How Much Do You Save With Generic Brands, and When Is Spending More Worth It?

We all know that the generic, store brand of most goods are cheaper. Most of them are usually just as good if not identical to the name brand. We want to know how much you save by going with the off brand.

Personal finance site Three Thrifty Guys decided to make a chart of their own experience with this experiment. During a typical shopping trip, the site compared prices between 16 different items they normally buy. They found that what would normally cost $56.24 for name brand goods only cost $41.51 by buying store brand items. A total savings of $14.73. Not too bad!

I was surprised at how quickly the savings added up. Choosing the cheapest option resulted in over 25% savings! For my wife and I (no kids), there would be about a $60 difference between choosing generic brand and named brands each month.

Of course, everyone buys different stuff, so how does your experience differ? Have you ever compared your usual shopping budget to see how much you save by skipping the big name labels? Alternatively, when is it worth it to you to spend the extra money to get a different brand?