May 9, 2007 9:06 pm US/Eastern
Saving Big Bucks With Generic Brand Groceries
by Paula Ebben
(WBZ)
Buying groceries is one of your biggest expenses. So how about a simple strategy to get that cost down? Going generic could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the course of a year.
Simple salt -- can you tell the difference between brands?
Even if you can't, the register certainly can.
As prices climb, buying generics or store brands is getting more popular. The secret is knowing what to buy.
"Where it's just a single ingredient item, there is no difference other than the price," said consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky.
Edgar says that means the staples, like sugar, salt, bleach to name a few.
Buy the cheaper version and you won't even notice a difference.
In our small shopping excursion, the generics totaled $21, compared to more than $33 for the name brands
"Begin to multipy the savings, how many items do you buy every week and how many weeks a year do you go shopping, you are talking about hundreds if not thousands of dollars saved," said Edgar.
We decided to make oatmeal raisin cookies, one batch with all name brand ingredients, the other the other with generics.
When we made our cookies, the name brands ended up costing us a third more, but the real test is in the taste.
So we brought them to the Dorset cafe in Wellesley.
Rhonda Marr prefered our generic based cookie.
"I am surprised, I would have assumed name brand products would result in a better product," said Rhonda.
Most of the other customers couldn't tell any difference at all.
The problem is many shoppers just throw items into their carts without giving it a thought.
"People get hooked on the name brand, maybe from their childhood when they saw advertisements, but corn oil is corn oil, rice is rice," said Edgar.
More shoppers are catching on and saving money this way.
The number of people buying generic brands has nearly quadrupled since 1991.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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