Saving money - off brands [View all]

As a cost-saving measure I have been trying generic or cheaper varieties of various products, with mixed results. I list some of these below:

Generic strawberry preserves: like rock. Absolutely awful; better to spend more on Smuckers or the like. Too thick to spread on bread without tearing the bread!

Generic butter, milk, cheese, eggs: always check the dates. If the sell-by date is later, get that one. There is no difference in flavor between brands. Just get what's fresher and you'll be happy. Mostly, anyway. I would be careful with the packaging on some cheaper varieties of sliced cheese; you can't reseal them.

Generic dried pasta: I can't taste a difference between Creamettes, Prince, and the generics. Maybe Barilla is better, but it's not worth twice the price. In my opinion, anyway.

Generic mac & cheese: not as good as Kraft but not bad at all. You'd almost have to have them side by side to taste a difference. I've found the best thing to do is buy the cheaper stuff and mix in some real cheese along with the margarine and the milk. It tastes pretty good.

Sausage: we like sausage, so I have tried alternatives to Jimmy Dean and Bob Evans. I don't like any of them.

Salty snacks: I've tried cheap alternatives to Cheetoes, Doritos, Fritos, Lays and so on. Mostly, the premium brands taste significantly better. Pretzels are one thing where the cheaper brands seem close in quality to the big brands, but that's all.

Soft drinks: many small, local brands of soda taste just fine to me. I'm not the kind of guy who drinks soda every day, but I like the occasional root beer and/or red pop, and Faygo tastes just fine to me - less than half the price of Coke or Pepsi. I do like premium kinds of soda once in a while, like Sioux City Sarsaparilla or Stewart's Root Beer, but there aren't generic equivalents.

Juice: I can't taste a difference between most brands of apple juice from concentrate. Martinelli's apple juice is quite expensive but it is incredibly delicious. Aside from that, though, I find little difference between the bottles which run $2.99 per half gallon and those costing $1.49 per half gallon.

OK! That's not a complete list but it's a start. Has anyone had similar experiences trying to save some coin on off brands?