My husband and I gave a budgeting/saving presentation a few months ago. One of the moms asked me a great question. “Don’t you think it is cheaper to buy generic than to use coupons on brand name?” My answer to her was, not always!
Is Buying Generic Cheaper? Not Always.
Often times you can get great sale + coupon match-ups that make brand name products the same price or even less than the store brand generic. For a great example, consider the Giant Eagle Stock Up on Cereal Sale. Taking advantage of sale prices, doubled coupons and the fuelperks savings, I was able to get 16 boxes of name brand cereal for $0.48 a box!
I can’t imagine that you could find store brand for that low! Sure it takes a little more “work” to get this price, but I think it is worth it (my family goes through a box of cereal every 2 days!). And according to Time, soon it might be even harder to find rock bottom store brand pricing:
According to the Wall Street Journal, stores have raised the prices of private-label nonperishable food by 5.3%, compared to a 1.9% increase for goods made by national brands. Store-brand versions of perishable goods rose in price by 12%, compared to 8% for name brands. Although generics still cost an average of 29% less than name brands, stores are closing that gap quickly.
What are your thoughts on this question? I know some families actually prefer store brand on certain items. And obviously, some store brands can be less expensive (Aldi is a great example of this). I think this is an example of a “bargain hunting” misconception, and with a little knowledge, opinions on the topic might change.
Thanks for the inspiration Carrie!
Leave a Reply