Switching Brands to Save Money

 

We all have certain brands and  products that we love that perhaps we have used our entire lives. I grew up using things like Vaseline lotion, Listerine mouthwash, Kellogg’s cereals, Kraft barbecue sauce, shopping at Walmart to save on all of those purchases, etc. Many of those products followed me into my adulthood as purchasing was a habit. However, when I decided that I needed to curb my spending, I realized that the products that I was accustomed to using were not always on sale when I needed them. Furthermore, the store that I thought was saving me a ton of money on those items weren’t even offering the items at the best prices.

In order to maximize the amount of my savings, I had to end my brand loyalties by switching brands. That didn’t mean I stopped using certain products forever. I just decided to try other things. If you want to put some big dents in your spending, you must be willing to switch brands and try new products regularly.

 

“How does switching brands save me money?”

 

1. Manufacturers offer larger coupons on new items.– Manufacturers spend a lot of money on advertising when introducing a new product. Coupons are a form of advertising, and they also work with stores to highlight those new products in their sales papers and store displays. Coupons for newer products will be higher in value. I remember being able to get Gillette’s ProFusion razors for nearly nothing when they were first released. When combining the promotions at CVS and Walgreens with the usual $5.00 coupons, I was getting the razors for free after store rewards. However, when the Schick Hydro razors came out, I was willing to switch brands to save money again. I also got to see if the new product could do a better job.

2. Products usually go on sale about every six weeks. Though there are exceptions (like Crystal Light being Buy One Get One Free at Winn-Dixie nearly every other week), many items get their deepest discounts in six week cycles. Unless you have access to enough coupons to buy six weeks worth of product, you’ll have to switch brands as different brands or varieties of the items you buy go on sale. So, if Kellogg’s cereals go on sale during the first week of August, it may not go on sale again until mid-September. If you run out of cereal before then, instead of paying full price for Kellogg’s, you will be better off buying the Post brand cereal that is on sale.

 

“But I just HAVE to have my Eight O’Clock Coffee!”

 

So, if you just have to have that one brand of coffee, toothpaste, or whatever, this is what you need to do.

1. When you see a good coupon for that item in the newspaper or online, buy multiple copies of the newspaper and print two copies of the internet coupon per computer.

2. Stock up on the product when it is at its lowest price.

In most cases, I prefer switching brands and trying different products. You may even discover a new product or brand that you end up liking better than the one you usually use.

Question: What brand or product can you not do without? What new products have you tried in your quest to save more money?