Brand Names, or Off Brands?

babyharley

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I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about how to save money, the little ways - and I mentioned that I buy pretty much all of my stuff, off brand, I hardly ever buy the brand name things, only because I find that the off brands are much cheaper and I can never tell a difference. Her on the other hand, will never buy the off brand, its always GOT to be name brand. Of course I buy some things name brand, but only because I find that the off brand isn't as good.

So, how do you buy your groceries/ect? Do you always buy brand name items, or do you usually go for off brand, or a bit in between?
 

trouts mom

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I usually buy name brand stuff...but I don't mind buying the no name stuff at all, but I prefer certain name brand items..Like Heinz Ketchup...or Venus razor blades...etc
 

KitEKats4Eva!

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Either-or. I'll usually try the off-brand because it's cheaper, and if it's just as good I'll stick with it. In many cases the brands are more expensive because of all the packaging so I'm not paying for that.

I do agree that in some cases the established brands are better, and will pay the extra for the better quality, but that's certainly not the majority of things.

With clothing, I find refusing to buy anything but brands the worst kind of snobbery. And you shoot yourself in the foot, too, because if you have a closed mind about clothes you miss out on soooo much great stuff! My rule of thumb with clothing is, if I like it, I'll buy it. Don't care if it came from K-Mart or Versace!
 

ericanicole

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I do a little of both.
like a laundry detergent is brand, garbage bags, shampoo, toothpaste etc.
with food i usually go off brand. I dont care all that much.
 

miagi's_mommy

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It depends on the product. we buy generic cheeto cheese puffs at walmart since I like them better.. the cheeto cheese puffs are too cheesey imo.
I don't really like buying generic soda, though. generic cereal is good. like I said it just depends on the product.
there's some things I will buy off brand and then there are some I won't.
 
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babyharley

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Originally Posted by KitEKats4Eva!

Either-or. I'll usually try the off-brand because it's cheaper, and if it's just as good I'll stick with it. In many cases the brands are more expensive because of all the packaging so I'm not paying for that.

I do agree that in some cases the established brands are better, and will pay the extra for the better quality, but that's certainly not the majority of things.

With clothing, I find refusing to buy anything but brands the worst kind of snobbery. And you shoot yourself in the foot, too, because if you have a closed mind about clothes you miss out on soooo much great stuff! My rule of thumb with clothing is, if I like it, I'll buy it. Don't care if it came from K-Mart or Versace!
I totally agree about the clothing! I have shirts from everywhere, and no one can ever tell the difference, and when they ask where its from, and I say 'Shopko', they'll give me this weird look like.... 'oh... that IS cute..' I just laugh at them
I don't care where it comes from!
 
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babyharley

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Originally Posted by Miagi's_Mommy

It depends on the product. we buy generic cheeto cheese puffs at walmart since I like them better.. the cheeto cheese puffs are too cheesey imo.
I don't really like buying generic soda, though. generic cereal is good. like I said it just depends on the product.
there's some things I will buy off brand and then there are some I won't.
We buy off brand pop - I can get 2 12 -packs of pop for $4.00 at WalMart and tastes just as good as the brand name!
 

lunasmom

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I use to be all about off-brands, until I started looking at the nutrition content of some of the foods.

while most ARE Comparible to the name brands, I'm finding that some of the off brands will use sugar or sodium as a substitute. That's not good for B's diabetes.

