Cheap vs expensive brands

When it comes to different brands at your local grocery store which do you prefer ? Does it really matter to you and your family ? Do you prefer Krogers over Aldi's ? Some people like me go to Dollar Tree for some frozen foods which  have some food named brands too.

We shop at our local Giant....it's the best store, in our opinion. It's either that or Weis and I have issues with Weis' labor policies/unions, etc. I will not shop at Walmart or Sam's Club. Love Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but the closest TJ's is a little over an hour away. We have an Aldi's but, for some reason, I don't shop there much....I don't know why. For our meat (beef, in particular), we usually hit our local butcher, who is a real sweetheart; I just love the guy. I'll buy poultry at Giant and some pork and sausage.

As for store brands, we use some of them. Rick refuses to use anything but Crest. I like Heinz Ketchup. He prefers name-brand cereal; Tabby needs her Frosted Mini Wheats (and she will not eat the store brand.....every time we've tried it, she's walked away!) I will not drink store-brand soda...and my soda is only a Pepsi product, no Coke. (Not picky, am I?  If a restaurant only has Coke, I'll take water instead.)

We don't buy much in the way of mixes or convenience foods, other than a frozen pizza from time to time.

We don't have Kroger's or Aldi. We have Hy-Vee and Walmart (not in my town, but you know what I mean, LOL). There's one Fareway and one Sunshine and one privately-owned store in Sioux Falls (and about 10 Hy-Vees :tongue2, but otherwise Hy-Vee practically has a monopoly in the state (well, the very-small-town grocery stores are with Affiliated Foods Midwest, but independently owned and named). I mostly shop at Walmart because they're cheaper for frozen foods and non-perishables, but their fresh food selection and quality are terrible so I also go to Hy-Vee for some things.

I'll buy some store brands and some name brands---I actually prefer store brand for some things. And sometimes the store brand costs more than the name brand! :lol3: Got to watch out for that. I don't shop at the grocery store in my tiny town, because there's obvious price gouging and the selection is terrible (fresh food section consists of bananas and a few sickly-looking apples ). I feel really sorry for the older and disabled people who can't drive to another town to go shopping. About once a month I'll go up to Sioux Falls, and the rest of the time I go to the town where my parents live, they're the ones who have Hy-Vee and Walmart.

The Dollar Tree stores here don't have frozen foods. That's interesting. There's a Dollar General in my town and they have a few cold things like milk, but no frozen foods. And they're expensive too. . .

Our biggest local sujpermarket here in Florida is Publix. We do some shopping (not as much as in the past) in Publix, but lately we've found Walmart to be so much cheaper that Publix. I buy store brands on some items, but certain things I like the name brands --- like Hellmann's mayonniase or Miracle Whip. Actually I prefer Miracle Whip. We also do some shopping at Costco. Like their meats. I don't mind the store brand (Publix) sodas --- caffeine free diet coke. Can't drink the regular sodas as they are much too sweet for me.

I think it depends on the product. Some things have to be the original brand. I'm not too picky, though. I don't like most "great value" stuff at Walmart. I love Safeway's brands which is "Safeway Kitchens" and Lucerne. I do think most "great value" brands are cheap... and you get what you pay for but you have to do what you have to do. And I honestly try not to buy food at the dollar store. I bought a small bag of davids pumpkin seeds that were david's brand which is the popular brand for sunflower seeds.. and most of them tasted awful when they usually do not.

I buy a lot of Kroger store brands for food.  I don't care for Meijer store brand.  I buy name brand for laundry and cleaning supplies.  I can tell the difference and I spend the extra on name brands.  Part of that too is that now it's just me so I can spend a bit more.  When it was my ex and three kids I bought store brands for laundry and cleaning supplies as well.

It depends on the product for me, too.  This is not related to food, but my aunt and uncle owned a hosiery mill.  Years ago, we were driving through a large city on our way to the beach.  My aunt pointed out a very expensive clothing store and told me that their socks sold in that store for about $12.00 a pair.  She said that K-Mart sold the exact same socks, packaged in a different package and much, much cheaper.  I'm still not willing to eat store brand canned tomatoes because I must have Hunt's, but I sometimes buy other canned goods in the store brand.  And Aldi has fantastic clam chowder.  The next best thing to being in Maine.

