Meredith asked,"What are your favorite Target-brand products, i.e., Up, Archer Farms, Cherokee, etc.? Mine are the Archer Farms Roasted Red Pepper and Asparagus soup and the AF Buffalo Wing potato chips."
And steigler7071 said, "I also like the idea of what your favorite brands are at Target. I have noticed you use store brands of pop tarts, cleaners, etc. I like that you are posting real and don't feel like you have to hide behind brand names."
First of all, WHAT? People hide behind brand names? I don't even know what that means. But yeah, we're all about being "real" around here.
Secondly, I don't get to use Target-brand products because we don't do our grocery/household shopping there (in general). Grayson -- who possesses higher math skills that I clearly do NOT -- says that the cost per unit is still lower at Wal-Mart, so that's where we buy those kinds of items. So while I WISH that I could expound on the joys of Target-brand grocery products, alas, I cannot.
I CAN tell you that there are some things we buy the Wal-Mart (Great Value) brand of, and we're very happy with them.
Generic
- "Toaster pastries" (Pop-Tart)
- Bleach kitchen/bath spray (Clorox Clean-up)
- Mustard
- Pine-scented cleaning solution (Pine Sol)
- Milk
- Clear American flavored carbonated water (GET ON THIS PARTICULAR BANDWAGON RIGHT NOW) ... no calories, good flavor (our favorites are wild cherry and black cherry, but there are like 20 flavors), and it comes in two-liter bottles, 16-ounce bottles and single-serving bottles (we buy the mid-size)
- Body wash (DITTO) ... I love the exfoliating kind. I'm sort of addicted to it now.
Those last two on the list -- the water and the body wash -- those are probably the two greatest generic buys we've found. And the boys (including Jake) ADORE that water.
Having said that, there are several things that we've learned we're absolutely willing to pay extra for in order to get the name-brand taste or quality.
Name-brand
- Soft drinks (Cherry Coke Zero, Caffeine Free Diet Coke)
- Cheese (Sargento, Kraft)
- Paper towels (Bounty)
- Toilet paper(Charmin)
- Facial tissue (Kleenex)
- Ketchup (Heinz)
- Jelly (Smucker's)
- Mayonnaise (Hellmann's)
I'm really particular about the way certain things taste, like my ketchup. And apparently if a paper good touches an appendage or an orifice, I'm a name-brand girl ALL THE WAY.
Things I DO purchase at Target include socks, outerwear (jackets, coats), clothes for the kids, toys, makeup and stationery. All of their store-brand merchandise in those categories seems to be priced about the same as Wal-Mart, but with a wider, cuter selection. I just bought this sweater for Jake on sale, which I just think is the cutest thing:
That particular sweater is OshKosh, which isn't exactly the store brand, but it was priced $11.99, which is a good price for a sweater, in my opinion.
Anyway, that's kind of my two cents about store-brand vs. name-brand merchandise. We definitely cut corners when we can, but we pay up for what we love. What do you guys do?