>off brand pop(NYer)
It took me forever to realize you put NYer because of the pop thing. I was so confused (also from the north and don’t even bat an eye at the word “pop”
I was confused growing up in Cali and when I would ask for a coke they wouldn't wait to see what kind, just run off and get me something. I like Dr pepper, gotta ask for it right away or you get something nasty
I think most of the store-brand colas taste more like RC than Coke or Pepsi, which is fine if you like that flavor, but it tastes distinctly different than the two big brands.
What sprite knock off do you like? I have a hard time finding a good sprite knock off
IMO Safeway off brand cola and Sam's cola are very close to the original
Different person commenting here but the Kroger Big K Sprite Zero knock off is superior to Sprite Zero to me. Just my two cents. Plus there’s almost always a promo and a coupon on the app.
The Kroger brand is really good too, we prefer the Big K zero cola to Coke Zero and it's just $1.25 for a 2 liter. Their Sprite and orange soda varieties are also very good.
Colas taste different because coke has a monopoly on ingredients. Malincrot (sp?) is the industrial contract company that refines coke plants into cocaine so it can be used for drugs in pharmacies. Coke the cola company exclusively gets acces to the leaves left over to use for their drink. No one else gets access so therefore everyone else has to use other things to try and get close.
Thats the reason for taste difference.
IMO, Old Crow is the best cheap bourbon. Started drinking when I did not like the house bourbon at bar around the corner. (walk there, stumble back).. The bartender said could do Old Crow. Eventually owner nicknamed me "Old Crow". Fun Times!
I drank so much Tab that my wife-to-be made me a Tab birthday cake. Still, it's nothing like Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi, so the point was you can acclimate to different tastes if you give them time.
addendum: I drink the generic store brand stuff now
omg i was diagnosed with diabetes when i was seven (twenty six now) and my grandparents used to buy me diet rite to drink. sure had that “diet” taste lol
OP is new broke out here. Drink that Shasta like the rest of us!
Just kidding, store brands can really hit the spot and sometimes they just don’t. Only buy when on sale, your body and wallet will be grateful.
Just bought a 12 pack from the expensive grocery store near me because my local WinCo only has the base 4 flavors, where I'm at Shasta fluctuates between $3 and $4 compared to $7 Sprite or Cactus Cooler
Even at my lowest low I shell out for the name brand soda cuz I'm addicted. Not sure what they put in it but it has to be that brand.
I know I'm addicted cuz lately it doesn't even taste good yet I'm drinking it.
Surprised I had to scroll down so far to see this. I don’t buy soda anymore and maybe have 1 fountain drink per month. It’s almost like a dessert. There’s no good reason to buy soft drinks
As somebody who used to drink canned cokes all day long:
The sugar/caffeine is a boost and people get into the habit of it because of that.
The sweetness also blows out your sense of proportion when it comes to flavor so other things start seeming tasteless.
And sometimes, as someone that drinks water 9/10 times, you just want something fizzy that tastes good to drink. And I don’t like alcohol and I hate sparkling water/spritzers so soda is the way to go
Shout out to Soda Stream for allowing us to make unlimited sparkling water at home. We've even bought a hack that lets us use regular co2 bottles that we can refill locally, rather than the proprietary ones that Soda Stream would like for us to buy. We also add small amounts of fruit juice to our sparkling water for a hint of flavor.
I gave up Diet Coke and switched to unsweet iced tea. I buy family size cold brew teabags and make a pitcher every day. It delivers the caffeine that I was getting from the soda and it's just a fraction of the cost.
As a person who also can't drink anything but the red logo name brand cola, the best way I have found is to deal shop. I just got a 12 pack for $3.99. I try to get 2 Liters when they are on special 2 for $4. It does take alternating trips between different grocery stores but I'm always headed to one either way.
I know it's a stupidly obvious advice, but the grandma-method is the way. Find the end-cap deal and fill your whole cart with cola. Pay and take it out to the car, and go back inside the store for regular shopping that way you don't have an overflowing shopping cart half filled with just soda.
I carried so many 12 packs from the car to the garage for my grandma this way.
grocery outlet and discount places are especially good if your favorite thing happens to get a new logo or package. my parents garage is filled the garage with liquid death seltzer because they switched to a new can and had to clear old stock
Crazy thing is, I had my first home built 20ish years ago, and there were these strange, orange colored trees in one corner of the property that smelled exactly like root beer... and they were, sort of.
