Generic or brand names?

[Lyoshka]

So which person are YOU-do you buy generic or brand names?
Some categories I can think of right off the top of my head-feel free to add any more...:

Drugs (the legal ones:shuffle: :lol: )
Food (e.g., pasta, canned goods, etc)
Clothes (this one is more like Wal-Mart or Target versus some more expensive stores?)
Shoes
Soft drinks
ah, heck, I'll even put strollers in here.....you know, Gracos versus Peg Peregos and Janes of the world....(don't shoot me)
Whatever your answers are....why do you choose like you do? Do you feel there is a difference between generic and brand names? Share away!

[Bev]

Much of the time I'll buy generic or store brand items.

For many items I don't think there is much of a difference so I'll get the cheaper stuff, thank you. :) If it's a few cents difference and I think the brand name will be better (say canned goods like tomatoes or something) I'll spend a few extra cents. I won't buy no name brand soup but I will buy store brand soup. There is a difference in my opinion between no name brand and store brand.

Some expensive brands I'm sure are worth the extra money.

[Nichole]

I buy a lot of generic stuff. (most of it is either Target store brand or Costco/Kirkland :lol: ) Generic stuff I regularly buy:

- OTC medicines (sudafed, dimetapp, ibuprofen, acetomeniphen/tylenol, Claritin, etc)
- toilet paper, paper towels
- clothes - most of the boys' clothes come from Target, as does a great deal of mine
- sometimes shoes from Target
- Trader Joe's store brand staples, like beans, soups, pasta, etc.

Things I won't settle for anything less than name brand:
- toothpaste
- Campbell's tomato soup
- Smart Balance "butter"
- Kleenex w/ lotion

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Things like strollers, you get what you pay for. ;)

[Eva]

We buy both generic and brand name things depending on what they are:

OTC meds: Most things like Acetominphen, ibruprofen etc we buy generic as well as some cold medicines. I do buy name brands for children's medicine mainly because i alway seem to have coupons as well as my prenantal vitamins. I bought generic before and they were like horse pills. :(

Toliet paper, paper towel= generic but Kleenex always name brand.

Clothes~ Whatever I find that I like. More brand names as I should but I am sure if we had a Target here I would get more. I Definately like Target more than Walmart or Zellers. :blush:

Shoes: Whatever I find in my size that works...usually Payless.

Soft drinks: both but when it comes to cola I prefer Coke.

Food: both again with the exception of certain products like Kraft salad dressing, Kraft Peanut butter, Phily Cream Cheese and Campbell cream of chicken soup to name a few.


I agree about strollers. You get what you pay for. I bought a Walmart Cosco Umbrella stroller and it is a piece of junk so I just replaced it.

[Suzi]

I buy a mix of store brand and name brand at the grocery store:

Store brand: canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, natural apple sauce, tomato paste, dry pasta and beans, toddler wipes, yogurt, butter, milk, medications, sour cream, dry cereals, baking staples

Brand only: Kraft american cheese, macaroni and cheese (Kraft or Velveeta), bacon, Dole canned pineapple, toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, hot dogs, oatmeal, cake mix/frosting, soups (unless it's for cooking), Puffs Plus

Shoes and clothes: I buy both name and no-name.

Soft Drinks: only 7-Up (it's the only product without caffeine and aspartame).

[Lyoshka]

I'll answer my own post now.....

Drugs (the legal ones:shuffle: :lol: ) -I used to buy only brand names, because for some reason when you are sick and need NyQuil, the little voice in my head always put doubt whether generics would reeeally make me feel better... Damon is the generic kinda guy all the way, and he kept pointing out that the active ingredient is the same, so I've changed my ways now....the drugs are generic (unless I get the brand name attack at a weak moment)
Food (e.g., pasta, canned goods, etc)-I buy generic pasta and such if I see it on sale... Often, brand names are cheaper b/c of coupons/ sales, then I get brand names..... These days, I'm all about bottom line, so I buy more generic stuff than I ever have in my whole life...whichever is cheaper is what I get usually :)
Clothes (this one is more like Wal-Mart or Target versus some more expensive stores?) I will sometimes buy clothes at Target, rarely at Wal-Mart for me...however, I love their baby clearance sales, and get Nikita cute outfits for $2-3 any time I'm at Wal-Mart :) I love to buy my clothes at TJMaxx...you get nice brand names at very reasonable prices, so that's probably my favorite clothes store...same with shoes...
Soft drinks-we buy soda very rarely anyway, but when we do buy it, we will buy either brand name or generic. I am not horribly opposed to generic if it's cheaper.
Strollers-here I'm a FIRM believer that you do get what you pay for. I have never owned a Graco, but have heard enough stories to never want to waste my money... Actually, to answer this question, all I have to do is write down my list of strollers: Peg Perego Culla, Teutonia Prestige, Jane Slalom (and considering a Peg Perego P3)....need I say more about how I feel? :lol:

