I read an interesting blog post this morning about brand names vs. generics.  Now I have been known a time or two to purchase a generic version of a product to save a little cash in my pocket.  Alot of times, these decisions don’t matter, and the quality is near the same.

This poster was talking about Beer.  Generic Beer.  Can you imagine?  It got me thinking of which items I would put on my NEVER NO WAY NO HOW list of purchasing in generic form.

1. Paper Towels.  I’m a Bounty girl all the way.
2. Toilet Paper.  Charmin or nothing.  I’d rather go gather leaves from the backyard than use generics.  And my yard only grows pine trees…so I’d be stuck with pine cones.
3. Shampoo.  Sorry, can’t do it. My hair is one of the very few things I’m anal about.  Gotta have my expensive stuff (when it’s on sale of course).
4. Pickles.  Why are stores trying to sell pickles with their own name on them?  Don’t they know about Claussens and their obvious superiority?

That’s my short list.  Now for yours.  What do you HAVE to have in a brand name when you shop?

I saw one the other day in my area. I hadn’t heard of this company yet, so I researched a bit.  ZipCar is a service you sign up for that provides you with a carpool car, whenever you need it, for as long as you need it.  You are given a Zipcard.  You reserve your car (either online or over the phone), and when you get to the car, you simply hold your Zipcard up to the window, and it unlocks for you!  You are ready to run your errands, take your shopping trip, whatever!

The biggest bonus I see to this is no maintenance or upkeep costs on a car of your own, no insurance payments (since those are included in your membership fee) and no car payment each month.  You pay for Zipcar when you use Zipcar.  Awesome.

If it sounds like a good fit for you, give them a try.  Check out their website today.