Nov 24, 2008
The Daily Poverty Party.
Bossy has one word for you: generic brands. Two words, yes, but still worthy of a mention here at the Poverty Party.
Bossy admits to not really understanding generic brands. Are they repackaged name brands? Or do they come from their own sooty factories with second-rate ingredients?
No matter– unless Bossy has a coupon for a particular name brand or unless the store is offering their own deal, Bossy reaches for the generic.
Happy generic Thanksgiving.
Me, too, in almost all cases…. except for Ketchup. Always, always Heinz Ketchup.
My latest excitement is trying to buy groceries only that are on sale, and not just a little on sale, but buy-one-get-one-free on sale… but only the ones I actually USE. You should see all the eggs in my fridge!
“Just say ‘No!’ to corn syrup!!” Health is more important than wealth – take it from someone who has YEARS of experience feeding a family healthy foods on a VERY limited budget – it’s worth it!
But there are certain items you do not want to go cheap on. A friend of mine thought he was getting a deal on condoms when he bought a box of “Lucky Boy” condoms. He’ll be paying for that mistake for the next 18 years.
As for myself, I’d buy a Costco 2 pack of Aunt Jemima. Pancakes always happen at my house on the weekends. And yeah…we get the pancake mix also at Costco.
aughhh! My eyes!!!
chris in RI (originally from VT)
Acme? Industrial grade syrup?
oooh, scary stuff.
Speaking of generic, Mrs. BOSSY, did you know Walgreens & CVS have generic versions of Oil of Old Lady Regenerist eye cream & night cream? They were on sale for 25 % off & I got both for less than $22. If I wake up looking like a 25 year old by the months end I’ll let you know.
Chris in RI…I KNOW!! But as the wife of a man with ties to Burlington, VT & the Lake Champlain Islands, imagine my surprise when HE brought home a bottle of Vermont Maid syrup because: 1) it was on sale 2) he couldn’t justify spending $13 on real maple syrup when “most of the kid’s syrup goes down the sink anyway.”
Times must be tough.
Seriously, Acme? Did you get that from Wile E. Coyote?
I’ll do generic but only after critical label reading. Sometimes with food generic is packed with more junk, like corn syrup or sugar or things I can’t pronounce without practice.
My BFF is my inside info to the world of paper products. She works for BIG FAMOUS TP COMPANY. She says they make the store brand TP for Costco.
I also bought the Walgreen’s store brand of Bossy’s new Eye Lifting Serum. I paid $12.
I will almost always buy store brands, not letting my mind turn to sooty factories with second rate ingredients… however I will not skimp on maple syrup!
High Fructose Corn Syrup is from the Devil !!
Aaaah! NO! Not when it comes to syrup! Oh, nononono….
I have to have the real stuff. But then again, I can afford it: Thanksgiving is already over for me! We went to the Pot-Luck Community Thanksgiving Dinner at our church. My contribution was two apple pies, made with apples from my own tree and a cash contribution to Stop Hunger Now. In return I had turkey and all the fixings – and even some wine! Oh, I am so cheap…
And some of the time time generic brands will be on sale at ths store. It’ s really just the label.
The generic version of pasta sauce at Katie’s local Winn Dixie is the only type there that DOESN’T contain the evil HFCS.
Generics are often made in the SAME PLACE as the brand names, but they are cheaper only because of the lack of shiny packaging, advertising, etc. Not always, but often.
During summers between college years I worked at a vegetable canning place. Same canned green beans went to national brands that went to local brands. Same exact canned veggies. So, generics are often just as good, or the same as nationally advertised items.
Did you photoshop that? Seriously, ACME syrup? ha ha ha ho. I’m with dgm (#8)- my first thought was Wile E. Coyote.
There are some things I just won’t go generic on – like infant tylenol. Did you know the generics use corn syrup, but real tylenol doesn’t? NO? That’s cause they’re not required to list it on the ingredients list since it’s technically “inactive”.
