What generic product do you buy that works as good or better than the name brand?

[ptrbryant]

We often use generics, but two that stick out in my mind right now as "much better than brand name" at Aldi's are Tandil, their version of Tide...cleans everything so much better and I like the scent AND Aldi's tortilla chips. No one in my household even wants tortilla chips if they aren't the Aldi's brand. Our store just started carrying the fresh meats and more extensive fresh items, which I haven't tried yet, but am hopeful.

Karla B.

 

[disneysteve]

I rarely need to clip coupons

This is such a great point! So many people here on the Budget Board talk about what they save with coupons. They don't realize that they often aren't saving anything at all. They are just overspending less. Let's say name brand breakfast cereal is $3.75/box. Store brand cereal is $2.25/box. You have a $.50 coupon for the name brand and your store doubles coupons. So your final cost for the name brand is $2.75. I've still spent $.50 less by buying the store brand without the hassle of clipping and using the coupon.

Of course, sometimes with a sale and a doubled coupon, the name brand will be cheaper and you can truly save doing that, but much of the time I think people deceive themselves about the actual savings from coupon use. In the grand scheme of things, it would be cheaper to just buy less costly store brands in the first place.

 

[nbodyhome]

Potato Chips. you just can't beat the name brand.

Actually, Target makes fantastic chips. I don't eat many chips, but they are great. Unfortunately, I'd not be able to get them in like a 50 case for my husband (which I prefer to do, for his work lunches and for at home).

I wish that the store brands would expand more into healthier options. That is why I buy the name brands that I do buy. I never find as much in the store brands that include extra fiber, multigrains, etc.

I've tried Target plain yogurt, but prefer Dannon for my smoothies (I prefer it over Publix plain yogurt as well). Stonyfield makes a wonderful yogurt for 100 calories - with real fruit, worth the extra money. No store brand I know of makes anything similar. (I always have a Stonyfield strawberry, as well as a piece of fruit and a cookie for my Target event lunches).

I use Natural hand sanitizer from the Dollar Tree instead of Purell. I know there are some things that are not as good (like from the Dollar Tree, when having studies done on them - like detergent and such).

 

[christinadei]

I love "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner. I've tried clorox, lysol and all the name brands and they don't come close to cleaning the orange iron out of my toilet. The works is so good, you barely even have to use the toilet brush, you dump it in and wait and the toilet is so clean!! The best thing is you can find it at the dollar tree for $1 or family dollar and dollar general for $1.50!

I also loved the walmart and publix brand of baby diapers (the ones with the frogs that were the soft cover w/velcro). I also got the free pack from publix and after that DH refused to change DS with huggies

I also swear by the Target and Equate ibuprofin cold & sinus medicine. $4.49 for 20 when it's like 5.99 for advil brand and they work just as good.

I really love publix ice cream, I think it's better than any brand.

 

[tinker&belle]

I use the store brand (Meijer) contact lens solution. It's considerably cheaper to start with, plus it comes up on great sales occasionally. It works just fine.

Make sure you check the label to see if it has perservatives. We used to get generic solution all the time, until we were both getthing eye infections and it turns out most generics are full of perservatives and additives. Some are okay, just wanted to share to make sure to check the label.

 

[tinker&belle]

I've tried lots of toothpastes *with whiteners*. They were expensive and I never saw an appreciable difference. DH read in Consumer Reports that Ultrabrite is the best and cheapest. (.99! a tube). I've been using it for a couple of weeks and I do see a difference. I'm really happy!

Ultrabrite is a name brand, but it has a no name (brand) price!

We did a consumer test in college testing toothpaste and ultrabrite was the most effective, and it was definately the lowest priced. There was a girl in my group who expected all the main name brands to do the best (she said she was a crest girl, tide girl, etc.) She really identified herself with these brands. She was shocked when Ultra brite did the best. I think people identifying with brands is what the companies are counting on.

 

[tinker&belle]

I can't wait to tell DH this. He doesn't believe me that big name products do this!! I bet it happens more often than people know.............

It's true, I have two good friends who are brothers and their dad works in the generic business. In many cases, the products all roll of the line and they send part to get the name brand label, and the other part are sent to a different part of the line to get the generic label.

