USAinDebt

Companies spend a lot of money on advertising their products to the public and unfortunately that good advertising often works: people tend to buy products that they have seen on TV or read about in the magazines. Sometimes, however, those products are not the best buy. They are expensive because of the brand they are sold under at the same time they are no different that the rest of the products on the shelf. Generic, or otherwise called store brands can often save shoppers lots of green.

A good example is CVS. What does a regular CVS customer buy? Cosmetics, medicine, household supplies. So let’s get two separate carts and shop. Shampoo, toothpaste, face cleanser, pain reliever, cotton swabs.

Cart 1: contains Head & Shoudler’s Dandruff Shampoo, Classic Clean; Crest Vivid White Night Toothpaste; Clean & Clear Oil-Free Daily Pore Cleanser; Advil Ibuprofen Coated Gel Caplets; Q-tips. Total for this cart: $35.00.

Cart2: CVS Dandruff Shampoo 2 In 1, CVS Bright White Whitening Toothpaste, CVS Oil Free Acne Cleanser,Pain Relief Rapid Release Gel Caps Extra Strength, CVS Cotton Swabs Flexible Plastic. Total for this cart: $13.39.

Looking at the above, it is easy to see that the CVS store brands have saved us $21.61, which is a nice piece of change. Worried about the quality of what you are buying? Compare the ingredients and you’ll see that they are 100% identical in most products! Why pay for the brand name when you can have the same for less?

Tags: cvs | save money | store brands | generic