Was anyone else a child of the ‘No Frills’ era? Perhaps they still sell these products today, but I haven’t seen them. Sure, they have cheaper products at the supermarket with interesting brand names that no one has ever heard of, but I am talking about the days of the plain white box with the big black letters: NO FRILLS _____. My parents were working middle-class people on a budget, and I recall my mother taking me to the ‘No Frills’ section of the supermarket to pick out some of our groceries. (I used to get really excited when we bought a box of NO FRILLS BROWNIE MIX and made it at home together.)
Anyway, I bring this up because I was thinking about how people can possibly save money on groceries today. One of my best suggestions is to be open-minded enough to take a look at ‘No Frills’ products. They will likely have a different name, such as ‘Hill Country Fare’ or even the name of the supermarket you’re shopping at. While some of these items are of lower quality than the name brands, many of them actually work quite well. For example, there is nothing wrong with buying ‘No Frills’ plastic wrap, cake mix or seasonings. Such items are generally similar across the board.
You won’t always get it right, and sometimes you will wind up with a ‘No Frills’ item you wouldn’t want to buy again. More often than not, however, you will have saved some money and your dinner guests or picky eaters won’t even notice.