 

[Hedy]

Most CVS stuff is good (except for their adult depends), and target stuff is good too (Spray sunscreen for $6!).

 

[disneysteve]

I thought of another one. I've been routinely disappointed when I've tried store brand yogurt, but I recently tried Wegman's and it was excellent. I will not be going back to Yoplait unless there is a good sale that makes it less than Wegman's brand.

 

[nbodyhome]

I think people identifying with brands is what the companies are counting on.

"Generic" has come a very long way since when I was a kid, when the items were packed in black and white labeled containers. The store brands really are like brand-name now too, just usually less expensive.

I also buy my husband the Target Ibuprofen, it's cheaper than Advil (by a fair bit) and then you get like double the pills.

 

[DisneyFreq]

Let me start off by confessing I am a COUPON CLIPPER. However, I spend alot of time calculating what's the better deal, name brand with a coupon or generic? I'm lucky I have such a good memory..I've got just about every major product's lowest sale price memorized so that I know a good deal when I see it. Let's use Steve's cereal example. (let me mention also that cereal is one of those things I prefer to by name brand..except for mabey the knock off fruity pebbles..yum!) Albertsons frequently offers good deals on cereal but the 5 for $10 and even rarer 6 for $10 don't show up as often. If you hold out and stock up you can really save. I picked up 5 boxes of General Mills cereal last week for $10 plus I had a $2 off coupon. That made it $1.60 a box. Plus several came with "scene it" dvd games...freebie! The only down side to this deal is that Albertson's tends to offer the same flavours when they do this. Usually its cocoa puffs, cinnimon toast crunch, golden grams, cheerios, lucky charms, trix, and reeses pb puffs. This last time they also threw in cookie crunch and I got several boxes of the double chocolate...can you say cavities?? If you don't buy or like sugary cereals this wouldn't work for you.

I go to albertsons, food world, or winn dixie once a week to take advantage of great sale prices combined with coupons and good meat specials (sorry, I won't buy non-frozen meat from wal-mart) and then whatever I need that wasn't offered on sale somewhere else I get in generic format at Walmart. I pick the store with the best deals and make one stop, coupons in hand, on the way home from work. Some weeks I just skip this all together and go straight to walmart. I also know that you can price challenge at walmart but I think its just easier to go directly to the store offering the best deals.

Now... on to the real topic...generic vs. name brand. I think I started out as a "generic snob" and worked the opposite direction. It's when I realized certain generics weren't doing the job that I moved on to a name brand. I prefer name brand TP, papertowels, laundry detergent, cereal, fruit flavored snacks and poptarts.

Generics I LOVE: Members mark at Sams...good stuff. Powder detergent and dryer sheets (I bought a double box over a year ago that I'm still not to the bottom of yet and I think it cost about $6). Walmart powder detergent.... I dunno but I'm under the impression that its the same as MM from SAMS.... its what I'm buying currently b/c my sams card has expired and it works and smells identical. Walmarts salsa....AMEN!!! Love blackbean and white corn flavor...and I get the lime and garlic to myself b/c DH doesn't care for that much garlic. Fabulouso...I don't know if you'd consider it generic but it costs about 1.29 a bottle. Take if from someone that used to clean condos, that stuff lives up to its name. Its SUPER concentrated tho I don't think it says so on the bottle. By the time I'm done diluting it I've made the bottle last a whole month....it smells awesome and cleans every surface brilliantly. I've even added a few capfulls to my carpet cleaner to get that fabulous smell. Walmart's brand of rootbeer and gingerale. Actually, I like all the sam's choice sodas but I think they've cornered the market on these two flavors. Better than a&w, IBC, and canada dry. GV preserves are also excellent...good selection. Apricot and pineapple apricot are two of my favs. They cost about $1 less and I use them every year in a family cookie recipe that requires fruit filling.

 

[OceanAnnie]

There's only a few things I use that are name brand. Heintz ketchup (to me the best), Pop Tarts, laundry detergent with HE (I think it stands for high effeciency). The HE is recommended for my washer. Anyway, I don't think they make a HE in an off name brand. If they do, I'm all ears! LOL!

As another poster mentioned, I too have heard that the name brands make a certain percentage to distribute as "store brands". Nice to have the same product (or comparitive) at a lower price!

