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You’re not a fool. You’ve seen the big stores carry their own line of products, often retailing for less than the familiar brands. But why then do fools always gravitate towards the expensive branded stuff, never even considering the store brands? Foolishness, I tell you, pure foolishness.

My own experience and follies have found that some store brands are excellent substitutes for the name brand products. To be sure, I wouldn’t trust all the store brands though - some taste awful while others smell funny. But a quick ten seconds worth of effort in the shopping aisle can save you $6 - $10 on an average grocery run.

1. Quick! Name the brand of sugar you buy? Okay, try salt. No luck? Chances are you’re just hardwired to pick up the same brand (based on packaging) when a store brand would do just fine. Give it a shot the next time you’re at the store.
2. For food items, compare the ingredients included in the store brand vs. the name brand items. You have to be foolish not to notice the similarities - in fact, in some cases the ingredients are identical.
3. Bend (over) in the aisle: Manufacturers of name brand items pay top dollar for placing their products on store shelves that are at eye-level with the buyer (Marketers have a funny name for it: “product placement”). So, poke around to hunt for the store brand item; it may be on the lowest shelf or hidden away to one side.
4. Don’t be fooled by the packaging: Unless you’re a 4 year old, there’s no reason to be taken in by the flashy name brand packaging - that in part is the reason the name brand costs more. And you’re a fool if that’s the only reason you buy name brand items. Sure the store brand packaging may be dull and boring, but the product is also cheaper. And I’d much rather save a couple of bucks than risk an epileptic attack, thank you very much.

Give the store brands a try, and by all means revert back to your name brands if it doesn’t work for you. In the process you might switch one or two purchases to store brands saving oodles of cash in the long run (OK, at least enough to pay for the terrible $3.50 latte habit).

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