Generic vs. Name Brand

I use generic for most of my purchases.  But there are a few things that I use name brands.

Tide and Tide with Bleach.  I love how it cleans, and I have been using it for over 15 years.  I don't know if anything works as well, because I love how well it works, and I don't want to take the chance of buying something else and it not working as well!

My shampoo.  I buy Pantene for my hair, everyone else in the family just uses Suave or whatever is the cheapest. 

Charmin.  Ultra soft Charmin.  Oh, my bum is so happy! 

Puffs Plus with lotion.  My nose is never sore, even after a week of a cold. Just don’t clean your glasses with them!

Dawn dishwashing soap.  Nothing cuts grease better.  It’s just worth it.

Campbell’s soups (cream of mushroom and tomato).  I have tried the generics and they just don’t taste right.

But the best chocolate chips in the world?  Sam's Choice milk chocolate chips.  They are so creamy!

What do you buy brand name that you won’t compromise on?

School Shopping

Okay, there is something inherently wrong with school shopping in July.  Because The Chocoholic and The Princess are on year-round school, they start up again on Monday.  How do you shop for school clothes when it’s 98 degrees outside?  We don’t.  I go and buy them one new shirt and then we will go shopping for winter clothes in September.  When you are supposed to shop for school!

At least this year, I only have 2 first-days of school.  Last year we had 4!  The Chocoholic started school, then The Princess started a week later because of kindergarten testing.  The Artist started school a day early because he was in 7th grade and they started them early so they could get “the lay of the land.”  And then finally, The Teenager started. But even worse, on the day that The Teenager started school, The Chocoholic decided to get sick and didn’t go to school for 3 days.  So it took until that Thursday before I had them all in school.  It was so frustrating! 

Anyway, so Monday I took The Chocoholic out and today I took The Princess.  Yes, it would have been easier and faster to take them together.  But my mom always made it a point of taking us out one by one so we could have some alone time together.  It was so much fun.  I vividly remember doing that with my mom, and I want that to be a special memory with my kids.

The hard part is that in Utah, the teachers cannot send home a required supplies list.  So they send home a suggested supplies list, or a “wish” list.  But they wait until the first day of school to send it out.  So then I have to go shopping a second time.  It’s frustrating.  But I do it because I know how hard the teachers work and how much money of their own they spend. 

So I have 5 more days until school starts.  Whoo Hoo!