I came across this article today about saving money on
groceries by purchasing store brands.
According to the article, switching from name brands to store brands can
save you about 25 percent. The article
does go on to state that not all store brands taste the same as name brands,
and that the nutrition content may be different.
Personally, I believe that buying store brands only saves
money if the store brand is something you will actually use. Here are some tips I’ve picked up along my quest
to reduce our grocery budget:
- Store brand ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, spices, etc)
seem to be more similar to name brands.
We’ve never noticed a difference in using these store brand ingredients
instead of name brands in cooking and baking.
- Store brand prepared foods seem to taste very different than
their name brand counterparts. We notice
the biggest difference in things like pasta sauce and canned soup. It doesn’t save money to buy “cheaper” jars
of pasta sauce we’re never going to eat.
We are better off to wait for sales on the brands we like.
- Vegetables seem to be equally as good when purchased as a
store brand instead of a name brand. We
buy a lot of frozen spinach and canned beans, usually store brands, and have
never noticed a difference. This is
especially true if they’re going in a casserole, soup, or chili.
- If you have skin allergies or sensitive skin laundry
detergent is not something to try to save money on by experimenting with
different brands! I have very sensitive
skin and most laundry detergents turn me into a miserably itchy walking rash,
sometimes leading to a doctor’s visit for a steroid shot. In addition to making me miserable, that
costs a lot more money in the long run.
I have learned to just stick with the three brands of laundry detergent
that I know won’t trigger a bad reaction.
I try to save money by stocking up on them when they’re on sale, not by
buying “cheaper” alternatives.
- Once in a while some grocery stores will run a “buy theirs
try ours free” special where you receive the store brand version of certain
items free when you buy the name brand.
This is an excellent, risk free, opportunity to try the store brand and
determine what you like and don’t like. You
can find out about promotions like this by signing up for the store’s
emails.
- Don’t underestimate the value of shopping sales and using
coupons. We’re fortunate enough to live
close to several different grocery stores, so I always check the sale ads to
see who has what on sale before we go shopping and only get what is the best
deal at each store. Many times the sale
price on a name brand is cheaper than the store brand. Name brands also have coupons sometimes, which
just add to the savings. Watch for
in-store promotions where buying a certain number of items from the same brand
will take money off of your total bill.
I love to use this when I can match coupons to the items that are on
sale. They usually work out to be
anywhere from about 75 percent off to free.
I also try to stock up on things we use a lot when they’re
on a really good sale. Most grocery
stores seem to have about a six week sale cycle, so I try to buy about six
week’s worth of items we use a lot of while they’re on sale instead of paying
full price for them later on.
Shopping this way has resulted in a few amazingly cheap
shopping trips. My best to date has been
$125.00 worth of groceries for $25.00. I
wish I could tell you this happens every week, but it doesn’t. Shopping this way on an average grocery trip
usually saves us between 40 and 60 percent, which is still good enough to make
me really happy.