Frugal living tip: Store brands can save you a bundle

September 12, 2009 – 11:26 am – No Comment

Frugal living should be a part of everyone’s life. While it might not be as important to some as it is to me, I think that living frugal now could be the key to financial success in the future.

I read a story around a week ago that said by the time I am able to retire, there won’t be any Medicare or Social Security left in the fund the government has set aside. Because of this, I am so glad that I have been able to pinch and save every penny I can. That way, by the time I am ready to retire, I might have enough money to do so comfortably.

I hope during my time at the Lucrative Investor I can help share some of my tips with readers about how I live frugally and save anywhere I can.

Here’s my first tip:

Store brands can save you a bundle.

I know what you all are probably thinking, “Of course store brands will save me some money, but they taste awful.”

Well, you couldn’t be more wrong.

Before we had kids, my husband, Bryce, and I would spend (probably too much) money on name brand items. We always bought Heinz ketchup, Kraft American cheese, Turner milk, Coca-cola soft drinks, etc… But once the kids came along, we knew that something had to be done to curb our spending habits.

Coupon clipping was the norm (and still is for us), but there would be times when we needed something like ketchup when we wouldn’t have a coupon for it. That’s when we started buying store brand ketchup. While we may prefer one store brand over another, in many cases the generics taste similar or identical to the name brand item.

As soon as we started buying the store brands along with the coupon clipping for the name brands, there was a noticeable drop in how much we were spending a month in groceries. We were also still able to feed the kids all the same foods without any fussing. There was at least one month when we were able to save nearly $150 on groceries versus the month prior.

Here’s a trick when it comes to picky kids: Buy a box of their favorite cereal, but find a store brand that is the same “flavor.” When the box is empty of the name brand cereal, fill it up with the store brand cereal and they won’t ever notice the change. The trick can be used for a number of things (and ladies, husbands can be tricked this way also).

If you are still skeptical about name brands because of a stigma you might have acquired over the years, give them a try at least once. The best part is, some grocery stores offer a money back guarantee if you don’t like their brand over the national name brand item.