brands, and will pass up eating it if I know its not Kraft.

Basically, anything non-food I try to buy store brand. There are quite a few store brand food products I will buy, but not a ton. I'm weird about foods. :) If I think of anymore I'll write them down throughout the day and post later tonight. I need to get off my arse and get ready for work!