[Theresa]

There's very few things that I insist on brand name for: Bounce dryer sheets, Always maxi pads, Folgers coffee, Bush's baked beans, Arm & Hammer or All laundry detergent, Dawn dish soap, and DH insists on only Diet Coke.

Most other things I think the generic is just as good.

[Karri]

I was going to say I bought an equal amount of each until I started making my list of brand stuff and it got to be too big. So I guess I'll go this way...

Groceries that I'll buy that are store brand:
-paper towel, napkins, paper plates
-OTC meds
-milk (there is one store that sells store brand milk that is r-Bgh free)
-block cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese
-butter
-natural apple sauce in gigantor jugs
-apple juice, OJ
-raisins
-pretzels
-brown sugar, vanilla, bulk spices (peppercorns, salt, chili powder, oregano, etc)
-frozen veggies
-sometimes cereals (if I am going to make Chex Mix or Rice Krispie Treats, I will get store brand)

Things I could *never* buy generic are pasta (you get what you pay for), coffee, coffee creamer, kleenex, TP, tampons, soda :errr: (I only drink it once in a blue moon, but I can't imagine drinking "cola" and I imagine my husband would flip a gasket if he didn't have Diet Pepsi),

As far as clothes and shoes go, I have no qualms about buying things from Target. I don't buy my boys shoes from there, but I buy Norah some of her cute fun shoes from there. I have no issue buying myself Target shoes :biggrin:

Strollers....ah yeah....you get whatcha pay for!

[Cami]

I will buy generic/store brand everything except:
toilet paper
laundry detergent
dishwasher detergent
kid yogurt (before we moved they always got the kind with sprinkles)Diet Coke (although now I've bought store brand b/c Coke is really expensive here... but I can't believe I'm doing this)
adult type cereal (store brand for kid cereal)
cookies
I used to be loyal to Pampers but I have found a local store brand that I like just as much. :up:

And I buy lots of clothes at Target, etc.

[Martian Lullaby]

It depends. :lol: I love Advil LiquiGels so I buy those and a big bottle isn't cheap. I also tried going generic for fiber tablets and the Metamucil was so much better (and double the price :eek: but I buy them anyway). We buy name-brand cereal and soda too. For canned goods we buy mostly generic, and about 95% of Maya's wardrobe comes from Target or Wal-Mart. She's just going to get them dirty and then grow out of them, so there's no way I'm spending a lot of money on her clothes. I buy some tops from Wal-Mart and Target but my favorite jeans are from Old Navy or New York & Co. I'm not into spending a lot of money on clothes, though, and I don't want to pay a lot for shoes or purses either, so nothing designer.

No designer diaper bags or strollers either. :lol: We honestly didn't use our stroller that much; since we both work during the week, the only place we'd take Maya was the grocery store and she'd be in the cart for that. And obviously I wouldn't be taking a diaper bag around without the baby.

[~LORI~]

I think I buy more generic than name brand.

For OTC drugs I would always buy brand name, but am starting to buy more generic. For the kids though I want brand name. Don't ask me why...I just do?

For food, I have to have Heinz ketchup, Jiffy peanut butter, Hellman's Mayo, Kraft salad dressings, Prego pasta sauce, and Campbel's Tomato soup. Everything else frozen veggies, paper towles, pop, cereal I buy generic.

Our clothes come from Walmart, Target, or any other store that I can find a good deal or see something I like.

Pop (and yes...that's what I call it :lol: It's the Yankee in me) we buy generic. Every now in then if I find a good deal on Coke or Diet Coke I'll buy it, but it's not too often.

And when it comes to baby gear I'm not too picky. I do my research and find the things I like and don't like and form my own opinions on an item.