We like Aldi, too, although not for everything. They have the best prices on dairy products and we love their bagged frozen green beans. My hubby likes their frozen chicken kievs and it's nice when he can make himself dinner every once in a while. Their canned tuna is the best, much better than any national brand and priced much lower as well. We've had a few bad purchases from the fresh meat department so we don't buy their fresh meat anymore. The frozen chickens and fish are good, though. Like many others have commented, I have to have brand name on certain items, in particular Hellmans Mayo, Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima syrup, Cheez It's, and any breakfast cereals. We only buy brand name laundry detergent, dish soap, and cleaning supplies. There is a big difference in quality and how long they last. Otherwise, store brands suit us just fine.

It really depends on what the item is, and what I'm going to be using it for.  For laundry, I tend to stick with Tide only because I have very sensitive skin and don't know how I will react to detergent.  I know I'm ok with Tide, so I stick with it. Same goes for dish detergent: I either use Sunlight or Palmolive.

Cat food: I tend to stick with brand name.

Canned/frozen/ (most) boxed human food items:  I typically buy store brand unless a sale makes brand name cheaper.

Cereal: I love Special K Red Berries, and Cheerios. I buy brand name because I haven't seen store brand at Safeway for those cereals.
 

Like the post above- it all depends on what the item is and what we are using it for. 

Canned stuff/ staples like pasta etc I do store brand. 

Laundry soap I use Tide.  Tried some of the off brands and I just didn't like how they worked.  And we have an HE washer, so you have to watch what kind of detergent you use in that.   Likewise for dish soap, the off brands didn't seem to clean as well.  Cleaning supplies though I use off brands.  I bought a bunch of stuff at Family Dollar to clean with and it seems to work fine. 

Cat food is name brand.  After several recalls, I just don't know what the store brands have in them.  Though the name brands have had issues too. 

Closest Kroger is a half-hour away.  Il's swear by it.  I'll go to Walmart.  Lately though, I've been trying to use my military privileges (dh is retired reserve and 7 years active duty) so I go to the commissary.  There's a new one that's only 15 minutes away, it replaced one that was in serious need of rehab.  Though it's not as big as the one at NOB (that one is HUGE) it's about the same size as a Walmart.  Much better selection than the old one.  You have to shop prices, sometimes they're better than Walmart, sometimes they aren't.  I save on meats. Milk is .50 cheaper than Walmart.   For some reason, cat food/ litter there  is far cheaper than Walmart AND Petsmart

You can go crazy going to a zillion different stores to save money.  I try, but sometimes I just don't have the time to run to 1 store for food, another store for paper and still another store for cleaning supplies.

I love going to different grocery stores than what are in my area. When I used to visit a GF in New York (she lives in Texas now), one time when I went up, they were opening a new Price Chopper grocery store in her area. I bet we spent three hours in that store! Just walking around, looking at this and checking that out. Comparing different prices. We had a ball.

I guess I don't lead a very exciting life that I found a new grocery store so interesting.

On another note, we can't get White Lily flour up here (central PA)....it's a southern flour. the protein content is lower and so it's supposed to make better biscuits and such. One time when Rick was in VA on union business, he called and asked me if there was anything I wanted him to bring home. I asked him to bring me a bag of White Lily flour.  He laughed and said that I was probably the only wife who would ask her husband for a bag of flour when he was away on a trip. But he stopped at a Food Lion, I think it was, and brought me a bag of White Lily flour.

And you know, his boss remembered that. A couple years later, Rick went back to VA for another meeting. And he came home with two bags of White Lily!! Compliments of his boss! He is from the south, so anybody who makes biscuits deserved the best flour, in his opinion.

And it really does make good biscuits!

I think there isn't anything wrong with non-brand items cause you are getting fed and at a good price.

White Lily makes awesome cornbread too.

