Groceries- Do you buy the generic?

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wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

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17,977 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:17 PM
I decided to go grocery shopping with my grandma the other day. She could not believe that I buy the "name brands" on everything. After 10 mins or so of lectures, she talked me into buying the store brand generics for a few things.

Do you buy generics? What will/won't you buy that is generic?
Apr 19, 2010 4:17pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:20 PM
I don't mind buying generic but there are somethings you just can't go cheap on, for example Mac N Cheese, no way do I buy the store brand shit, taste like it too!!!
Apr 19, 2010 4:20pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

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Apr 19, 2010 4:20 PM
Whatever is cheaper. Kroger store brands are just as good as the "name" brand stuff.
Apr 19, 2010 4:20pm
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

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18,820 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:20 PM
I get generic brands for a lot of things.

Off the top of my head, I pretty much always go brand name for bread and frozen pizza, but with most items, I pretty much go generic unless the brand name is on sale. Like, if I'm eating pizza rolls, does it really matter if they're Totinos or Kroger-brand? No. Because if I'm eating pizza rolls, I'm probably drunk and don't give a damn.
Apr 19, 2010 4:20pm
ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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12,319 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:22 PM
I go generic on a lot of things, but some of the generic brands of some stuff is disgusting and I go name brand. I have to buy Coca-Cola (or Pepsi Max if it's on sale), we're not doing Kroger cola. I have other examples but it's hard to say without being at the store and buying shit to analyze myself.
Also, if name brand is on sale, I'll go with it.

I would say that 90% of the shit is Kroger Value or Great Value, though.
Apr 19, 2010 4:22pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:23 PM
She talked me into trash bags.....what a disaster!!! These things suck balls(not literally). I did buy store brand canned veggies, they are exactly the same.
Apr 19, 2010 4:23pm
THE4RINGZ's avatar

THE4RINGZ

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16,816 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:25 PM
I buy a lot of Wal Mart generics. I don't buy generic ketchup only Heinz.
Apr 19, 2010 4:25pm
gorocks99's avatar

gorocks99

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10,760 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:26 PM
I buy some of the 365 Everyday Value generics they have at Whole Foods; but, then again, most of the stuff there isn't necessarily "name brand"
Apr 19, 2010 4:26pm
ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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12,319 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:26 PM
wes_mantooth wrote: She talked me into trash bags.....what a disaster!!! These things suck balls(not literally). I did buy store brand canned veggies, they are exactly the same.
Best trash bag for the value out there is at Aldi. 56 pack for like 6.50 and they are strong as fuck. Walmart's suck ass.
Apr 19, 2010 4:26pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

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Apr 19, 2010 4:26 PM
haha...it was Walmart's that I bought.
Apr 19, 2010 4:26pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

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8,500 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:28 PM
Dude, they're trash bags. As in filled with trash. As long as they hold up until I put them into the can outside, I don't care.
Apr 19, 2010 4:28pm
ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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12,319 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:28 PM
THE4RINGZ wrote: I buy a lot of Wal Mart generics. I don't buy generic ketchup only Heinz.
When I was in HS, or maybe home from college one summer) we bought generic ketchup at Aldi once and my dad flipped because it wasn't Heinz.

To prove a point, I proceeded to fill an empty Heinz bottle with said Aldi (Kyder was the brand name on it) ketchup the next time, actually did it for a few bottle's worth... never said a word because it's all on your head. Sure, Hunts ketchup tastes like balls, but there are good cheap brands out there.

A few months later he went on a name brand rant over another thing where you honestly cannot tell, and I told him what ketchup he had been eating for about the past 4 months, he shut up pretty fast, haha.
Apr 19, 2010 4:28pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

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Apr 19, 2010 4:30 PM
ts1227 wrote:
THE4RINGZ wrote: I buy a lot of Wal Mart generics. I don't buy generic ketchup only Heinz.
We bought generic ketchup once and my dad flipped.

I proceeded to fill an empty Heinz bottle with Aldi (Kyder was the brand name on it) ketchup the next time, actually did it for a few bottle's worth... never said a word because it's all on your head. Sure, Hunts ketchup tastes like balls, but there are good cheap brands out there.
+1. A lot of the stuff is beaten into us through advertising and growing up. I'd put Kroger brands up there in a blind taste test and bet the vast majority of people couldn't tell a difference.
Apr 19, 2010 4:30pm
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

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18,820 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:30 PM
ts1227 wrote: I go generic on a lot of things, but some of the generic brands of some stuff is disgusting and I go name brand. I have to buy Coca-Cola (or Pepsi Max if it's on sale), we're not doing Kroger cola. I have other examples but it's hard to say without being at the store and buying shit to analyze myself.
Also, if name brand is on sale, I'll go with it.

