4. Always Buy Generic: Soda

Products You Should and Shouldn't Buy Generic

This is the one item Gurwin says goes against his principle that items that are cheap to produce don't save a lot of money when bought generic, but that the most money can be saved on generic items that are expensive to make. Soda is cheap to produce and the generic versions are often much cheaper than the brands, he said.

But as with all generic foods, give this one a taste test before buying cases of cheap cola. I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi in a blind taste test, but Gurwin says most people can't tell the difference between a generic cola and a name brand. Whatever you call it -- soda, pop, coke or something else -- it's a bias that you may be surprised to learn that the generic tastes the same as your favorite brand.

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Products You Sho... Generic items can be great. They're practically the same as their name-brand counterparts, and the best part is, you don't have to feel like you're wasting money.

On the other hand, there are items that you should never buy generic. In these cases, that extra few bucks will go a long way.

Read on to see 10 items WalletPop suggests you always buy generic... and 10 items you should never buy generic.

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1. Always Buy Ge... Since the Food and Drug Administration requires generic medications to have the same ingredients as the patented products they replace, over-the-counter medications are the best way to save money by buying generic. No one wants to skimp on their health, so you'd think that a generic brand might be iffy. But that's not the case, said Cathy Rosenbaum, a pharmacist and CEO of Rx Integrative Solutions, Inc.

"There's a public perception that generics are cheap and bad," Rosenbaum said in a telephone interview with WalletPop. "Typically the generic are just as effective as the branded products, and they're typically cheaper."

Generic cough and cold medicines are much cheaper and just as effective, she said. While generic works for over-the-counter medicine, prescription medicine is something that shouldn't be switched back and forth between generic and brand names, she said. Absorption of drugs could be different between different ones, so sticking with one and not switching back to a generic is important, she said. Check with your doctor if the generic brand is available and recommended if a blood test is required before choosing which brand of medicine to take.

Insurance companies prefer generic brands because they're cheaper, but if the branded label works better for the patient, a doctor can write to the insurer and explain that the branded product is needed, Rosenbaum said.

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2. Always Buy Ge... Cereal is one of the biggest values when buying generic, said Pushpin's Gurwin, equaling 25% to 50 percent in savings. A $5.50 box of brand-name cereal can cost $2.99 generic, and usually comes in a bigger package for less money, he said.

"The taste is very similar, and they look exactly the same," Gurwin said. For parents of children who insist on the brand, he suggests buying it once, then when it's empty, replacing it with a generic bag inside the branded box.

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3. Always Buy Ge... Flour, sugar, salt, spices and other single-ingredient items are all the same. Really, they are. Government regulations require the same production and storage for generics as they do for brands, so buying a label is like giving money away for something you use every day. And since the brand-name versions are rarely on sale or have manufacturer's coupons, generic is the best way to go.

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4. Always Buy Ge... This is the one item Gurwin says goes against his principle that items that are cheap to produce don't save a lot of money when bought generic, but that the most money can be saved on generic items that are expensive to make. Soda is cheap to produce and the generic versions are often much cheaper than the brands, he said.

But as with all generic foods, give this one a taste test before buying cases of cheap cola. I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi in a blind taste test, but Gurwin says most people can't tell the difference between a generic cola and a name brand. Whatever you call it -- soda, pop, coke or something else -- it's a bias that you may be surprised to learn that the generic tastes the same as your favorite brand.

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5. Always Buy Ge... Just like pantry staples and other generics, buying "off-brand" gas gets your car essentially the same gas as name-brand stations. The price difference can be about 20 cents a gallon. Some off-brand stations often get their gas from the same tank trucks that deliver to the brand-name stations

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6. Always Buy Ge... If you're going to spend $1,500 on a new TV, why not $100 or so on HDMI and other cables to connect it? At least that's what you hear from the salesman. Because $9 cables will make the same connection and work just as well, Gurwin said. People are afraid they'll screw their TV up if they don't buy the highest-priced connecting cables, and sales people pounce on that fear. The copper conductors on the expensive cables are claimed by the manufacturer to give a better signal transfer, but in reality any cable will work just as well, Gurwin said.

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7. Always Buy Ge... Drugstores have learned that they can duplicate brand leaders' beauty products and still make a profit, while saving consumers half what they would have spent on the branded products. If the technology isn't patented, there are no rules against making an exact copy of a beauty product as a generic one. A list of store-brand beauty products that stand out includes items at Target and many of the big drugstores.

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8. Always Buy Ge... Brand name batteries, from Duracell to Energizer, advertise that they last longer than other batteries, including generic ones, which they normally do, but the cost isn't worth it. An unscientific study by batterytruth.info found that while the branded batteries provide more hours of energy, their high cost makes generic batteries a better deal.

It found that the Thunderbolt Magnum batteries hold less power, but are nearly 57 percent cheaper than the next best value, Duracell CopperTop batteries.

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9. Always Buy Ge... Lettuce is lettuce and an apple is an apple, no matter if it has a brand name selling it or a private label or generic label. As with all produce, check for freshness and you'll be in good shape. But a sticker on a banana saying its from Chiquita isn't going to guarantee a better banana than the cheaper banana without the sticker.

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10. Always Buy G... Like medicine, this is another area where people don't want to skimp because everyone wants the best for their baby, and think that because it costs the most, it must be the best. Wrong. The Infant Formula Act requires specific procedures be followed in making infant formulas. Paying $13 more for a can of Enfamil or Similac over a generic brand is a waste of money since both are certified by the FDA as good and healthy for your baby.

