Home brand or the good stuff?

[Kandy-Sugar]

So I was doing the shopping this arvo and realised how lucky I am.

I was brought up on home brand food mostly when I was a kid and then as I got older my parents introduced the 'good stuff' to us.

Brand names such as 'Allens Lollies, Cadbury icecream etc' slowly started making their way into the house and I was shocked at what I had been missing out on.

Now that I'm living on my own I only buy the good stuff whenever I want. <_<

The only time I get home brand items is when it's frozen foods such as dim sims and household items.

I could put up with the different and not so good taste of the home brand food and save a lot of money. Yes I could.

But is that really living? No offense to those of you who really don't have an option when it comes to this.

What are your thoughts? Do you buy home brand food because it's all you can afford, or do you squander your money on the best available brands?

It doesn't have to be food either. It could be cars etc.

You won't buy the brand new Ford if you can get the second hand Holden?

Discuss please!

 

[Big Casino]

IM not sure what u mean by home brand. Would that be like comparing asda smartprice food to other food?
I normally always buy the better stuff. I enjoy my food alot and i dont like getting things cheap as the quality and taste is really quite noticable when you try the end product.
Sometimes though when moneys tight i gotta get the cheaper stuff though, bills and other payments come before good food sadly
As for other goods like bikes, cars etc. Second hand doesnt bother me. If its a computer game 9 times outta 10 i buy second hand. Same with guitars etc.
If you know what ure looking for and you can find it cheaper youd be silly not to get it especially if you know that your gettin a good deal. New isnt always best.

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

Home brand as in the cheapest food you can buy at the shop as opposed to brand name food.

It's the stuff that comes in the boring packaging and such. =)

I didn't actually think when I wrote 'homebrand' that people from other countries might not know what I meant sorry.

It's actually a brand here in Australia but the lowest quality of them all. Unless you go to Aldi. <_<

 

[Big Casino]

Ahhh yeah thats what i thought u meant. One of the main supermarket chains here is ASDA and their cheapest products are labelled smartprice. Very noticble by the not so appealing plain white with a green line packaging. I dont buy it, smart price food really is quite awfull so i avoid at all costs. Unless money is really tight then theres no way id buy it xD
And by tight i mean, bankrupt

 

[Stannis]

I hate the cheap shit

i remember buying the coke once and it tasted awful i dont mind some cheap things from Aldi - Lidl like the energy drinks which taste just like red bull in my opinion i think all energy drinks taste the same though.
The cheap crisps are rank as well!!!!

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Cheap coke tastes like soap powder
Anyways, we get the good food because to be blunt, it tastes a lot better and if it tastes better then I'd rather buy it >.> As for cars, I wouldn't mind second hand as since I'll be getting a car soon second hand is going to be the only ones I can afford, and for games, Blu-Ray disks can't be scratched so I'm more inclined to buy second hand there too!

 

[Sir Kenneth]

It all depends on the product. When it comes to stuff like sugar, salt, rice, noodles, pasta, and canned food, I can't taste the difference between the name brand product and the cheap alternative anyway, so I always go with the cheap stuff. There are some things where I'd never even consider buying cheap though. My ketchup just HAS to have "Heinz" written on it for example.

So when I shop it's usually a healthy mix between the 2. Some cheap stuff, some name brand.

 

[SaShman]

It all depends on the product. When it comes to stuff like sugar, salt, rice, noodles, pasta, and canned food, I can't taste the difference between the name brand product and the cheap alternative anyway, so I always go with the cheap stuff.

It's similar for me, I generally go for the cheaper brands when it comes to things like; Bread, Milk, Sour Cream, Butter, Pasta and the like. But when it comes to the things I would eat straight out of the packet; like Candy, Chips, Drinks and what not; I will almost always go for the good brands.

As for other items, I will usually look for the best quality item available that will last a while. Unless I am just buying something that will be used as a one-off thing (in which case I will go for a cheap brand).

 

[Shu]

I'm cheap, unless of course it is meat or dairy products. I hate bologna and all that it stands for. When it comes to other foods such as Ice cream as Kandy mentioned, I really am not a brand whore, although I usually pick out breyers, just because I've had it for so long.

I'm accustomed to trying out new foods with cheaper recipes. I try to make it pretty obscure for me when I go to the grocery store. It makes for interesting buys. I don't like the idea of can foods to be honest, just because they can preserve for years on end without being touched. I would rather have the fresh stuff when it comes to produce. (vegies, orange juice, fruits)

I by far am not a picky eater, I can eat just about anything you put in front of me as long as it has flavor. So, for me.. I go "home" brand.

 

[Bambi]

Alot of the time I think some of teh home brands are better than the 'named' brands. Asdas own coco pops are more chocolately than kellogs. smart price fish cakes are quite nice too xD

I rarely buy branded stuff, I stick to asdas own, and occasionally I will buy the odd smart price brand, but Il avoid stuff like smart price meat..... I draw the line there xD (apart from the fish cakes xD)

I just generally think the own brands taste better sometimes, like asdas own brand of weetabix, are MADE by the same company that make weetabix, just in asdas packaging, so you are esentially just paying for the box

There's some WELL nice smart price yogurts though, they are like...phwoar

Ive lived on my own for years though, so Ive learnt what to buy in what brands

And when I say asdas own, I dont mean the smartprice stuff, I mean the stuff a step up from that

smart price milk is vile btw

And I always buy branded butter, you cant piss about where butter is concerned. I think if you are having toast, cheap bread is fine, if you want buttties, get a decent loaf. Cheap toast tastes nice toasted but not fresh

 

[Fusilli]

It totally depends on what you're buying. As people have said, with meat, dairy, bread etc it's always better to go with the good stuff. Even toiletry things, I just would NOT buy smartprice body lotion, I'd rather go without than use that stuff. >_>

As Kelly's said though, with most things you're pretty safe going with Asda brand because they're usually just as good. Although Asda doritos are crap compared to the real thing. >_> Even some Smartprice stuff is good though, I love the Smartprice cereal bars, and you can get a huuuuuuuuge bag of raisins for like 60p and they're just as good as branded stuff. <3 Smartprice sweeties and biscuits are really good too. I'll usually only by Smartprice stuff if somebody else has said that it's good though, otherwise it's a bit risky. >_>

 

[Daenerys]

We always buy the brand stuff, because at least then you pretty much know you're gonna get what you pay for. Although, Asda's own aren't so bad really, the sweets and biscuits are pretty much the same as the brand stuff, but less expensive.

So, it all depends. If the products are really noticeably different, we'll buy the brand stuff, since it's always nicer. But if the products are basically the same, then we'll buy the Asda stuff, since it's cheaper.

We always get brand stuff for Bread and whatnot though, just because it would be weird to get Asda brand bread. D=

 

[Bakusa]

I usually get what's cheapest unless I know there's a major difference. I know I can hardly tell the difference between Shurfine Cola and Coca-Cola. And Shurfine oven pizzas are sometimes better than Digorno and stuff. There usually isn't a big difference to me.

 

[Jacqui]

It depends entirely on what it is. Some things, like chocolate, I go for the Cadbury's, but other things- pies, and most other foods if I'm honest, it makes no difference to me. It also depends what mood I'm in, and how much money I've got.