Being frugal as I am, I nearly always choose store brand products (foods, cleaning products, OTC meds, etc.) over brand names to save a little money. After all, they’re pretty much the same thing but without the advertising expense, right? (even made by the same manufacturers in many cases) A major exception I have encountered tho’ is paper products like paper towels and facial tissues. The generics and off brands are so lousy nowadays that I am having to stick with the Puffs and Bountys of the world. Coffee may be the only food product for which I have to stick with name brands like Seattle’s Best or Dunkin Donuts to be assured of a certain level of quality. What name brand products do you buy because there is no suitable alternative?
Wheelchairs.
Garbage bags. Normally I adore Publix’s generics but a garbage bag that rips is a terrible thing indeed.
Generic foil is crap, I suspect generic plastic wrap is as well. And there are some cleaning products I have found where the generic doesn’t match up well.
Excedrin
Tampons (o.b.)
Reynolds aluminum foil
I have been buying the store brand of Fruit&Nut Granola Bar: having tried the name brand of the same thing, I found it to be too dense and just not all that pleasant. Maybe I am being stiffed by the store brand, but I just like it better, probably because I am accustomed to it.
I have found some store brands as good as the brand names but you have to check the thickness listed on the box.
Q-Tips - I haven’t found another brand that doesn’t bend in half at the least provocation.
I use a Philips Sonicare Toothbrush. A few months ago I needed some new heads for it. The replacement heads run about $12-$15 a piece. Target had Up and Up brand generics for about $4 or so (or rather a 5 pack for $20). I’ve never had an issue with Up and Up brand products so I grabbed those. Wow, what garbage. They didn’t screw on properly and they vibrated so loudly I though I was going to wake the neighbors. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but I really didn’t think I was going to wake my daughter it was so loud. I used it for about a week. Check Target’s website for reviews and saw that everyone else was complaining about the same thing, tossed them and bought the real ones on Amazon.
I’ve heard that Up and Up’s version of Clear Care has a problem where the holder falls apart pretty quickly.
That reminds me of another one. I was having a lot of problem with my contacts when I went to the eye doctor they asked what kind of saline solution I was using. I told them that years ago I used Opti-Free but now I just use the cheapest generic stuff I can find. Really, it’s all just salt water right? Wrong. Apparently, There’s Opti-Free, a few other brands and Renu. All the generic stuff is relabeled Renu and Renu/generic stuff isn’t (as) compatible with my contacts…so no more generic saline. In fact, that’s when I switched to Clear Care. Which, BTW, I like a ton better anyways.
Also, cigarettes. If there were generic cigarettes, I probably wouldn’t smoke them. But most smokers will tell you they’ll go to the next store/gas station if that one is out of their brand.
Zamboni’s, the knock-off’s are crap.
Coke is the only thing I’m non-negotiable on. I will not drink Pepsi, RC Cola, store brand cola, or anything else. If Coke is not available, I’m drinking tap water.
I have other items where I strongly prefer certain brands (Tostitos chips, Advil, Hellmann’s mayo, Colgate toothpaste) but will accept substitutes if there’s no way to get anything else.
My mother, who was a cook, taught me that when it comes to shortening, it’s gotta be Crisco, anything else will screw up the recipe.
I also refuse to use anything but Hellmann’s mayo. Nothing else tastes right.
For the most part though I’m NOT brand loyal in the least, it’s all about the price.
Q-Tips. Others bend, cotton pulls out, or there’s not enough cotton.
8 o’Clock Coffee. No Folgers, Maxwell or any of the others. I won’t even drink coffee in a Restaurant, unless it’s Frisch’s, and they serve John Conti. I’ll drink it at a coffeehouse, because it is even better, but not McDonald’s or some other such eatery.
Soda. Needs to be name brand, whether it be Coke, Pepsi or RC. No Sam’s or Big K.
Macaroni & Cheese has gotta be Kraft’s. Store brand’s orange powder is noticeably different.
Mentadent toothpaste. Everything else is crap.
Irish Spring bar soap with aloe. Everything else is crap.
Ajax Dish Detergent. Orange only. It works, and can always be used to kill fleas on a dog (orange only), if I happen to be out of flea shampoo.
Camel Cigarettes. Everything else tastes like crap.
Scotch. (Black & White preferred, or better). They’ve not made a decent fifth of Scotch for under $20 yet.
Brand name paper towels are also a good investment. Bounty has been the usual purchase as of late, you’re not saving anything when you buy the ones that cost $2 less and you have to use twice as many.
