Generic vs. name brand products

[michelin82]

Curious...what items do you buy generic? Which items keep you completely brand loyal? My stepmom and I had a convo about this over the weekend, which piqued my curiosity about others.

I'm actually not very brand loyal with much. Toilet paper, paper towels, and granola bars are the first things that come to mind. I also don't buy generic soaps, face washes, and shampoos - but I'm also not loyal to one single brand.

How about you ladies?

[subliminalrabbit]

I am struggling to think of a single thing that I purchase name brand... A bunch of Burt's Bees stuff for me & E I guess (lotion, soap). And Pampers diapers and wipes. I think that's it!

[subliminalrabbit]

Oh, razors. I've yet to find a generic razor that works well!

[momofcatan]

I'm split. A lot of food products I'll buy generic (frozen veggies, fries, sauces, crackers). I also do generic for household stuff (swiffer refills, kleenex, napkins) and tylenol/advil. For toiletries (toothpaste, shampoo) I tend to stick with brand names. I use generic diapers, except pampers overnight.

[michelin82]

Jul 21, 2015 7:47:33 GMT -5 subliminalrabbit said:

Oh, razors. I've yet to find a generic razor that works well!

My husband bought me a razor and some blades from the Dorco website, and it worked pretty well for me! I actually bought more!

[majwv8]

I'll always try generic at least once, but make decisions if I'll keep up.

Toilet paper and paper towels I buy name brand. Ziplocs and trash bags if I want a better quality.

A lot of food I'll buy store brand. Milk, frozen veggies, shredded cheese come to mind. Diapers/wipes I use Target. Towards the end, I started using Target formula too.

[majwv8]

Oh, q-tips! When I was in college, I got the end of a q-tip stuck in my ear. (like the cotton part) Had to go to the doctor and get it removed. Very embarrassing! I blamed it on the store brand q-tips, so now I only use the q-tip brand.

[michelin82]

Jul 21, 2015 7:57:29 GMT -5 majwv8 said:

Oh, q-tips! When I was in college, I got the end of a q-tip stuck in my ear. (like the cotton part) Had to go to the doctor and get it removed. Very embarrassing! I blamed it on the store brand q-tips, so now I only use the q-tip brand.

Haha - we bought generic q-tips once and my husband used maybe two of them before throwing them out. He called them "r-tips." Because we weren't allowed to call them q tips since they didn't even come close to the real thing. Lol

[musicalsilver]

I've been doing some experimenting with this lately, and have discovered the only thing that I really can taste a difference with (food-wise, obviously) is Cheerios. "Toasted O's" are crap. So I'll continue to pay the price for that brand name.

Pretty much everything else I buy store brand, except toiletries. Things like sunblock and soaps I buy specific brands based on their EWG ratings. Also my Burt's Bees chapstick. I could never go back to something else. That being said, we recently switched to generic cheap-o toilet paper, and it's not terrible. We were using 7th generation toilet paper before, so that's not really a super quilted comparison point or anything.

Garbage bags we definitely buy brand names. We got some generic walmart garbage bags from our ILs (the fragrance was bothering my MIL, so we took them just so they'd actually get used), and they're so quick to rip relative to say a Hefty bag.

[cl8badb]

Jul 21, 2015 7:57:29 GMT -5 majwv8 said:

Oh, q-tips! When I was in college, I got the end of a q-tip stuck in my ear. (like the cotton part) Had to go to the doctor and get it removed. Very embarrassing! I blamed it on the store brand q-tips, so now I only use the q-tip brand.

I can only use q-tip brand too!

[cl8badb]

Scott toilet paper and bounty paper towels.

Pampers diaper.

Wipes are whatever the better deal at costco is. So huggies or kirkland.

Im sure there are more.

[cl8badb]

And ditto rabbit and the razors.
I use schick bc i like the handle with the buzzer on one end.

[daffy2k]

I buy a lot of brand name, but I'm not loyal to a specific brand. I'm willing to try the generic brands, but I can often get the brand name stuff for equal or close to equal price on sale and generally I prefer it. Frozen produce, pasta, canned goods are a few of the only things I regularly buy store brands of because I seem to run out more often than the regular stuff goes on sale (or that I notice).

As far as things I refuse to buy generic, probably just toilet paper, paper towels, cereal and razors. Everything else in willing to try and often I can't tell the difference

[peachey]

We buy a lot of generic especially the Target up and up brand. Most medicines we get the generic, and a lot of food like frozen veggies, pizza, canned goods, cereal. We use Target diapers and wipes. We buy Scott toilet paper (old habit because it is septic safe) and generic paper towels and napkins. We have a box of Kirkland garbage bags we bought two years ago and we are still using them. We don't do Costco unless I borrows friends card but it seems the Kirkland stuff is pretty good.
The only thing DH refuses to try generic is peanut butter, it is Jif or nothing at our house.
I prefer name brand ice cream but I wouldn't refuse the store brand.

[megsw85]

We buy a lot of brand name. I find that the price difference isn't that big between generic and name brand here.

Then again I live in a oil town

[dmlk413]

Foodwise, almost everything is generic (we shop at Aldi). Diapers, wipes and paper products are generic. We do buy name brand for cleaning products and personal hygiene products (shampoo, toothpaste, etc).

[lizzybizzy]

I buy a mix, mainly generic on food but not with household items, diapers/wipes and beauty products. I'm going to update my spreadsheet on costs at different stores and add generic options and try some out. I could probably be saving a bunch of money. I'm hesitant to switch diapers and wipes though.