Even though, to a child with a corn allergy, it’s Active ENOUGH.
BOSSY cooks with garlic and lemons in a cast iron skillet, but uses brown-colored corn syrup for pancakes?? Store brands are great, but nothing replaces real Maple syrup in our house since our year in VT.
Umm . . . We do save money, though, by serving the kids the fake stuff . . . Is that cruel?
Yuck! I make my own syrup for a fraction of the cost and it is so easy. My kids won’t eat anything else. If you want the recipe let me know.
Store brands always—except for paper towels and TP.
What is the deal with corn syrup? I’ve read both sides of the argument and am just as confused as before.
I second what Lisa said…make your own syrup. A $3 bottle of Mapeline flavoring makes enough syrup for, well, a long time. In a house of 3 boys that LOVE having breakfast for dinner.
Bonus: no HFCS!
Real maple syrup is one luxury I can’t quit. For other poverty partiers, you can get good deals at Trader Joes and Costco.
I thought I understood generic brands, at least a little bit, until you put up that picture of syrup, which looks EXACTLY like my bottle of syrup, except mine claims “Jewel” in that red writing. So now I’m all… Jewel? Acme? Are they in cahoots? Are all generic brands in cahoots, and it’s just a big scam?
Oh I am all for generic brands vs. big-bucks brands for sure. In fact, just today I am researching which store’s generic naproxen is cheapest. Or maybe the dollar store has Aleve today, even though they didn’t last week …
But faux syrup? No way!! I lurve me some yummy natural goo straight from the tree. Via Trader Joes, of course.
Whilst I have noticed that pretty much every commenter has given Bossy The What For for the nasty-ass fake syrup, I have to add to the fray. How can you eat that? All the pretty (read: toxic) colors, all the fake-ity fake fake flavour?
I would never eat another waffle again if they discontinued real maple syrup.
Maybe Bossy should take another road trip, and come visit the Daytons up in Western New York so we can show you about the real, live maple syrup. We’d feed you real good.
The syrup bottle looks so fancy sitting next to the flowers…
Well, I used to live in Savannah and I am here to tell you that the Sugar Plant there packaged both Domino sugar and some generic brand. Both grades (and price points) of sugar came from the same bin. I know this for a fact as I wrote an exposé (ooooh, shocking) on it.
As for generic brands. Whole Foods market has a great store brand; 365 Organic. The prices are always cheaper and it is a healthy alternative (as far as I can tell) to the evils of preservatives and crazy sugars.
Bossy’s comment section slays me.
Frugal posts abound: living small, pride of ownership, and no ‘poo http://jlogged.com/
I buy generic for so many products. Yesterday at our local big name grocery I spent $88 dollars and saved $56!! I got our Turkey Day dinner for less than $100 dollars (cue voices of angels).
I have cut our grocery bills in half (at least) over the last 2 months with coupons/store specials/generic and sing it from the rooftop (or Bossy’s blog) every chance I get.
my friend drove a milk truck and said that the fancy milk and store brand were brought to the bottling facility on the same truck, and shipped out with different labels. i never buy expensive milk.
My bf has the same giant bottle of generic syrup. I keep trying to tell him about the trees and the real stuff and that time the guy who was boiling the sap out in the woods at the maple syrup making place in NH told us that they sell the leftover grody grades of syrup that no one else wants to companies who add enough corn syrup and other crap that it tastes slightly better and sell it as Aunt Jemima’s (or ACME), but he won’t listen. Crazy Californian.
I’m all over the store-brand thing though. It was gospel in my house when I was a kid. I had to convince my first roommate that the name brand is usually more expensive, even if you have a coupon (she was stuck on coupons). We used to do the whole sugar water with maple flavoring when I was a kid, even living in New England, and we ate a lot of blueberry pancakes. I like it better than the thick stuff now, it soaks into yer pancakes better.
Do I get a prize for longest comment, Bossy?