Store Brands Vs. Named Brands, Which Is The Better?

Tonight as I looked at the listener comments on our WGNA Facebook Page, a listener wrote" Here's a perfect question of the day for Tuesday: Do you purchase "Store Brands" in things or do you stick by "Name Brands" only?" I thought it was a great question and it got me thinking, how much difference is there, really?

So I set out to do some research and as it turns out, there really isn't that much difference. Over the years, store brands have become more and more popular. Mostly because most people really do not see much difference and when they do they usually feel the savings in money more than makes up for any lack in similarity.

What I did find that was interesting is that most everyone is fine with choosing store brands over named brands with many or most of their products but there is always a few products where t they will NOT give up their favorite named brand. I know with me it's toilet paper, I'm all for saving but there are just some things I just don't think you can skimp on.

Also any "special recipe" products, for example Pepsi. Sure a generic cola may taste just fine but it just isn't the same for me. However things like sugar, milk, nuts, well they just are what they are. There are no named brand cows. And in many other cases , sugared cereal for instance, I find the store brand to actually be better than the named brand, often for me because there is less sugar.

Truth is in many cases the difference between store brands and named brands really isn't that much, most cases unnoticeable.  I should point out though that my wife, "Andrea The Coupon Lady" would point out that id it's about saving money, coupons are a GREAT way to bring the cost of a named brand item down to or even below the cost of the store brand.

So I want to know what you think! What is a store brand that you swear by? What is a product that you just will never leave your name brand favorite?