Save Big Money by Using Generic/Store Brands -- Even I Didn't Know the Savings Were This Big!!!

A few months ago, I posted on how you can save money on non-food items (vitamins, personal care products, over-the-counter medicines) by 1) buying them at a mass merchandiser (Walmart, Target, Kmart, etc.) instead of a grocery store and 2) buying the generic/store brand rather than the national brand. But holy cow, I never knew how much we were saving until I wrote the prices down for several items this past weekend! It's a fortune!

We shop for our non-food items at Walmart. On a day in, day out basis, they have the cheapest prices on average on this type of stuff -- even if we wanted to purchase the national brand (i.e. Walmart's Tylenol is cheaper than Kmart's Tylenol). In addition, Walmart has the Equate brand, their store brand that is an EXACT DUPLICATE of the national brand in what it contains/how it works. The only difference is that one is a national brand (and thus well-known) and the other is not known at all (unless you're a Walmart shopper).

We buy the Equate brand all the time. It's just as effective as the national brand, and it saves us big, big money. Just to see how much people save on the Equate brand, this past weekend I selected some items at random and wrote down the price of the national brand and the Equate brand. Here's what I found:

Mouthwash

• Listerine (1.5 liters) - $6.20
• Equate (1.5 liters) - $2.37

Pain Medication

• Advil (24 tablets) - $3.14
• Equate (24 tablets) - $0.96
• Tylenol Extra Strength (100 tablets) - $5.12
• Equate Extra Strength (100 tablets) - $2.87

Shoe Inserts

• Dr. Scholl's Air Pillo - $1.57
• Equate - $0.84

Fiber Supplement

• Metamucil (36.8 oz.) - $14.92
• Equate (36.8 oz.) - $5.84

Grand Total

• National Brands - $30.95
• Equate - $12.88
• Savings with Equate - $18.07 (58.4%)

Now, imagine if you saved this every week. On different things, of course, but one week you might get toothpaste, shampoo, lotion and eye drops, the next you get bath soap, vitamins, band-aids, and shaving cream, the next you get deodorant, cold/allergy pills, toothbrushes, and baby soap, and so on. Saving $18.07 per week nets you $939.64 a year!!!!! Even if your savings is half as much per trip (or you only buy every two weeks instead of every week), you still save $469.82 each year. Do that for 10, 20 or 30 years and you save a boatload of money simply for using a non-advertised brand. It's a no-brainer!

Better yet, there's no risk in trying the Equate-branded items. We've seldom disliked a product they make, but when we do, they take it back with no problem -- they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So, 1) there's no risk in trying it, 2) it does the same thing as the national brand, and 3) it costs a TON less -- what's not to love?

Next up: The Equate brand takes on Costco's national brands and its Kirkland store brand. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Terri W.]

My big savings through them is with the A&D ointment for diaper changes -- A&D is $3.96 for a tube, and the equate version is $1.47.

[Nick]

I've noticed that the price gap between generic vs. brand non-food products is much bigger than the gap between generic vs. brand food, yet the quality of generic non-food products is generally closer to that of brand non-food than generic food is to brand food. Still, we swear by both since anything available in "generic" form is probably bad for you anyway. (I wish they had generic fruit and veggie options...)

[tarun upadhyay]

Not all generic and brand names are created equal. Listerine, for example, clearly writes on its bottle that their formula is not sold to any store brand. This means what you buy as Walmart-Equate may be cheaper but is not the same product as Listerine.

In the particular case of Listerine, I have tried other brands (big name brands as well as store brands) and nothing comes close to listerine.

Also, its well known that some big brands have seperate (read lower quality) production centers for Walmart. So, walmart-tylenol may be cheaper than target-tylenol, its probably not the same thing.

[MyFinancialJourney]

In many cases Walmart is actually selling you the "name brand" product and its just rebranded with their name. Wal-Mart has a lot pull or well push with its vendors and in many instances they get/force them to give them their "A" product to them at a huge discount and they just put a new label on it and the lower price, so you often are not sacrificing any quality.

Example would be Wal-marts butter, the individual sticks actually have the Morning Glory emblem on the paper lining.

[FMF]

Tarun --

I've tried both Listerine and the Walmart brand and I like the Walmart brand BETTER (even if the cost was the same). It tastes tons better and works just as well in my opinion.

As far as their medicines go, here's the litmus test: do they work? Yes, they do -- at least for our family. So why not use them? Besides, if you try them and they don't work better, you can return them for a full refund.

[Lisa]

I started surfing the cheapo brands within the last 6 months. I came to realize that there are some things that I JUST DON'T CARE if they are "name brand". How about fabric softener? Would I really notice a difference if I went with the generic brand vs. Bounce? Guess what? I can't tell the difference. Here's another...butter! Guess what - store brand butter tastes no different than Land O'Lakes! Sure, there are a lot of food products where you would notice a difference in taste - but think of all the non-food products that you wouldn't!

[John M]

I like the Equate Brand for many of the non-food items.
But I use a name brand mouthwash. I have to be careful when going into a store like Wal-Mart because it is easy to spend the extra savings on stuff that I don't really need.

[amanda]

i try not to buy anything over a dollar like foil i get at wal-mart for .57 it maybe thin but it does it's job

[cory s.]

In my 75 years of food expierience, i have noticed that ramon noodles are the absolute best food that anyone anywhere can possibly buy. It is so darn tasty that it is simply impossible to resist. It's illegal in several countries, because it is so effin good.

[StoppedClock]

Does anyone but me worry that Equate products could be spiked with diethylene glycol to make them taste better? Equate may be mixed in the US, but the ingredients come from where ever is the cheapest supplier (often China), with questionable quality control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylene_glycol

I'm extremely frugal, but for stuff I put in my body, I buy locally made whenever I can. As for detergent, etc., I'll use whatever is cheap.

- Stopped Clock

[Shawn]

I found a web site that is taking a suvey of walmart brands. It is not associated with walmart. You can get the results for free.

www.walmart-survey.com

[Jason P]

Something to remember with regard to the generic brand medicines and a few other items, such as baby formula. Federal law dictates that they must be the same. As one of the folks said above, some companies have separate facilities for Wal-Mart, but most of the items come off of the same production lines.

I don't read a separate facility as lower quality. Understand something, if it was of poor quality and could cause you harm, Wal-Mart wouldn't sell it. And I don't mean that they are some supreme quality organization. If it didn't meet/match the brands it was competing against or if it was harming people, you would have heard of it by now.

Plus, when some of these companies begin doing business with Wal-Mart, they have to meet certain production quotas from what I understand. This means new production facilities. I don't see quality, I see production volume. FYI...I'm a process chemical engineer, so I'm wired differently than a lot of folks...but that's my $0.02.

[Buy Viagra]

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[MY]

Something to remember with regard to the generic brand medicines and a few other items, such as baby formula. Federal law dictates that they must be the same. As one of the folks said above, some companies have separate facilities for Wal-Mart, but most of the items come off of the same production lines.

[ремонт холодильников]

I thought this was a very interesting post thanks for writing it!