I decided to try to be more economical with my supermarket purchases this month. Against the advice of many Brazilian family members, I bought... gasp... generic products. OMG! The world is ending.
Cariocas are notorious brand whores. Even my maid is quite particular about it and gives me endless amounts of crap for buying unknown brands to save a R$1. I can´t help it! Milk is milk, right? All of them are full of hormones and crack anyway.
I stuck my neck out big time this month and bought generic pão de queso. My Mother-in-Law would disown me if she found out. Actually, she would probably try to lend us money if it came to generic pão de queso.
And it´s not that it´s come to this, if you know what I mean. It´s that it´s a junk food and I hate spending R$6 on a pack that has maybe 2 servings. Call me what you will but it´s annoying.
So I put the other brand in and baked it exactly how you are supposed to, no corners cut. You see, my oldest had a friend sleep over so I wanted the breakfast treat to be just perfect.
Guess what, no one ate them. So I "saved" R$2 on the purchase but then threw the lot out. I guess that would mean that I actually wasted R$4 and proved my Mother in Law right... again.
You heard it here folks, there is a difference! As per the advice of both sides of my husband´s family, only buy Forno de Minas!
At least the things were of some use this morning. My youngest used them as extra boulders for his toy quarry.
sometimes I actually prefer generic. sometimes. I try always to save money... in the US people do try to cut corners. But you have people who spend crazy crazy amounts above their budgets. Especially in college or from eating out. I have always been like "how can I save a buck instead of how can I spend it". But quality is important. I can't tell the difference in generic beans, rice or milk. But my husband can and forbids these products in generic forms. Generic appliances are a maybe for me, depending the investment. I bought a generic fan because it was much cheaper and I didn't see "quality" in any of the brands.
ReplyDeleteThis insistance on name brand goes DOUBLE for Pão de Quiejo!
ReplyDeleteYes and I got into double trouble for cheaping out on them.
ReplyDeleteI`ve found that I can buy a lot of generic stuff like flour, milk, and such without it being a big deal. I stick to name brands for breads, coffee, and cheeses.