Not Generic

I will never buy Generic pop - NEVER, sorry......

Remember one day, probably in the 80's walking into the grocery store and suddenly there was an aisle where all the products were in black and white and GENERIC was the new trend?  Well, now Generic isn't in black and white anymore and it's hard to tell the difference between name brand and not so much. 
It's funny, but I have no problem buying things from Target and Walmart (a fairly generic form of department store merchandise) yet, when it comes to groceries, I can be a bit of  a snob. If I were really wealthy, I would be dangerous! I fall for the name brands and packaging like all ad execs would hope - as a matter of fact I'm pretty sure I'm their poster child.  I don't care what they say about there not being a difference in the real product vs. the Generic one ( that statement alone makes me want the REAL choice no matter what the price) I am pretty sure this is why my husband chooses to go to the grocery store every day (he works right next door to one) rather than send me. (It really works ladies!) However, this is also why we never run out of Ketchup and Toilet paper because men are known for buying those items in bulk and forget about any kind of variety.  Although my husband does do one thing for me which reminds me how very lucky I am - he buys me decorative paper towels! (That's better than flowers in my book!)
There is a recent report of things that you should always buy Generic by Stacy Johnson and MoneyTalks via Yahoo (got the bases covered there) so let's take a look and see if I can be reformed:

1.  Pain relievers and over the counter meds - Not gonna do it.  I am sure there is no real difference but since I rarely buy this kind of item, when I do, (whose the mouse in my pocket??) when HE does, we go with name brand.  However, when the Dr. prescribes us medication, we are begging for the Generic brand.  Now that is a little mixed up......

2.  Water.  With no husband or kids around, I would live on Fiji water. Sorry, it really does taste better!!! Actually I really like our tap water too, but we do buy lots of bottles of water and everyone has their preference - I am pretty sure we go with lowest price here though. So this one is OK.

3.  Milk.  I didn't really know there was anything but Generic milk?  I know there are Soy's and Silk's and stuff like that, but yes, the store brand is fine with me. However, when it comes to milk, I can only drink it at my own home. Never at someone else's and never at a restaurant! Don't ask me why - something about the temperature having to be just right and I'm really anxious about expiration dates.

4.  Margarine.  I am not a big butter/margarine connoisseur - I could never tell you the difference, therefore I could see the Generic benefits - but I'd still probably grab the tub of Country Crock anyway.

5.  Bleach - It's like Kleenex and Q-tips - as long as you call it Clorox, I'd buy it no matter what the label said I'm sure.

6.  Spices.  I go with size of container.  I like my spices to be in a neat row with matching lids and sizes and labels facing out. So I guess I'd have to do an overhaul there in order to go Generic.  But then again, some of those containers look exactly the same now as they did when I was a kid and it's fun to by them just because Mom had the same ones in her cupboard.

7.  Cleaning Products.  I like the ones that speak to me and tell me what a wonderful person  I am while cleaning the toilet.  I like to know that little scrubbing bubbles are moving around in the tub well after I have left the bathroom, and I really like when the cleaning products do all the work and all I have to do is pick them off the shelf.  I am pretty sure Generic ones just make you do the work without every saying Thanks, or "Next time, I'll scrub the floors you YOU just lift your feet up". I get enough of that already.

So there you have it - I'm a name brand grocery products snob - How are you?