Coffee -usually Millstone whole bean, if I don’t pick some up at the coffee roaster’s
Tea -Twinings, Stash or something from the tea shop for hot tea, Luzianne for iced
Diet cola -Coke Zero. Once in a while, a diet Pepsi, if it’s fountain, but if neither is an option, it’s water or iced tea
Canned beans - Bush’s
Canned tomatoes - Red Gold
There are name brands that I stick to with my hobbies, but that’s probably too nerdy even on the Dope. Otherwise, I have no problem with store brands for most things.
Oh, yeah. No doubt. Any other brand just needs a whole crap-load of doctoring before they’re acceptable, at which point you may as well just make them from scratch.
Now, see, canned tomatoes I just don’t care about. Any canned tomato product I’m looking for, if it’s crushed, whole, sauce, paste, whatever, brand has no bearing. It’s a price-only choice (well, coupled with if that brand has what I’m looking for; like, DelMonte makes a line of pre-seasoned ones that I like for making pasta sauce).
Ice cream. It doesn’t have to be a specific brand just not one of the generic store brands.
Cream cheese. Philadelphia only.
Pens. Pilot G2’s only.
Razors. Schick.
I almost never buy the generic version of anything. I spend so little of my income on household products that it wouldn’t amount to a meaningful savings, and I like to know what I’m getting.
Tell her to stock up if she finds them-- J&J has had continuing problems supplying it to stores, and shipments are sporadic. The Ultra version of OB is permanently discontinued, too.
Me-toos on:
Diet colas. I’ll drink Diet Coke, Tab, Pepsi Max (but not Diet Pepsi), and Diet RC. No store brands, no second-tier brands.
BiC mechanical pencils. I’d have not thought of this one if I hadn’t seen it listed by Swords to Plowshares. There is something wrong with the feel of the lead in a lot of other brands and generics (RoseArts being the worst), and the lead-gripping mechanism in other brands also seems to not work well. The lead shouldn’t easily slide back into the barrel simply from the pressure of writing.
New York Times/Will Shortz, and Games Magazine crosswords and puzzles. I do the ones in the local papers when otherwise idle, but if I’m going to buy a puzzle magazine, it had better be one of the Games Magazine family; if I buy a book, it has to be NYT/Shortz or Games-branded.
Toyota cars: saved my life once, so I’m rather nostalgic of them. I’m on my 3rd now.
Viewsonic monitors: I still miss my old 17" CRT. I bought 2 so far, 2nd one (22.5" widescreen) is still working fine after around 6 years. I want to attach a handle to the back and take it to work.
Duracell rechargeable batteries: they cost a little more (maybe $4-6 each) but my gross savings so far is well over $400.
Dockers khaki pants: lasts forever. Compared to other pants I have, the Dockers usually last like 10X longer, and I have some now that are around 10 years old that I could still wear but are a little worn around the edges. Shorts are really good quality too.
laundry detergent and stain treatments (Tide and Shout)
aluminum foil (Reynolds) but oddly enough we’ve never had a problem with plastic wrap
carpet/pet smell/litter deoderizers (god bless Arm and Hammer)
dishsoap (Lemon Joy) We get generic for the dishwasher, but I can’t stand the smell/feel of most liquid dishsoaps… oddly enough, generic lemony *handsoap *is usually fine…
mayo (Dukes) I’m from the south, it’s practically a requirement
soft drinks (Coca Cola) ditto the above, and none of this Zero or Diet or caffeine-free shit. If I’m drinking coke, it’s FOR the sugar and the caffeine. Although I don’t dislike Pepsi, I never buy it myself.
cotton swabs (Q-tips all the way) those things go in my eyes and ears regularly (makeup applied and removed), and other ones HURT - not squashy enough.
cocktail smokies (Hillshire Farms beef) For some unknown reason, all the other brands I’ve tried and all the other Hillshire Farms variations make me quite sick to my stomach. Very weird. No other meat type stuff bothers me like that.
Other than those, we’re a pretty generic household. Lots of things we’ve started to try generic in the hopes that we don’t notice - sometimes we do, but most of the time we don’t. Makes it a little easier to save money on things.
I like odd or unusual brands. We have a store that gets shipments from all over. Buy it once and never see the product again. I Just bought a tube of mayo with out a lick of English on it. I think it is Mayo? I actually avoid namebrands. I am not anti-big business I just find them a bit boring. I like an interesting language or unusual graphic or some other oddity. It makes my cabinet and shelving intesting. The big splashy bold graphic design of brand name American products are garish and distracting, not enhancing to my life and cabin.
There are some local products I stick to. That is essentially name brand shopping. I dont like generics. Just bands I have never or most people rarely see.
Oh, btw: you guys all know that Costco (Kirkland) and Sam’s Club (who knows/cares) re-brand popular items? Kirkland laundry soap, for example, is actually Tide.
I mention in this post from a different thread earlier today that I never care about the brand name, and usually just buy the cheapest, but for sandwich spread, I will only buy Kraft. It seems only Kraft and Heinz makes it (and both are very rare to find on the shelves), but Kraft’s is the nectar of the gods, while Heinz’s is utterly vile.
For pens, the Pilot Vball liquid ink roller, Extra Fine. I haven’t seen these in a store in over a decade, but I can still order them online. Only the black ones, though. The colors have a slightly thicker ink that leads to a less satisfying writing experience.
Tater Tots. The ‘real’ tater tots, the look-alikes and generics stay, I dunno, grainy, when you chew them. … Lay’s Potato Chips, any flavor, because they’re nice and thin and there are a lot of folded-over ones in the bag. … Dannon fruit on the bottom yogurt. Other kinds are chalky, pasty, or have that nasty artificial sweetener taste. … Hoffman’s franks and cooneys, in natural casings (natural casing hot dogs are in most delis and butcher shops, everywhere. Hoffmans is the brand found here) - if unavailable, I’ll look for Nathans, Hebrew National, or Sabrett’s. Anything else is suitable only for filling up the stomaches of 10 year olds.
Otherwise, I have no problem with store brands for most things.