[daffy2k]

Jul 21, 2015 10:14:15 GMT -5 megsw85 said:

We buy a lot of brand name. I find that the price difference isn't that big between generic and name brand here.

Then again I live in a oil town

I find this too. Especially if I watch for sales. then the price is the same pretty much

[cl8badb]

Jul 21, 2015 11:54:53 GMT -5 violet said:

Jul 21, 2015 8:42:49 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

And ditto rabbit and the razors.
I use schick bc i like the handle with the buzzer on one end.

I heard shavemob.com is good... My H used it for men's and liked it.

My husband tried one of the razor subscription things too. I dont remember which one but he wasnt impressed.
Maybe he will have better luck woth that one?

[kh59]

I buy generic everything unless my store doesn't have a generic product of the same type, which basically means I buy brand-name shampoo and mascara. I also buy Burt's Bees chapstick--just because I like it.

[sympkin]

I find I'm often brand loyal as a matter of circumstance. For example, my local grocery store only stocks one brand of unscented powder laundry detergent, only one brand of hypoallergenic tissue etc.

I actually love our store brand, I'm pretty loyal to a couple of their products, especially ice cream! Besides that it usually comes down to price.

[vasc]

I buy all the Tide! And we eat brand cereals too. And Oreos.

Everything else can be generic/store.

[nachellebeck]

Jul 21, 2015 12:01:20 GMT -5 violet said:

Jul 21, 2015 11:56:10 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

My husband tried one of the razor subscription things too. I dont remember which one but he wasnt impressed.
Maybe he will have better luck woth that one?

I'll ask my husband ...may have been dollar shave club, I can't remember. Their youtube video is really funny though in any event.

Both my H and I use Dollar Shave Club. I find them better than any other razors I can get for $6. You get 4, 4 bladed razors for $6 a month...

I frickin love their 4 bladed razor. My H gets the 6 blades..."Because why not?!"

[momofcatan]

Jul 21, 2015 12:11:38 GMT -5 sympkin said:

I find I'm often brand loyal as a matter of circumstance. For example, my local grocery store only stocks one brand of unscented powder laundry detergent, only one brand of hypoallergenic tissue etc.

I actually love our store brand, I'm pretty loyal to a couple of their products, especially ice cream! Besides that it usually comes down to price.

I feel like PC blurs the line between brand name a generic. I do not consider those decadent ice cream sandwiches generic, they cost more than most brand name ice cream bars!

[momofcatan]

Jul 21, 2015 11:45:05 GMT -5 lizzybizzy said:

I buy a mix, mainly generic on food but not with household items, diapers/wipes and beauty products. I'm going to update my spreadsheet on costs at different stores and add generic options and try some out. I could probably be saving a bunch of money. I'm hesitant to switch diapers and wipes though.

Unless you have problems with leaks I would definitely try the diapers (if they come out cheaper) and stick to brand name for only overnight. We switched to Wal-mart diapers (no more target ) and even though they feel really cheap, we have never had a problem except for when I tried to size up to early.

[sympkin]

Jul 21, 2015 12:30:48 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

Jul 21, 2015 12:11:38 GMT -5 sympkin said:

I find I'm often brand loyal as a matter of circumstance. For example, my local grocery store only stocks one brand of unscented powder laundry detergent, only one brand of hypoallergenic tissue etc.

I actually love our store brand, I'm pretty loyal to a couple of their products, especially ice cream! Besides that it usually comes down to price.

I feel like PC blurs the line between brand name a generic. I do not consider those decadent ice cream sandwiches generic, they cost more than most brand name ice cream bars!

Ok, you caught me! I love the crackle ice cream and it's definitely more expensive than basic Chapman's.

[daffy2k]

Jul 21, 2015 12:30:48 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

Jul 21, 2015 12:11:38 GMT -5 sympkin said:

I find I'm often brand loyal as a matter of circumstance. For example, my local grocery store only stocks one brand of unscented powder laundry detergent, only one brand of hypoallergenic tissue etc.

I actually love our store brand, I'm pretty loyal to a couple of their products, especially ice cream! Besides that it usually comes down to price.

I feel like PC blurs the line between brand name a generic. I do not consider those decadent ice cream sandwiches generic, they cost more than most brand name ice cream bars!

I definitely don't consider PC generic. The No Name products that loblaws carries (and Signal at Sobeys chains) are their generic brands. I actually find a lot of PC products to be on the higher end, both quality and sometimes price wise

[everydayimshuffling]

I buy a lot of foods and OTC meds generic but I am very brand loyal for some things. Bounty, Heinz Ketchup, Cheerios, Ziplock bags, shampoo/hair products and toothpaste, Pampers diapers and Huggies simply clean wipes (K is sensitive to most other wipes). I love most Kirkland things from Costco (especially the garbage bags, toilet paper and laundry detergent) and buy them whenever they are less expensive.

[ciahanna]

We buy a mix of brand name and store brand. Diapers are brand name, wipes are store brand. Toilet paper is Scott but paper towels are BJ's brand or Viva, whichever is cheaper. For most OTC drugs I prefer store brand. Canned goods are a mix, toiletries are a mix too. Pantyliners and tampons are name brand. Gia's PediaSure is either Walmart or brand name, depends if BJ's has a good coupon.
I'll usually give the store brand a try in most things, just not toiletries or diapers.

[skk]

We do a mix here too. I'm usually willing to try store brands but really like most Kirkland stuff from Costco. I do like Heinz ketchup, Kleenex brand, and a few other brand names though.

And thanks for the reviews on Dollar Shave Club. I've been wanting to try it for a while now.