I tend to buy things according to names, but that doesn't mean I only buy name brand. For example, I like Equate's version of Cetaphil cleanser better than the Cetaphil. I'll buy any brand of vermicelli noodle, but I'll only buy a few brands of spaghetti sauce.I'll buy store brand canned and frozen veggies, but Rotel hot tomatoes just can't be duplicated IMHO.

You're right about the cornbread.....forgot about that. It does make great cornbread. And muffins, too.

I use Tide detergent too.  I don't know what the deal is with it but none of the other brands can match it.  Even the name brands that are a little cheaper.  That's probably why they can stay so darn high with it, they know people will continue to use it.  Even when it is on sale it's a little on the high side but I buy it then even if I don't need it right then.

I use Tide and Wisk.....we like Wisk, too. And it's cheaper than Tide.

I use the $1.00 laundry detergent from  Dollar Tree if I happen to be there if I don't go there one day and I really need it that day I hop skip to Family Dollar for 1 that costs $2.50.  

I buy my bag chicken for 5.99 at Aldi. Since it's just me & my husband, ( sometimes I will fix a piece of chicken for Bella,Thunder) we get about 3 meals out of 1 bag.

peaches08 said:

White Lily makes awesome cornbread too.

I tend to buy things according to names, but that doesn't mean I only buy name brand. For example, I like Equate's version of Cetaphil cleanser better than the Cetaphil. I'll buy any brand of vermicelli noodle, but I'll only buy a few brands of spaghetti sauce.I'll buy store brand canned and frozen veggies, but Rotel hot tomatoes just can't be duplicated IMHO.

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Hm.  Maybe you need to talk to my snobby college student   She is such a pain about store brands.  Hates every single one of them. And most of the time the store brand is as good as the name brand.  Some stuff I won't get store brand, but for the most part I get it, and you use it/eat it or go hungry. 

I would love for her (and her sister) to try the Equate version of Cetaphil- heaven knows I spend enough money on acne junk (2 with severe acne problems= dermatologist getting money to build a new office from us). 

Cherykl

Sneakymom said:

Hm.  Maybe you need to talk to my snobby college student :lol3:   She is such a pain about store brands.  Hates every single one of them. And most of the time the store brand is as good as the name brand.  Some stuff I won't get store brand, but for the most part I get it, and you use it/eat it or go hungry. 

I would love for her (and her sister) to try the Equate version of Cetaphil- heaven knows I spend enough money on acne junk (2 with severe acne problems= dermatologist getting money to build a new office from us). 
Cherykl

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The key to fixing her snobbiness: make her pay for it.

I have oily skin prone to cystic acne. I use Dr. Wood's black soap to wash and acne.org's treatment get (benzoyl peroxide). Much cheaper than Proactive.

Ro-tel tomatoes are wonderful tomatoes....we always have a few cans in the basement pantry. Love those things!

I guess I'm a snob of a different color. We don't buy much in the way of convenience foods at all....I'd rather make most of our food. It's rare that we buy cake mixes, cookie mixes, Hamburger Helper, mac & cheese, cream of mushroom soup, Velveeta, anything like that. We just don't. I think the stuff is simply too darn expensive and you're not getting what you pay for, especially now when it's all been downsized to the point where it's ridiculous. Plus til you're done doctoring it up, well, you might as well make it yourself and get it over with. I can't pronounce half of the ingredients in those mixes either. I'm not going to say we never buy anything like that (we've been known to buy a frozen pizza or two from time to time), but it's not the norm here. There have been occasions where we've bought jarred pasta sauce, but again, Rick knows and he always complains. (Part of his problem is that he's a little spoiled, I think.)

We were talking about this yesterday at dinner over at my sister's house. She's really big on convenience; she doesn't like to cook and anything to get it over with is fine by her. She made a pasta salad (using Suddenly Salad) and it was OK. But she added some of this and a little of that and.....well, just make it from scratch! But she says she can't. And it didn't taste bad.

So I'm a snob, too, in that I'd rather make something than buy a mix.