I would say that 90% of the shit is Kroger Value or Great Value, though.
If there's one thing I won't touch, it's the really cheap-ass Kroger value (like the lunch meat that comes in the really plain white packaging) stuff. That is pure shit. Not good to begin with and it seems to go bad REALLY quickly. At least a pack of meat I got did. Kroger cola doesn't bother me, but that's because 95 percent of my cola drinking is mixed with booze, so I go for quantity over quality (and some versions of Big K shit go well with rum). But I'd never exclusively buy generic cola if I was buying it for non-drink mixing purposes.
Apr 19, 2010 4:30pm
S

Sonofanump

Apr 19, 2010 4:31 PM
I can not buy cheap pasta sauce, beyond that I'll by generic/store brand.

Why would you buy canned veggies? I can only eat frozen/steamed or fresh.
Apr 19, 2010 4:31pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

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16,351 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:31 PM
I'm a cheap ass and buy just about everything generic
Apr 19, 2010 4:31pm
D

dave

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4,558 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:31 PM
I get mostly kroger brand stuff but like all of you there are several things you can't do generic.

A few include peanut butter, mac n cheese, salsa, frozen waffles, TP.
Apr 19, 2010 4:31pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:31 PM
tk421 wrote: Dude, they're trash bags. As in filled with trash. As long as they hold up until I put them into the can outside, I don't care.
That is the problem.....they don't.
Apr 19, 2010 4:31pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:32 PM
Heretic wrote:
ts1227 wrote: I go generic on a lot of things, but some of the generic brands of some stuff is disgusting and I go name brand. I have to buy Coca-Cola (or Pepsi Max if it's on sale), we're not doing Kroger cola. I have other examples but it's hard to say without being at the store and buying shit to analyze myself.
Also, if name brand is on sale, I'll go with it.

I would say that 90% of the shit is Kroger Value or Great Value, though.
If there's one thing I won't touch, it's the really cheap-ass Kroger value (like the lunch meat that comes in the really plain white packaging) stuff. That is pure shit. Not good to begin with and it seems to go bad REALLY quickly. At least a pack of meat I got did. Kroger cola doesn't bother me, but that's because 95 percent of my cola drinking is mixed with booze, so I go for quantity over quality (and some versions of Big K shit go well with rum). But I'd never exclusively buy generic cola if I was buying it for non-drink mixing purposes.
I'll agree with that one. The super cheap Kroger prepackaged lunch "meat" isn't good at all.
Apr 19, 2010 4:32pm
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

Son of the Sun

18,820 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:32 PM
ts1227 wrote:
THE4RINGZ wrote: I buy a lot of Wal Mart generics. I don't buy generic ketchup only Heinz.
When I was in HS, or maybe home from college one summer) we bought generic ketchup at Aldi once and my dad flipped because it wasn't Heinz.

To prove a point, I proceeded to fill an empty Heinz bottle with said Aldi (Kyder was the brand name on it) ketchup the next time, actually did it for a few bottle's worth... never said a word because it's all on your head. Sure, Hunts ketchup tastes like balls, but there are good cheap brands out there.

A few months later he went on a name brand rant over another thing where you honestly cannot tell, and I told him what ketchup he had been eating for about the past 4 months, he shut up pretty fast, haha....but then removed me from his will the next day.
Fix'd. Groceries are SERIOUS BUSINESS.
Apr 19, 2010 4:32pm
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:33 PM
Sonofanump wrote: I can not buy cheap pasta sauce, beyond that I'll by generic/store brand.

Why would you buy canned veggies? I can only eat frozen/steamed or fresh.
I don't usually(I buy those steam bags), but I am making a casserole for a draft party on Thursday.
Apr 19, 2010 4:33pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

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Apr 19, 2010 4:33 PM
wes_mantooth wrote:
tk421 wrote: Dude, they're trash bags. As in filled with trash. As long as they hold up until I put them into the can outside, I don't care.
That is the problem.....they don't.
What are you doing, filling them up to the brim until they weigh 50 pounds? I've never had a problem with any trash bags from anywhere.
Apr 19, 2010 4:33pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Apr 19, 2010 4:34 PM
tk421 wrote: Dude, they're trash bags. As in filled with trash. As long as they hold up until I put them into the can outside, I don't care.
I disagree, I need to buy strong trash bags as mine is picked up at my door 5 days a week. I need to make sure its strong enough to go from my house to the holder ouside which is fixed to the concret, then the trash collectors pull it from the fixed holder and walk it down the walkway from my front door to the parking lot. I don't want garbage juice leaking all over my walkway!!
Apr 19, 2010 4:34pm
ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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Apr 19, 2010 4:34 PM
Beer bottles do a number on shitty trash bags, especially if you drink like a case.
Apr 19, 2010 4:34pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

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Apr 19, 2010 4:35 PM
You should be recycling that glass. :P
Apr 19, 2010 4:35pm