I love shopping just like any other girl out there, but I’m never afraid of opting for generic brand items if it means saving me lots of money. While I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of everyday essentials, I’ve found a hefty handful of generic brand items that work just as well as the originals. Now, I’m sharing them with you so you can save some money too! There are many items that you don’t want to scrimp and save on, but the following generic brand items are exactly the same as those trendy yet pricey brand name items. Read on to save money that you can spend on a cute little pair of summer shoes instead of everyday essentials.
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1. Oatmeal
Yep, that’s right, one of the best generic brand items to save money on is your morning bowl of oatmeal! Recently, I did some price comparisons and found that a popular brand name oatmeal was two dollars higher than the generic. I’ve bought both instant and whole oats before in generic and name brand and there is absolutely no difference! Feel free to buy your quick 1 minute cooking oats or old-fashioned whole oats in generic. Unless you have a gluten allergy, in which you’ll need to buy certified gluten-free oats, then there’s no need to spend the extra couple of bucks on your morning breakfast staple.
2. Q-Tips
Feel free to pick up those generic brand cotton swabs instead of the brand name Q-Tips. You don’t really need them! The generic brand is just as effective and almost half price.
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3. Canned Tomatoes
Unless you’re a stickler about buying organic canned tomatoes, feel free to pick up the generic brand instead. You’ll still get the same product and it can even be found in a no salt added form, or with red and green chili peppers added, just like popular name brands.
4. Herbal Tea
I’m a huge herbal tea fan, and luckily, my local supermarket makes a generic brand of green tea and all herbal teas. I buy the generic brand items and save almost a third of the price of popular name brand varieties. While I don’t believe in buying generic on coffee, being able to buy generic brands of tea allows me to spend a little extra on quality coffee.
5. Dryer Sheets
This is one of the best places to save money on generic brand items. Dryer sheets are dryer sheets, okay, girls? You don’t need a fancy brand name to make them work more efficiently. They all do the same job the same way. Problem solved and laundry money saved!
6. Salt and Pepper
Unless you’re set on buying organic seasonings, then feel free to settle on generic brands of salt and pepper. I can assure you, there is no difference in taste, and I actually prefer the generic brands over popular name brands. I do recommend using less salt than pepper though, so you don't send your sodium levels through the roof!
7. Frozen Veggies
I love keeping frozen veggies on hand. They’re great for lazy moments or insanely busy days when you need something quick to use and don’t want to worry about it spoiling before you can use it. Luckily, most generic brand frozen veggies are just as great as brand names unless you want to buy organic. Most also come with a little more product per package, which is always a great thing. Now your meals can be tasty, easy and affordable!
8. Coffee Filters
Since you don’t want to scrimp and save on your coffee, feel free to do so with your coffee filters! Generic brand coffee filters work just as great as name brand, so long as you buy the right shape for your coffee maker, such a cone or basket shaped filter.
9. Toilet Paper
If you’re not super picky about your toilet paper, buy the generic so you can save money. The key to saving, however, is making sure you get the same amount of sheets per roll as the brand name. Many cheap toilet papers contain many less sheets per roll, so always check this first or you’ll spend more money by buying it so often if you run out too soon. There are great generic brands that offer just as many sheets per roll and are around 30% less than store brands.
10. Cotton Balls
I love removing nail polish with cotton balls, yet I’m certainly not going to spend the extra money on the brand name. Just splurge for some nicer nail polish by saving on your cotton balls.
I’m not going to sacrifice quality on my toothpaste, makeup or my favorite brand of almond milk or coffee, but by saving money on these generic brand items, I can afford to buy the brand name items I love. What are your favorite generic brand items to buy?
Comments
hina:
Samantha's: As for the q tip comments I use asda/Walmarts own brand and the cotton has never come off on me I buy Asdas own veggies too
marykaye: I'm sorry the q tips can not be generic!!!! They are just not the same!!
Chiquita:
cadoskey: I don't agree on the generic toilet paper. Usually feels like sandpaper.
Nicolemk: @Jocelyn unless you have allergies to the different fillers they use in the generic brands of bc, I completely agree! Everything on this list however...nope. I can never settle for anything generic except for maybe paper towels.
Courtney: I agree with most of the list except toilet paper. I've tried a couple different generic brands of toilet paper and the quality is so much worse that it's not worth it to me.
Lesley: One should never buy generic tea, if you really drink tea. Generic and all other cheap tea bag tea you can get in a box is bottom of the barrel quality which at that point all the nutrients, antioxidants, and the tea leaf itself is lost. If you think its smart to drink low quality or generic tea, dont even consider drinking tea then, just drink water.
Cindy: I buy generic over the counter medicines, pickles, body wash, milk, but not a lot of these.
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