We use off-brand laundry detergent/fabric softener...it still gets the job done.
 

epona

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I usually buy generic stuff, not brands, but I do have a few exceptions, because they taste different, and those exceptions are Heinz baked beans (thicker sauce), Heinz tomato ketchup (thicker, more tomatoey and less vinegary), and Colmans mustard (hotter and thicker than non-brand stuff, and don't tell me that the mild yellow stuff you in the US refer to as mustard is the same, because it ISN'T!!!!)
 

halfpint

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Like lots of people certin things I will only buy brand mainly food things. As for clothes I have a hard time finding things that fit, so if it fits and is made decent buy it.
 

zissou'smom

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My rule of thumb for that tends to be if my mother was willing to pay for the name brand, it's probably actually worth it. There are things my mom used all her life (Tide, Windex, and Dawn come to mind immediately) that I will probably use all my life without ever buying anything else. She was, shall we say, a spendthrift who spent all Sunday after church organizing her coupons. She even buys one-ply toilet paper. I also buy real Dr Pepper, because I have actually tried the other ones and they aren't as good. Other than that, I don't really care, although I do have favorite brands like Annie's (bunny pasta
).

As for clothes, I do things like buy my underwear and t-shirts at the closeout sale at Dollar General. It's a necessity. My clothes budget is something like 200$ a year. I can't really afford K-Mart... mostly second-hand


My brother-in-law refuses to even eat anything not name-brand. I think it's all in the rearing. If you're parents convince you that "That's what poor people eat" you won't be able to eat it.
 

epona

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Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

If you're parents convince you that "That's what poor people eat" you won't be able to eat it.
In which case I'm almost glad I grew up poor - otherwise now if I refused to eat/wear anything except brand-name products I would starve
 

sibohan2005

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I buy whatever is cheepest, weather it's brand name, no name or store brand. It really depends on what's the cheepest. I'm quite a picky shopper i'm always price checking and checking the sale bills.
 
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babyharley

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Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

I buy whatever is cheepest, weather it's brand name, no name or store brand. It really depends on what's the cheepest. I'm quite a picky shopper i'm always price checking and checking the sale bills.
Same here, I'm a very picky shopper, when I buy groceries, I like to stay within a certain price, and I usually can buy all of our groceries for a month, for under $50
I always love telling people that, my Grandma is always impressed
 

KitEKats4Eva!

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I'm the budget Nazi so if it doesn't fit into our budget, it doesn't fit period.

Unless of course I'm talking about buying myself a pair of shoes
 

starryeyedtiger

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funny you should ask- i just got back from the grocery store
I always try to find the the lowest prices when shopping and the best quality... i don't care if it's name brand or not.A lot of times i'll have cupon for name brand stuff and with that it winds up being cheaper than the off brand, if i don't have cupons- i try and find the off brand. The only thing i don't like the off brands in is my razors, shampoo/conditioners/ lotions/ dish washing detergent/ laundry detergent / tea/ toilet paper/ and a few other things....but other than that as far as food goes- i shop for quality and low prices rather than a specific brand.
I'm not too good to use the lower priced products- especially when a lot of them taste/work the same
As far as clothes go- the only thing I absolutely insist on is Victorias Secret for bras/panties- because they last soooo long and they're really cute- i only shop there for the most part 2x a year during their huge semi annual sale- and yesterday I did awesome! I got 4 bras (very good quality) 7 panties, and 5 bath/body products for around $162 those will last me for quite a long time
/ Other than that- i have no problem getting clothes/ etc from walmart/target/or any place like that. In the past few years, Target and Wal-mart have come out with some really cute clothes! Even Cosmopolitan magazine shows you cute pieces that those stores have! You don't have to spend a ton of $$ to look nice
I love those stores! I'm a huge Kohls fan as far as pants go- i'm really short (4'11.5'' - and they always have pants that come in "short, regular, or long" so i love that and don't have to hem them" I can always find stuff on sale there! Sometimes their stuff is less expensive thant target/wal mart if you go during a sales
 

apric0t

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It depends on the product, store, price and if I like it or not. For instance, I just have to buy the real Kraft Dinner (not that I eat much, I do not have a forgiving figure
) because I can't stand no name stuff. Dog or cat food, I DEFINATELY REFUSE to buy the no name crap. I refuse to even buy any pet food from the grocery store. Clothing, eh, who's going to know what brand or where you bought if from? Most canned products I buy off brands, just because they're cheaper and I can't tell the difference, so I guess it just depends.
 
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