One word that would describe my lifestyle perfectly would easily be cheap. I hate spending a lot of money and like to save as much as possible. This is kind of a beneficial trait to have when you're a college student on a tight budget. However, when it comes to grocery shopping there are certain items I will save on and others I will splurge on. This is my rating on certain items commonly found in my shopping cart and whether it's better to be cheap or be willing to drop a few more pennies on. As a side note, no food brand paid me to write about their products.
Yogurt: I am a big yogurt eater, usually eating one cup a day. I decided one week to try the HyVee brand yogurt because it was about half the price of my normal yogurt. Bad idea. The taste was no where near the same. Now, yogurt brands and tastes can very from region to region, but if you are in central Iowa, definitely stick to the Anderson Erickson.
Pasta: I always go off brand for pasta. The ingredients in noodles is pretty much the same across the board, and I have no difference in Barilla pasta and the Great Value pasta.
Peanut Butter: My roommate experienced this herself. She decided to go off-brand on her peanut butter, and it was the most disgusting thing she ever made me try. Choosy mom's choose JIF and so does Katlyn.
Bread: Like pasta, bread recipes are bread recipes. Very little difference in taste between off brands and branded products. However, I have noticed that there are a lot more slices in off brand breads and they tend to leave more crumbs, but I still always choose the off-brands.
Ice-Cream: During the warmer months when I have fresh fruit, I will literally have a fruit smoothie with ice cream in it every day for breakfast. I decided to try the Great Value ice cream once, and never again. There really wasn't a huge difference in taste, but it did melt super fast and the cardboard box it comes in was really flimsy, so I had a nice sticky mess on my counter every day. I decided to stick with my Blue Bunny ice cream.
Cheese: I like to cook, and will go through shredded cheese fairly fast. I actually prefer the HyVee brand cheese over Kraft. I like the texture and taste better, and saving on cheese which can be very expensive at times makes my wallet happy.
Cereal: This category can very by brand. For Frosted Flakes and Rice Crispies, I see no difference in the off brands, so I will take the cheaper option. Fruit loops are a different story. The Great Value Fruit Loops tasted like cardboard, but the HyVee Brand Fruit Loops tasted just like the real deal. Sometimes you got to plat around with the off-brand cereals and just be optimistic sometimes.
Pop-Tarts: Stick to the real Pop Tarts. I tried the Great Value ones and they lack in frosting and fruit center. It was pretty much like eating flavored hard bread. Splurge on your Pop Tarts.
Sports Drink: If there was one thing I could not live without, it is Gatorade. I drink way more Gatorade than water, and will go through at least one big bottle a day. I drink A LOT of Gatorade. Recently I decided to try PowerAde because it saves me about a $1 and honestly I think it tastes better than real Gatorade.
Pasta Sauce: As a college student there is one dish that I eat at least one weak: Spaghetti or Pasta Alfredo. Growing up, my family only ate Prego, and I really liked it. However, I learned that the HyVee brand marinara sauce tastes the exact same. I generally eat more Alfredo more than marinara, and I will stick to my Ragu brand. I have tried the HyVee brand and it's just too thick in texture for my liking.
Mac N Cheese: I'm not a huge Mac n Cheese fan, but I will stick to Kraft Brand when I do eat it. The cheese powder in the off brand just does not appease my taste buds.
Soup: We all like the comforting and familiar red Campbell's soup can, but I would say you're safe to save and go off brand. I have tried both Great Value canned soup and HyVee's as well and I would say they are pretty comparable to Campbell's and a whole lot cheaper.
Rice: I love to cook, and a lot of what I cook involves rice. My Japanese/Hawaiin roommate also is a huge rice eater. I decided to try the Great Value Rice instead of Minute rice and there is about a $2 change in price but absolutely no change in taste. I mean come on, it's rice. There shouldn't be any differences. But it took me trying the off brand to realize how much common sense there was in this.
Butter: Butter and margarine is one of those things where it all depends on what you're cooking that determines what you buy. I use Parkay to melt over popcorn, but that's about it. I cook with Blue Bonnet because I do notice a big difference in taste compared to Parkay. For spreadable butter, I splurge on Country Crock because I again notice a change in taste, but also in how easily it can be spread.
Tuna: Tuna is great for college students: it's an excellent protein source and very hard to screw up. I have tried both Starkist and Great Value brand tuna and the only difference is about thirty cents. Save on this item, but just be careful that you get tuna in water and not oil but it is a HUGE difference. Learned that one by experience. A very bad experience.
Granola bars: I think this is one of those products that is really up to personal preference. I will only buy NutriGrain or Sunbelt, and honestly I can't say I've tried any off brand granola bars. It is one of those brands that I know I like, and because they are semi-good for you, I don't feel to guilty splurging on.
Chocolate Chips: Some good cookie dough can really be a lifesaver during a rough finals week. My mom only buys Tollhouse chocolate chips, while I only buy HyVee brand chocolate chips. I don't see any difference except they are a lot cheaper. Save on chocolate chips, especially if you're just baking so you can eat your suffering away after failing a biology exam.
Ramen: I have tried the brand that it is not Maruchan and I hate it. Ramen is cheap enough, so I will spend the extra two cents on Maruchan because it is a cheap meal I can actually stand eating.