Charmin toilet paper. Who wants to wind up with shit finger or wipe with a cob?
And there’s more, I’m sure. I tried to buy some cold cream last week, I really wanted Pond’s (for sentimental childhood reasons), but found it cost in excess of twice as much as Jergen’s “Face Cream.” They smell pretty much the same, but Jergen’s is pink instead of white. What the hell?
I’ve worn the el cheapo contacts ever since I was 14 (just turned 30). Same brand, Ultra Flex. I’ve had to go to a couple of different doctors since the first (now I’m back at the first), and I have been given numerous new and improved brands on a trial basis. They all suck, and are as expensive as hell. I never had the discomfort I get with the new costly ones, even when I was new to contacts. For some reason, the old cheapies fit me like a glove. I’m always surprised that they don’t discontinue them. Haven’t encountered any problems with saline, I can use anything they make, it seems.
As for generic cigarettes, my god, they do make them. They’re horrible. Every now and then, someone will bum a smoke from me, and tell me they’ll give me one of theirs. I tell them to forget it, after asking what they smoke. Had someone yesterday promise to give me a Marlboro Light after bumming a Camel Full Flavor, and I told them to forget it, I can breathe free air anytime. Not that a Marlboro is generic, but I’m very picky about my tobacco and can only appreciate a few brands. Camel, Vantage and Lucky Strike are good. Marlboro Red is tasty every now and then. But for every pack that comes in at about $2 less than Camel, forget it. Smokers say those are made from the stuff they sweep up off the stripping room floor.
At my last job, I had a guy tell me his last job was at a place that recycled cigarette butts. He claimed they scrapped tobacco stalks and smoked cigarette butts, grinding the remaining tobacco out and made some sort of product that they shipped to Africa. I could barely believe him, but he claimed to have been employed by such a company. I have no idea what really goes on in this town.
All I wanted was a pepsi, just one pepsi, and she wouldn’t give it to me.
Fruit juice, house brands are just sweet water. Mac & Cheese and soft drinks.
My contacts are made with (out of?) Hydrogel. Apparently Hydrogel doesn’t quite jive with cheap saline. Doing a little bit of research, I found there was a difference between cheap saline and expensive stuff. Either way, I switched to Clear Care and have no intention of going back. In fact, I’m thinking about going back to cheaper contacts. I have Focus Night and Days and stopped wearing my lenses over nigh a few years ago. I’ll probably just keep a couple sets in case I need them and go back to Acuvue 2s. Much cheaper.
One thing that’s nice about smoking Marlboro Red’s is that if someone asks to bum one they almost always say ‘nevermind’ when they see the pack come out of my pocket. Very few people can ‘handle’ a Red. I hear Newport smokers get the same response. OTOH, I rarely bother bumming a cigarette from someone smoking anything lighter then a Parliment. I, honestly, can’t tell if a Marlboro Ultralight is even lit.
During my “let’s try every single different kind of cigarette I can get my hands on” phase. I found the the cheap cigarettes burned really fast. The stuff that was half the price of the Marlboros (or less) could be smoked in a minute or so instead of 4 or 5 minutes.
The only cheap cigarette I ever found that was good and burned slowly was Sport Cigarettes.
Several of the posters have missed that the OP asked for “Brand Name” vs “Store Brand,” not “Brand Name” vs “Brand Name”. Take your Coke v Pepsi or Camel v Marlboro posts elsewhere, please.
To answer the OP, it’s difficult to say, really. With the two major grocers here (HyVee and Dillons [Kroger]) now putting out some really good stuff under their own labels, there’s not much. The only thing that comes immediately to mind is toilet paper. I don’t really mind using four Private Selection paper towels instead of one Brawny, but I’ll be damned if I’m using sandpaper on my bunghole.
SORRY! I thought I provided enough germane meat in my post in order to qualify for a free terrible tobacco tangent. My god, it started out with the cheapo cigs and I pulled a little personal anecedote about tobacco. It may have involved Marlboro, but could’ve easily been about ‘Crowns’ or ‘Pyramids.’ Now, I do admit, we have to do something about that Coke vs. Pepsi bastard. We can’t stand for that.
I couldn’t think of anything until the Q-tips were mentioned. It’s true, others I’ve tried all do weird things and I do go for the brand name after just a couple failures. I would buy store brand canned cat food, but one of the monsters needs prescription food and it’s easier just to feed it to all of them though it’s expensive.