No coupons needed, no scrolling through all the store ads or following a bunch of blogs. Nope, there is one new trick you can do to save loads of cash on your groceries right now today. I’ll give you a tease, if you already buy store brand items you will love this one.
Maybe you are a Walmart shopper, maybe an Aldi shopper, Wegmans shopper or just strictly a Tops shopper. But will being a brand snob really save you money? Maybe you are thinking you only buy generic products anyway so it doesn’t matter. Generic is the best deal.
If you scroll down you will see a list of store brand items from Walmart, Aldi and Tops Markets to give you a side by side price comparison.
How to Save Money on Groceries Buy The Generic- Generic Brand:
Wait, what? That’s right. To drive sales, retailers will offer a store brand below their store brand.
Before you can even understand what I’m talking about you need to look at a few key things below.
You Don’t Need to Know Your Prices Anymore
When you are budgeting for groceries and starting to coupon to save money drastically, you have to know your prices. When it comes to shopping the stores generic brand you don’t need to know your prices. It’s already guaranteed that Walmart’s Store brand’s generic brand will be the cheapest.
It goes something like this.
Brand names items at the top- Great Value Brand next and then there is a no name brand or another generic brand.
That last brand on the lowest shelf- is your friend. Those items will save you money on your grocery bill.
Well, it might not actually be at the bottom of the shelf. I’ve noticed retailers spreading these generic brands all over the shelf. You have to look for them.
Buy the generic version of the generic?
Yep, it’s a real thing. If you aren’t familiar with the 3-tier marketing let me explain.
Walmart and Tops have two of their own generic brands. It is a marketing scheme to boost up sales called Loss Leader. This is where we are getting ripped off thinking that the Tops Brand is better than the Valu Time brand.
The Valu time brand is the cheapest at Tops, but they are the same thing. Coming from the same place! So together, let’s not be fooled. If you want pasta sauce from Tops, choose the $0.99 Valu Time over the Tops brand.
COST:
29¢ for a can of Valu Time tomato sauce.
Tops brand Tomato Sauce 59¢. If it’s on sale like shown above 49¢.
My husband works in the construction business. Being on different job sites all the time he has told me countless times in the factories down the production line you have the same item that just gets covered in a different package.
*Note this isn’t the case for every generic item- but many.
Let’s take a look at some generic brands so you can know how to get the best deal. I used the Valu Time brand at Tops and The Great Value brand at Walmart unless there was the no-name brand!
Abbreviations are: Walmart: W, Aldi: A, Tops:T.
Remember this is generic for all the items found below. These prices were fromWestern New York area stores. Your store prices may vary slightly.
TUNA
W: $0.79 A: $0.69 T: $0.69
CAN OF COFFEE
W:$6.98 A:$5.49 T:$3.99
CAN OF PEACHES
A: $0.89 T:$0.99
FLOUR
W: $1.76 A:$1.45 T:$1.55
SUGAR
W:$1.96 A:$1.85 T:$ 1.39
CORN MUFFIN MIX
W: $0.54 A:$0.47 T: $0.54
MUSTARD
W: $0.96 A: $0.69 T:$0.79
KETCHUP
W:$0.92 A: $1.29 T:$1
SALAD DRESSING
W:$2.64 A:$1.99 T:$1.99
MAYO
W: $2.96 A: $1.99 T:$1.99
VEGETABLE OIL
W:$2.62 A:$2.29 T:$2.39
EGG NOODLES
W: $1.99 T: $1.99
( I couldn’t find these at Aldi with my kids! I’m sure they were the reason!)
CAN OF KIDNEY BEANS
W: $0.68 A: $0.59 T: $0.69
CAN OF GREEN BEANS
W:$0.68 A:$0.49 T:$0.49
CAN OF TOMATO SAUCE
W: $0.68 A: $0.25 T: $0.39
DICED TOMATOES
W:$0.68 A: $0.59 T: $0.59
PASTA SAUCE
W: $1.50 A:$0.99 T: $0.99
MAC N CHEESE
A:$.35 T:$0.49
There you have it! You will get the best deal on generic brand items at Aldi.
THE WINNER IS:
ALDI!!!
This is not all the generic items each store carries. Tops Valu Time brand is really expanding. Remember the Valu Time brand is cheaper than the Tops brand, even though they are the SAME!
Walmart is now starting to carry a no-name brand, which is indeed Walmart Brand.
If you see a no-name brand at Walmart it will be cheaper than the Great Value brand. And it is pretty close so you have to factor in at Tops you can also receive gas points for your Generic purchases!
Take a look next time at your local supermarket and see if you can find a brand that isn’t your top name brand and check the price.
Doing this trick will save you so much on your groceries each time you shop.
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Thanks Tasia for the info. I know someone who used to work at canning factory and they said that the majority of the time, the big company labels went through first then same product stayed on line, just different labels for less expensive product, went through next.
Thanks, Shelly! It is crazy isn’t?
Thanks for the information
Always interesting. Thank you for your info and insights!