 

[ticktock]

OceanAnnie I hate to tell you this, but the HE isn't something they add to the detergent, it just means they water the detergent down becuase HE washers don't need as much soap. Ask any washer repairman, this is the biggest scam that the soap companies have come up with in years! Your paying them more for less product! I also have a HE frontloader and I use regular Tide but only use a third or even a fourth as much as is recommended. It works great and I save $$$ bigtime. Trust me, my DH fell for this scam when we first got our washer, I took one look at the detergent and said "No way, this is just watered down Tide!"

As far as generic detergent, I'm lazy. I don't pretreat, look for stains before I put stuff in the washer or dryer etc. If it doesn't come out the first time with just detergent it's going to be set for life from the dryer. So I pay more for Tide, it saves me money in the long run not having to buy new clothes. Besides I use so little of the soap per wash it's probably as cheap as generic.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Hey, don't hate to tell me, Ticktock! I'm glad you did! I don't know diddly about the HE stuff. I've just been buying it because it's recommended for the washer by the manufacturer.

 

[powellrj]

DD and I were watching Paula Deen a couple of weeks ago and DD was excited because Paula was using Kroger brand just like you do mom!

 

[MayMom]

DIAPERS! This was a big leap for me one time, but I have tried all brands and I've found that the Sam's brand, Smiles, and the Walmart, White Cloud, are great! They tend to fit my babies' slinder, long torsos the best. And the guard against leaks. I haven't tried Target. I normally buy Sam's because it's convient to just buy them every 6-8 weeks.

I hate to admit it, but I am ULTRA picky with baby diapers. They cannot smell like urine, have to be white (no stupid characters to show through clothing), must be cloth-like, good velcro tabs, etc. That being said my best friend gave me a Smiles diaper to try a few years ago when my DS was in diapers. I LOVED them! I would have never tried them on my own, but they were SUPERIOR to every name-brand diaper. You can imagine my disappointment when the Sams store in our area discontinued them right when DD was born!

The other product that I love is the Dollar General store wrinkle releaser - there is no difference in it and Downy. It costs $1.00 for a big spray bottle compared to Downy's $3.00 or more. The only thing that stinks is that it is a "seasonal" item and only is in our stores from May until September.

 

[kaddjr]

This is such a great point! So many people here on the Budget Board talk about what they save with coupons. They don't realize that they often aren't saving anything at all. They are just overspending less. Let's say name brand breakfast cereal is $3.75/box. Store brand cereal is $2.25/box. You have a $.50 coupon for the name brand and your store doubles coupons. So your final cost for the name brand is $2.75. I've still spent $.50 less by buying the store brand without the hassle of clipping and using the coupon.

Of course, sometimes with a sale and a doubled coupon, the name brand will be cheaper and you can truly save doing that, but much of the time I think people deceive themselves about the actual savings from coupon use. In the grand scheme of things, it would be cheaper to just buy less costly store brands in the first place.

This is not always true. Most die hard couponers I know keep a good stock of multilple coupons and wait for really good sales and then stock up. Also, they usually know what the prices are at different stores, be it generic or name brand. Now I do have to add that I am fortunate to have a Kroger in my area that triples coupons .50¢ and under, and doubles .51¢- $1. Not everyone has this perk- I understand that. But with regular doubles, one can still make out fairly well. For example, I found a blinky coupon (these are the coupons from the little red machines on the shelves in the stores) for Heinz ketchup that is .50¢ off a 32oz bottle. Our Kroger stores have them on sale 3/$5 (they have been this price since April or May). I get them for .17¢ after coupon. If I use that same coupon at a Kroger (or any other store for that matter) that just doubles to .50¢, I'm getting that bottle for .67¢. Still a good deal if you ask me and I'm not going to get the same size bottle in a generic for that price. So what have I done? I've stocked a year's supply of ketchup as my family goes through it like water! I KNOW this deal will be ending soon (summer is the time to stock condiments cheap) and I don't want to run out mid-winter and pay top dollar. My family doesn't like generic ketchup- what can I say? So now I am set until next summer when I can restock.