As Wisebread reported, there are minor differences between generic and branded baby formulas, but they come down to texture and taste. Take a look side-by-side at the ingredient labels, and you won't see much, if any, difference. And like some medicines, choose one and stick with it. Your baby's digestive system will thank you.

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10 Items to Neve... You've seen 10 items you should always buy generic. Now read on for a look at 10 other items that you should never buy generic.
1. Never Buy Gen... You'll go through hundreds and hundreds of diapers with a baby, and your first impulse is to save as much money as you can with a generic brand. But this is one area where you don't want to skimp. A leaky or messy diaper will leave you and your baby in a foul mood, and a diaper rash is no fun for anyone. Generic and brand name diapers have about the same amount of absorbency, but the generics don't fit as well. The best way to save on diapers is to go with all cloth, but that's a messy place to which you may not want to go.

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2. Never Buy Gen... This category comes with the caveat that you might want to test the generic brands to see how they taste to you. But we doubt you'll be satisfied with them. As Jason Gurwin, CEO of Pushpins, an online coupon site, told me, for his customers generic condiments don't often add up to the name brands. A.1. Steak Sauce is better than any generic steak sauce will ever be, Gurwin said.

I have a bottle of Trader Joe's organic ketchup in my refrigerator, and being the cheapskate I am, can't wait until it's gone or expired so I can open the bottle of Heinz waiting in the pantry. Some people love the private label stuff, but not me. One sign that a restaurant is about to go out of business -- it switches from Heinz ketchup to any other kind as a way to save money.

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3. Never Buy Gen... Toilet paper and paper towels are two things you don't want to fall apart while using them. Generic brands usually have fewer fibers, which means less absorbency. They'll cost less than brand names, but you'll end up using more of the cheaper towels or toilet paper. That's what we found in our Paper Towel Smack-down savings experiment.

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4. Never Buy Gen... If you're too cheap to buy a real MP3 player -- such as an iPod, Zune or anything else that costs more than $10 -- then don't expect to get more than a few days' use from the cheaper knock-off. The generic players are in the bargain bin for a reason -- they suck and nobody wants to buy them. They have all of the joy and look of holding a paperclip in your hand, and less functionality. The headphones will be lousy and have to be replaced, the charge won't last long, the interface will be as modern as Pong, the software will be older than your first computer, and the sound will be like an aluminum can.

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5. Never Buy Gen... Like diapers, toilet paper and paper towels, you don't want to skimp on garbage bags because you don't want to have to deal with the mess when they break open. Carrying the trash out is a big enough pain, but to have to pick it all up again because you saved a few bucks on generic garbage bags that are thinner and don't hold as much as the name brand is a bigger and messier waste of time.

General rules when buying branded trash bags include buying stretchable bags made with patented materials, buying industrial strength bags instead of ones made just for the home, and solid black bags that are usually stronger.

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6. Never Buy Gen... One way generic products are made cheaper is by watering them down or making them thinner. Generic paint for your home is a bad idea. It's often thinner and will take more coats to cover an area. It may also chip and fade sooner than brand-name paint. And as far as home improvements go, paint is inexpensive, and is worth the cost for a quality brand. It's the labor that's expensive.

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7. Never Buy Gen... Life is too short to eat weak cheese. And in this case, we're talking about processed cheese, such as in every kid's favorites -- macaroni and cheese, and processed cheese slices. Nutritional value aside, the generic brands of these cheesy items taste like cardboard. Kraft makes the best macaroni and cheese and processed cheese slices, and there's no reason to go anywhere else.

For a grilled cheese sandwich -- again, forget the healthiness of it -- Kraft can't be beat. And its macaroni and cheese is the best comfort food around. You don't want to eat it every day, but live a little and spend the extra dime on the branded box.

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8. Never Buy Gen... We're not talking about legitimate companies that make licensed Apple products. We're talking about Apple product knock offs that should be pretty apparent from looking at them that they're not the real deal.

And probably just as bad are Apple resellers that sell their own things, such as power adapters, that are supposed to work well with Apple products but don't. Apple is suing three such companies, including this one that sells unlabeled power adapters. When you're spending however much on an Apple computer, iPod or other Apple gadget, why risk having it damaged by a knockoff?

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9. Never Buy Gen... The generic beer with "Beer" in black block letters on a white can isn't for sale anymore, although you can find it on eBay. Beer often doesn't translate well to generics. We say "often" because Consumer Reports recently found Costco's Kirkland Signature beers to be tasty enough to have at a party, although anyone who has been to a college party with beer knows that taste isn't a high priority. As with cheese and other eating or drinking items, with beer often the best choice is a brand.

We're tempted to add generic soda to this category, but that would contradict an earlier post about how soda is so much better with the brand taste. Again, personal taste is a major factor in such areas, so we'll leave it up to you to decide if generic soda is a no-no for you that doesn't have the same taste as Coke or Pepsi.

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10. Never Buy Ge... A marinara sauce for pasta is so easy to make, buying a generic brand is about equal to pouring ketchup on spaghetti. But we understand if you don't have three hours at home for the sauce to simmer. Go ahead and spend a little more on the name brand pasta sauce. It tastes much better than any generic brand, and for a cheap meal like spaghetti, makes it worth eating. If you have the time to saute a few mushrooms and add them in, all the better.

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Most Annoying Th... Click here to see the top 20 most annoying things shoppers have to deal with when grocery shopping.