Target’s great for store-brand paper towels, aspirin, soaps and so on, and it’s a more conscionable alternative to Wal-Mart. Their clearance clothing is often cheap and stylin’ too.
Whole Foods has great store-brand cereals for a buck ninety-nine, and their soy milk is grrrrreat, too. Actually, most all of their store-brand stuff is good and can actually be afforded by hoi polloi.
Did somebody say Trader Joe’s? Man, anything from Trader Joe’s is good. Their big bag of potstickers for $2.59, especially. And now they’ve got white balsamic vinegar – yeow, put it on your greens! But most of all, a huge can of excellent French Roast for $7.69 that lasts three weeks even in my highly-caffeinated house. Thing about TJ’s is, they seem to have described a fifty-mile radius around Providence, and they always set up right outside it.
I tend to get a lot of store-brand stuff wherever I’m shopping; it saves a lot of money, and I’m only rarely disappointed. With the big brands a lot of what you pay for is their advertising budget.
Here in S Florida Albertsons actually has an vodka with Albertson’s name on it. I wonder if it’s the same stuff, but for some reason in your neck of the woods it has the “Six” label. I just looked at the bottle (plastic) in my freezer and saw no “Six” on it.
I prefer Hannaford peanut butter to any other brand including all the big names. Same goes for their french onion dip. Most of their other products are comparable to the name brands and I buy them when they are cheaper, but I would buy their PB and dip even if they cost more.
Thanks for all your responses, everyone! I’ve hesitated to post threads before because I’ve had the feeling that they’d die a quick death. I guess I’ll have to rethink that now.
I forgot to mention that I looovee Dr. Bronner’s Castile soaps! I like the liquid but there’s bars too. They’re a bit hard to find. Your best bet is a health food store but Fred Meyer carries it too. I haven’t seen it at Trader Joe’s though it’s right up their alley.
Dr. Bronner’s is the only liquid soap that doesn’t shred my hands with unnecessary chemicals and perfumes. They use natural oils for a nice smell but the smell doesn’t linger after you’ve washed. Ugh! It may look expensive at first but it dilutes 6-to-1 and a little bottle lasts a long time. Especially if you put it in a used pump bottle like I do.
Plus, the label is packed with interesting reading material. Whether or not you agree with the upbeat spiritual hippie style, the message is a good one.
They sell this group of products in Wal-Mart called “Equate” and it is always next to the brand name. For example there might be some “Nyquil” and next to it will be some “Equate” and on the bottle it would say “Compare to active ingredients in Nyquil”. So the Nyquil might be over 3 dollars nut the “Equate” will be just under 2 dollars. They also have “Equate” for other products such as lotion, acne cream, hand soap, eye drops, shampoo, sleeping pills, etc.
We have really good luck with Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club brands. My husband has several pairs of khaki pants we got at WM for like $9.99 each–he has worn them for going on 3 years and they are in excellent shape even still. He likes them much better than the Eddie Bauer khaki’s I bought for his BD one year. Plus, he has several wonderful cotton polo shirts we bought at Sam’s club that are far better than anything we have bought at mall stores.
I have never been disappointed in an Equate product, which is the Walmart/Sam’s house brand.
Also, Sam’s Club Cheez Puffs are SOOO much better than Cheetos or Cheez Doodles. And are like $1.00 a bag!! (too bad they are not on my Atkins plan…!!)
We don’t have an Albertson’s where we live now, but used to shop at one. I always found Albertson’s brands were better than the name brands on almost everything I ever tried. Bread, canned veggies, olive oil, ice cream…their store brands were excellent.
I’m a big fan of the super-cheapo Wal-Mart toothbrushes- “Dentax” I think. At the rate I go through them, they work just dandy, and don’t cost $3 each. (.80, I think).
Wal-Mart Supertech oil filters are also damned good for the price. According to this website’s forums, they’re basically the same as STP, Deutch and NAPA- they’re all made by Champion Labs. Can’t beat that for $2.
I’ll second the Sam’s Choice flavored water thing. Luuuuurrrrrve them. I also love the Sam’s Choice lime and garlic salsa. Light, spicy, flavorful, but not hot. Yum.
I’ll also second the Rugged Exposure thing. I had a couple of pairs of their boots years ago, and I adored them. However, I haven’t been able to find them since. Payless apparently no longer carries them, and for that my god will strike them down.
Any store brand naproxen or ibuprofen or acetaminophen is great in my book–exact same thing with different inert ingredients, roughly half the price of Alleve or Advil or Tylenol. Same thing for generic pseudoephedrine instead of Sudafed.
Really, there’s only a handful of things we don’t buy the off-brand. Paper towels and toilet paper are well worth the extra money, and Barilla pasta. And cookware.
I always use store brand medicines if they are available. All you have to do is check the active ingredient and the concentration. 99% of the time, they are absolutely, 100% IDENTICAL to the full price brand. They don’t just work the same, they are the exact same drug. So, if they have it, I always buy the store brand and save half the cost.
Publix (a grocery chain in FL) brand Saltine crackers rock your face off. Not sure why, but they just taste better than the Nabisco Original Premium Saltines.
I’d forgotten about those! My roommates and I virtually lived on them in college; our little cube fridge was always full of Black Cherry and White Grape.