Another thing to remember is a generic deal isn't a deal unless your family will eat the generic product- it's just money down the drain. Recently, DD decided if the jelly jar doesn't say Smuckers or Welchs, she won't eat it. I brought home a jar of the Kroger brand and she turned her nose up at it. Kroger has their brand on sale again and I'm going to get a jar and just refill the name brand jar we have now. Hopefully we will be able to trick her into eating it. I've done this with the ketchup, btw, and it didn't work.

What I do when I shop is this: if it is a product I will buy at Aldi's (this is usually the least expensive of the stores in our area), then I compare the name brand sale price after coupon to Aldi's price and buy the least expensive of the two.

Don't get me wrong- I'm NOT knocking the use of generics (and I do use lots of generic things) and they can save you some $$$. But to say it's a hassle to clip coupons and that it would be cheaper to just buy less costly store brands in the first place, to me, is just wrong. With a little effort, one CAN do better with coupons (by watching sales and stocking up) than just getting store brands. I guess it just depends on how much effort one wants to put into it. My average savings is 50%, usually more.

And yes, those Wal Mart commercials where the lady says, "I'm too busy to clip coupons so I just do all my shopping at WM because they have the best prices on name brands" bug the heck out of me! Uhmmm, HELLO! Take five minutes to clip the coupons that come in your Sunday paper on the things you use and you'll save even more on those name brands at WM!

 

[disneysteve]

This is not always true. Most die hard couponers I know keep a good stock of multilple coupons and wait for really good sales and then stock up.

Don't get me wrong- I'm NOT knocking the use of generics (and I do use lots of generic things) and they can save you some $$$. But to say it's a hassle to clip coupons and that it would be cheaper to just buy less costly store brands in the first place, to me, is just wrong

I didn't mean it as a broad generalization. We do use coupons. Used intelligently, they can save you money, sometimes quite a bit of money. I was just pointing out that the average couponer (not the hard core Budget Board folks ) but the average everyday person, gets sucked into thinking they are saving money when they could be spending even less by skipping the nationally advertised brand and giving the store brands a try.

Certainly, if you combine coupons with sales, the brand is often cheaper than the generic. I just don't think the average shopper takes the time to do that. They just buy what they want and have a coupon for and don't take the time to figure out if they could get another brand cheaper without a coupon.

No offense to the coupon tiki gods

 

[kaddjr]

I didn't mean it as a broad generalization. We do use coupons. Used intelligently, they can save you money, sometimes quite a bit of money. I was just pointing out that the average couponer (not the hard core Budget Board folks ) but the average everyday person, gets sucked into thinking they are saving money when they could be spending even less by skipping the nationally advertised brand and giving the store brands a try.

Certainly, if you combine coupons with sales, the brand is often cheaper than the generic. I just don't think the average shopper takes the time to do that. They just buy what they want and have a coupon for and don't take the time to figure out if they could get another brand cheaper without a coupon.

No offense to the coupon tiki gods

Thanks Steve for making that clear!

Yes, you're right- most people don't want to take the time to figure out they could be saving money. I've stood in line behind people who have a cart load of name brands and thought, "Gee, I have coupon for that, oh and for that, and that, and that, and hey, store brand on that item would be less, Aldi's would be a better deal than that, etc..." There have been times when I've offered extra coupons to people- sometimes they look at me like I have two heads. Other times they are thrilled to get them.

A quick story on how shoppers don't pay attention:

I am friendly with a person who works in the meat dept of the Kroger I frequent. He always speaks to me when he sees me, likes to point out good deals to me, etc. One day we we talking about coupons, and the ketchup coupons that I had mentioned earlier were brought up. I told him I knew about them and the bottles were .17¢ after coupon. He thought they were a few cents less than that. So we went over to look and come to find out he was buying the 24oz bottle and I was getting the 32oz bottle for 2 cents more. It took me explaining to him a couple of times that he would do better if he would buy the larger bottle.

 

[Deebo]

I completely agree with OP about the 'Great Value' dishwasher powder from WalMart. I read the same Consumer Reports article and tried it. It works better than any brand name I've tried -- no spots or powder left on the glasses, and it smells nice when the dishwasher is running, too. I also like Target's version of Ziploc bags-- every bit as good as the brand name and much cheaper.

I draw the line with a few generic breakfast cereals I've tried. The 'Cheerios Triple Berry' knock offs were not good. And the generic Froot Loops --bleck! Don't mess with my Froot Loops!