Are Store or Discount Brands Always the Best Bang For Your Buck?

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While we do enjoy saving money whenever we shop, we also consider value when making purchases.

I had a great conversation last week with Len about finding the best deals with store and name brands.

Len has been running a fantastic series where he has a panel of family and friends test out foods like potato chips, sodas, and cereal.

While the store brands were cheaper and scored better, they weren't winners all the time. Sometimes, the panel picked the name brands.

And that's okay with me.

When to Splurge and When to Scrimp with Groceries

Let's admit there are some things that we're just picky about.

The taste, feel, whatever – of certain products just seem better. (Personally, I haven't found a comparable Oreo substitute.)

The problem is when you're paying more for a product and not seeing a real benefit. That's when your money is paying for marketing.

You may be surprised at how often it happens and what little difference there is between the store brand and name brand.

Some products are made in the same facility and just get different labels or they have almost identical ingredients.

Couples can save quite a bit of money if they know which ones to buy.

How do you do it though?

You can scour online reviews to give you some ideas, but another way is to test them out yourself.

Comparing Name Vs. Store Brands

Start shifting some of your spending towards the generic or store brands.

If you don't like them, you can always go back. I believe most families will find that they don't need to have everything be name brand.

Besides groceries, many couples can reduce their expenses by considering how they plan using items like clothing and electronics.

To get the best deal you have to really dig into value.

Value Over Price

Stretching a dollar means more than just looking at the purchase price.

It does us no good to keep buying cheap clothes and gadgets if we have to constantly replace them.

We found that it can be better to pay a little more upfront rather than being drained slowly. It comes down to value over price.

Let's take buying our girls' clothes.

With newborns, there isn't so much a need for pricier pieces because they're just sleeping most of the time.

They mainly get spit up on and grown out of so I don't see the more expensive outfits being a good deal.

Now don't get me wrong, I took a ridiculous amount of pictures of our girls. We got plenty of adorable outfits, but they were within budget.

Now that our girls are older, we really pay attention to the quality of the clothes.

Cheap clothes will be torn before they're outgrown so we'd rather pay a little more to get clothes that will last until she is ready to move to the next size.

(Bonus points if they are nice enough to save to be passed down!)

Electronics are they same way.

We replace our phones and gadgets like tablets when they break down or there is a considerable improvement or functionality in the new models.

When do buy however, we are willing to pay more up front because we expect it to last for awhile.

Thoughts on Getting the Best Deals

That's our take on things – I'd love to get your thoughts on how you shop. How do you find the best deals on groceries and other items?

Have you've found any stores or brands that have consistently good deals?