Lets talk generic

Sorry I have been MIA lately. Luke has decided to crawl and I can't keep up with him. But it's wonderful.

Generic......
What does generic mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary generic means:

relating to or characteristic of a whole group or class : general b: being or having a non-proprietary name <generic drugs> c: having no particularly distinctive quality or application <generic restaurants>

OK.......to me it means savings!

Generic brands have saved our budget. I try to buy generic as much as I can from food, prescription drugs, cleaning supplies and baby products.

There are some name brand products that I am brand loyal to - Pampers diapers and Kraft American Cheese Singles 2% or example. You don't have to buy everything generic especially if you see a difference.

My favorite generic brands:

Roundy's
Every time I go grocery shopping I find another food product made by Roundy's. They even make organic products. If I have coupons for brand products I have noticed that the Roundy's product still seems less expensive. There are some products that I buy brand over Roundy's. One example is Kraft American Cheese. If I would suck it up and buy Roundy's American Cheese over Kraft I would save over $2 a package. Other Roundy items that I buy:

• Olive Oil
• Canned olives
• Butter
• Cereal
• Tuna
• Lunch Meat
• Tortilla Shells
• Shredded Cheese
• Milk
• Eggs
• English Muffins
• Sour Cream
• Cottage Cheese

My understanding is that Roundy's is sold specifically at Pick 'N Save stores. But I know other grocery stores have their own generic brand. For example Piggly Wiggly's generic brand is Food Club.

Target
I save $120 a month on baby formula. I buy the Target brand versus Enfamil. I asked my Doctor about the difference and the important ingredients that make the product are the same. $120 a month is a lot of money. Another major price difference - gas drops for infants. Some of the brand names are as high as $8, the Target brand is about $3.50. Other Target items that I buy and save a significant amount of money:

• Mouthwash
• Vitamins
• Ibuprofen
• Allergy medicine (Same ingredients as Claritin)
• Allergy eye drops
  
• Cleaning supplies
• Kleenex
• Paper Towels
• Coffee Filters
• Garbage bags, sandwich bags, tin foil and plastic wrap
  
• Food

Take advantage of your store's discount cards
This seemed obvious to me but I was surprised to find out how many people do not sign up and get their grocery store's discount cards. It's free and it's easy! I save an average of $15 per grocery shopping trip when I use my card. This is not counting the money I save buying generic.

Happy Shopping!