Grocery Shopping on a Budget: 5 Items to Always Buy Generic

By Kristina M., published Jan 09, 2008
Published Content: 35  Total Views: 37,982  Favorited By: 16 CPs
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Every grocery store and supercenter offers a generic version of most products, but it can be hard to know which ones are worth the price difference. As a single-income family, we live on a tight budget and that includes our groceries. We have been experimenting for quite a while with which items have the greatest value for the dollar. Here are five items that in my opinion everyone on a budget should be buying generic.

Cereal: The average box of name brand cereal can cost anywhere from $3-$5 and it seems like the boxes get smaller every day! Cereal is a great breakfast for families, but these prices can be prohibitive. However, with the exception of only a very few "high end" cereals you can find a generic version of almost any cereal. The price for these generic cereals can go down to often under $2 for the same size box and we could not find any difference in flavor when we tried many different kinds. The bottom line here is that there is no noticeable difference in taste and saving between $1-$3 a box will add up to quite a bit of savings for a year for your family. It's a win-win.

Over-the-counter medicine: Many people ask for generic prescriptions, but forget that there are generic brands available for their over-the-counter needs as well. The cost difference here is larger than for almost any other items we have found (sometimes over $5), however there is no difference in the actual product. We have checked and re-checked labels and they are identical and we have not seen any difference in the results from taking these medicines. I definitely recommend that anyone on a budget start buying store brand medicines because the cost savings is huge!

Takeaways
  • Most stores offer generic versions of almost every product.
  • While some products do have a difference in taste, many are just as good as the name brands.
  • Buying generic can save the average family hundreds of dollars in their grocery budget.
Did You Know?
Our grocery budget dropped by around $50 or more a month once we started trying generics and we saved even more during the time when our daughter was using formula.
Comments
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Always good to know! Thanks.

Posted on 03/01/2008 at 3:03:11 AM

 
You know, there's some strange stigma about buying generic. But the ingredients are nearly always identical...great tips. Nice to know there are others out there who aren't brand-sensitive...haha!

Posted on 02/13/2008 at 7:02:52 AM

 
Good tips.

Posted on 02/05/2008 at 6:02:19 AM

 
Great Article, Good topic, I already use these ideas when shopping myself, but I am sure there are many out there who don't..

Posted on 01/28/2008 at 10:01:04 AM

 
I always buy the generic cereal and medicine- haven't tried the others, though. I'm past the baby formula stage, anyway! :-)

Posted on 01/22/2008 at 3:01:04 PM

 
Great article, Kristina. My husband and I are frugal shoppers and we always compare prices and usually opt for generic brands. Sophie

Posted on 01/22/2008 at 2:01:27 PM

 
Great suggestions.

Posted on 01/15/2008 at 5:01:25 AM

 
Great money saving ideas!

Posted on 01/14/2008 at 10:01:23 AM

 
Very good practical suggestions. Take it one step further, the money saved can then be placed in to a mutual fund - even a conservative one - or a simple savings account at the bank for future expenses or treats or gifts. We use coupons, too, and save 20% to 40% on most of our grocery bills.

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 2:01:44 PM

 
These are great suggestions. I'm a frugal person myself, so love money saving tips! You might enjoy reading my article comparing the Grocery Game and Coupon Mom. Both sites help people save money when grocery shopping, so they might be worth taking a look at to see if they will help with your overall grocery budget.

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 7:01:23 AM

 
Sounds reasonable to me, great job!

Posted on 01/10/2008 at 2:01:46 PM

 
Interesting and well written. My husband would agree on all of them, although I can't go without my name brand cereal...no idea why!

Posted on 01/10/2008 at 5:01:21 AM

 
Great information - I couldn't agree more, especially about cereal!

Posted on 01/09/2008 at 9:01:20 PM

 
Great suggestions. Now if only the price of milk would go down.

Posted on 01/09/2008 at 9:01:39 PM

 
Thanks! It just baffles my mind that we used to pay so much more for the same products just because we were used to buying a certain brand.

Posted on 01/09/2008 at 2:01:06 PM

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