To buy the off brand or not?

As with everyone here in America I am trying to find small ways to save a few dollars here and there. Some of my favorite ways to save a few are pretty normal: brown bag it to work, buy clothes on sale, buy what I need not what I want, and buy the off brand when you can. I am in a season where I am not quite living paycheck to paycheck but by no means am I living large. So I am trying to figure out how to save a few dollars where I can but knowing that I don't have to eat PB&J all the time is also a relief.

I have been doing much of my shopping at Target and Walmart. I find that many of the Target brand items are pretty comparable to the brand name but I try not to buy anything too crazy off brand items. For the most part I try to buy staples off brand and buy things I am going to eat alone or without significant manipulation the brand name.

The other day I went into Walmart to grab a few groceries. I go there mainly because they carry the creamer that I love. But I digress, I wanted to have some yogurt this week. As I stood in front of the dairy case I wondered to myself... hmmm what do I want. I decided to buy strawberry and peach. Now what brand... I typically only eat Yoplait light. I don't like anything else but as I stand there I wonder maybe if I buy the great value brand I can save myself 12 cents for a four pack. This seems that those 12 cents are going to make a real difference. So I toss a four pack of each into the basket and finish my shopping. I am sure I saved a little bit more than 24 cents but who knows.

Let's fast forward to lunch the next day, I get pretty excited for my peach yogurt. I am going to be honest and say that yogurt was very very orange and I only ate three bites. It was one of the most horrific things I have in a while, it was tart and orangey and gross. I realized that I tried to save 12 cents and now I spent money on nasty yogurt.

I think the main point of this is to remind you that sometimes it just isn't worth it to buy the off-brand you should just buy what you know you will eat... gross yogurt. I hope that the strawberry is slightly better or at least edible. Do you try to save a few cents and end up spending more?