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Many people skip over generic brands when grocery shopping. But some of the the best deals you can find are on the generic brands of food. True, the boxes aren't as pretty and colorful as the brand-name counterparts, but often times what is inside is pretty comparable.

That said, people definitely have their favorites when it comes to brands. You might decide it is worth it to you to buy Heinz ketchup instead of the generic. But if your family loves raisin bran, will they really notice if it is the Kellogg's raisin bran or if it's a generic? The same goes especially for kids and sugary cereals. Because you hopefully are only giving it to your kids as a special treat, when they do get it they won't notice the difference.

Here is a handy list of groceries you should always buy in generic.

Sometimes you might not even notice that your store is selling generic brands. This is because they are often on the lower shelf, because higher priced items are usually placed at eye level.

If you are using coupons, or it is an item that it tends to be a loss leader such as pop, do doublecheck that the generic is still cheaper than the brand name version with a coupon. Sometimes the brand name will be cheaper if there is a hot coupon on it.

Still not convinced about the generics and how your family might react to them? There is nothing that prevents you from taking your old Froot Loops box, and putting the new generic fruity loops type cereal in the brand-name box. and if you want to go all out, you can even put generic ketchup into the regular ketchup bottle and put the inexpensive bread into the brand name bread bag. Especially with kids, it is all about perception, and if they see Froot Loops on the box then will often be tricked that it's really Froot Loops inside the box too.

When easy thing to do before you go grocery shopping, is a look at your grocery list and put a star next to anything he be willing to try generic, whether it is the spaghetti sauce and noodles on your list or the chicken noodle soup. That way when you grocery shop, you can remember to look on the bottom shelf for the generic before you throw the brand name version into your shopping cart.