As you can probably tell, I consume way too many carbs than the average consumer. But what I want to get across is that it's ok to splurge a little because honestly sometimes the quality is better. While I want to save as much money as possible at the grocery store, I know I will be wasting more money buying something I don't like eating and just let it spoil on my shelf. Pick your battles, but don't get scared by the off-brand stereotype until you try it!
Yogurt: I am a big yogurt eater, usually eating one cup a day. I decided one week to try the HyVee brand yogurt because it was about half the price of my normal yogurt. Bad idea. The taste was no where near the same. Now, yogurt brands and tastes can very from region to region, but if you are in central Iowa, definitely stick to the Anderson Erickson.
Pasta: I always go off brand for pasta. The ingredients in noodles is pretty much the same across the board, and I have no difference in Barilla pasta and the Great Value pasta.
Peanut Butter: My roommate experienced this herself. She decided to go off-brand on her peanut butter, and it was the most disgusting thing she ever made me try. Choosy mom's choose JIF and so does Katlyn.
Bread: Like pasta, bread recipes are bread recipes. Very little difference in taste between off brands and branded products. However, I have noticed that there are a lot more slices in off brand breads and they tend to leave more crumbs, but I still always choose the off-brands.
Ice-Cream: During the warmer months when I have fresh fruit, I will literally have a fruit smoothie with ice cream in it every day for breakfast. I decided to try the Great Value ice cream once, and never again. There really wasn't a huge difference in taste, but it did melt super fast and the cardboard box it comes in was really flimsy, so I had a nice sticky mess on my counter every day. I decided to stick with my Blue Bunny ice cream.
Cheese: I like to cook, and will go through shredded cheese fairly fast. I actually prefer the HyVee brand cheese over Kraft. I like the texture and taste better, and saving on cheese which can be very expensive at times makes my wallet happy.
Cereal: This category can very by brand. For Frosted Flakes and Rice Crispies, I see no difference in the off brands, so I will take the cheaper option. Fruit loops are a different story. The Great Value Fruit Loops tasted like cardboard, but the HyVee Brand Fruit Loops tasted just like the real deal. Sometimes you got to plat around with the off-brand cereals and just be optimistic sometimes.
Pop-Tarts: Stick to the real Pop Tarts. I tried the Great Value ones and they lack in frosting and fruit center. It was pretty much like eating flavored hard bread. Splurge on your Pop Tarts.
Sports Drink: If there was one thing I could not live without, it is Gatorade. I drink way more Gatorade than water, and will go through at least one big bottle a day. I drink A LOT of Gatorade. Recently I decided to try PowerAde because it saves me about a $1 and honestly I think it tastes better than real Gatorade.
Pasta Sauce: As a college student there is one dish that I eat at least one weak: Spaghetti or Pasta Alfredo. Growing up, my family only ate Prego, and I really liked it. However, I learned that the HyVee brand marinara sauce tastes the exact same. I generally eat more Alfredo more than marinara, and I will stick to my Ragu brand. I have tried the HyVee brand and it's just too thick in texture for my liking.
Mac N Cheese: I'm not a huge Mac n Cheese fan, but I will stick to Kraft Brand when I do eat it. The cheese powder in the off brand just does not appease my taste buds.
Soup: We all like the comforting and familiar red Campbell's soup can, but I would say you're safe to save and go off brand. I have tried both Great Value canned soup and HyVee's as well and I would say they are pretty comparable to Campbell's and a whole lot cheaper.
Rice: I love to cook, and a lot of what I cook involves rice. My Japanese/Hawaiin roommate also is a huge rice eater. I decided to try the Great Value Rice instead of Minute rice and there is about a $2 change in price but absolutely no change in taste. I mean come on, it's rice. There shouldn't be any differences. But it took me trying the off brand to realize how much common sense there was in this.
Butter: Butter and margarine is one of those things where it all depends on what you're cooking that determines what you buy. I use Parkay to melt over popcorn, but that's about it. I cook with Blue Bonnet because I do notice a big difference in taste compared to Parkay. For spreadable butter, I splurge on Country Crock because I again notice a change in taste, but also in how easily it can be spread.
Tuna: Tuna is great for college students: it's an excellent protein source and very hard to screw up. I have tried both Starkist and Great Value brand tuna and the only difference is about thirty cents. Save on this item, but just be careful that you get tuna in water and not oil but it is a HUGE difference. Learned that one by experience. A very bad experience.
Granola bars: I think this is one of those products that is really up to personal preference. I will only buy NutriGrain or Sunbelt, and honestly I can't say I've tried any off brand granola bars. It is one of those brands that I know I like, and because they are semi-good for you, I don't feel to guilty splurging on.
Chocolate Chips: Some good cookie dough can really be a lifesaver during a rough finals week. My mom only buys Tollhouse chocolate chips, while I only buy HyVee brand chocolate chips. I don't see any difference except they are a lot cheaper. Save on chocolate chips, especially if you're just baking so you can eat your suffering away after failing a biology exam.
Ramen: I have tried the brand that it is not Maruchan and I hate it. Ramen is cheap enough, so I will spend the extra two cents on Maruchan because it is a cheap meal I can actually stand eating.
As you can probably tell, I consume way too many carbs than the average consumer. But what I want to get across is that it's ok to splurge a little because honestly sometimes the quality is better. While I want to save as much money as possible at the grocery store, I know I will be wasting more money buying something I don't like eating and just let it spoil on my shelf. Pick your battles, but don't get scared by the off-brand stereotype until you try it!