Fredericksburg Parent

30 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • September 2024 family money WRITTEN BY NIKKI DUCAS Does an off-brand label have any less quality than a branded product? Why should it matter which label you put in your shopping cart? It may be a matter of taste or feel but with prices incrementally inching up on everything from groceries to fuel to housing costs, financially savvy consumers are stretching their hard- earned dollars even further at checkout. As a mom of a tween and teen, I can no lon- ger pass off hand-me-downs and clearance rack clothing. My boys like certain labels and how certain brands fit. To offset our clothing budget, we have decided to give them each a set amount of money to spend on their "must- have" clothing and accessories purchases. What it has taught them is that clothing is expensive and if they want brand-name sneak- ers or chains, they need to find less expensive clothing options for their school and everyday clothes. Not only are their preferences in clothes changing, but so are their appetites! I buy mostly generic groceries and they can hardly tell the difference, but for the few items that they do, I will splurge. It truly comes down to buying brand-name for the stuff you care about, and buying generic when you can't tell the difference. Do Labels MATTER? Try my tips and tricks: SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON. Do a blind side-by-side comparison and/or taste test to see if you can differentiate products. You may be surprised to find that you like the knock-off labeled product over the designer brand-name or that you can distinguish a taste difference between the brand-name and generic cereals and soda. Then again, you may not and you can cut costs without really noticing the switcheroo. Other items to consider buying generic are laundry detergent, gasoline, fresh produce, dairy products, and baby formula. STOCK UP. Pantry staples and health & beauty products are two categories that you can stock up on when they go on sale and if there is a must have brand-name product that you like, use coupons to compound the deal. It is easy to overspend on these items when you need them immediately so keep a watchful eye while shopping and stock up on these essentials. Additionally, do your homework, if you can wait and don't need the item for a few days, you can order the same product online for a fraction of the retail cost and have it delivered to your door. LEARN WHAT YOU CAN COMPROMISE ON. Purchase generic over the counter medications and ask your doctor for the generic script of your monthly prescrip- tion if there is one available. Check labels, there are strict federal mandates that require that generic versions contain identical quantities of active ingredients as their name-brand counterparts and that they have the same standards for quality and safety. So, ask yourself, when does buying generic make better sense than buying designer or name-brand products? It may come down to what your family must-have versus what they can do without. Sadly, many of us can't have it all and we must choose wisely to stay within our budgetary limits.

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