Name Brand or Generic

When faced with the shopping choice for food, there is often the choice between name brand items or store label (in the old days, we would call those generic). The idea for some is to save money so that they can continue in their credit card debt elimination goal. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros
* Store brands will cost less, sometimes a lot less.
* When used as an ingredient (say in a stew or as part of a whole recipe), the taste is usually as good, if not better.
* Sometimes store brands use less packaging, so you end up with less trash, thereby making that decision to be green, or earth-friendly.

Cons
* You are paying for the advertising of the name brand food (say, a Kellogs Frosted Flakes vs. a Malt-o-Meal brand)
* You oftentimes can have a lot more packaging that you end up throwing away a filling up the landfill.
* You will spend more for name brand items and have less for your credit card debt elimination.

Watch for coupons and save every chance that you get.