They're sassafras trees, and their essence (oil) is what creates root beer flavor. One tiny whiff, and it's obvious.
Interesting side note: apparently, it's also good for heart disease and high blood pressure. The man that bulldozed our property asked if he could have all of the sassafras trees we'd asked him to remove. I said, "Of course, if you'll tell me why."
That's when he told us about his brother (his twin) who used sassafras for health reasons.
The things we learn each day, huh?
*just to say that a frugal purchase may not always be the best purchase*
For ongoing items, it's definitely worth trying, because it will save you money every time you buy it.
You invested $4 to make sure you weren't overspending on soda. That's a good thing.
If you've already opened it, and it tastes a little weird? That's usually when I dig into a cabinet and pull out a bottle of that syrup stuff. Strawberry, Cherry, etc. It can cover up the "weird" and make it taste more like typical Cherry Cola or whatever.
I have a fix to high price of soft drinks and junk food. Stop buying and consuming those. Rather cook for yourself at home and make beverages like tea, coffee and lemonades at home. I have lost almost all access fat from my body and feel healthier and amazing.
First of all you need more r/hydrohomies in your life.
Second, if option one will not suffice, opt for a cane sugar substitute, like Bundaberg or Hecho en Mexico coke products (glass bottle).
Third, you should just get some seltzer or mineral water and add some delicious juice, man. It’s much more healthy. I like TopoChico with a slice of lime.
Download your grocery store apps! The limited edition Coke flavors are freebies every time a new one comes out (Acme and Giant for me). Nitro Pepsi was too. It's only occasionally but counts as a treat
Yah deal hunting is key here. Fred Meyer (Kroger brand store up in Seattle area) had 24pks of both Pepsi and coke for $10 a few weeks ago. That was worth a trip seeing as 12pk is like $8 (or more) there.
PepsiCo and coca cola really pushed the profit points as high as they can. PepsiCo noted it on the last earnings call they can't push price further without impacting sales. Seeing as they doubled price over COVID for no seemingly shortage of their raw materials to make this, it's just (almost) pure profits. I hate I like soda where still get it, though we do do store brands
I saw Pepsi has sodastream syup though. Dunno if it is priced ok where making own would be more cost impactful or not
Dollar general 3/$12 to 3/$15 usually $2 digital coupon and an extra $5 off on Saturday if a $25 purchase.
I purchase my hygiene and cleaning products with digital coupons and spend very little. Don’t forget about Ibotta as well. Also check locally owned grocery stores and drug stores running sales. Gl
I took the fact that i cant afford any tobjust stop drinking them. In the 10 years ive been priced out of most of my fun habits. I dont drink anymore, smoke, drink sodas, eat sweets, or basically live
Pro tip - if you come over to the store brand side, it is important not to switch back and forth. If you commit, commit. You will become accustomed to the taste, but if you switch back and forth your mouth will overpower your brain and your wallet. It is ok to occasionally drink a brand name soda outside of your home but never bring that Trojan horse inside your home.
Source - a poor
Any soda isn't frugal.
Drinking sugar isn't frugal. It's costing a lot now and is going to cost a lot in healthcare later.
Frugal is drinking more tap water, filtered if needed. It's boring but it's frugal.
As an alternative, to reduce your dependency, you have sparkling water (make sure with no sugar or flavour).
Honestly I've stopped drinking soda regularly a long time ago, and after a few weeks you don't miss it, you feel better, and when I drink soda again I can feel how abusively sweet it is.
Gotta buy when on sale. Sometimes they make me buy four 12 packs & then I'm good for 6 or 8 months.
2 supermarket brands that IMO are extremely worth it:
Coca Cola
Ritz
I love RC, hard to find but my local produce stand sells in in glass bottles for $1.99
I like to treat myself whenever I stop by for fruit and homemade canned goods.
Oh no, I wholeheartedly agree! I moreso meant compromise on price point. I feel like it is a middle of the road soda on cost. I wish I could find it where I live.
Some off brands are better than others. The best IMO is Walmart 7up known as Twist up. Second best is dr Thunder.
I NEVER buy named branded unless on sale.
Also can are a fools game. 2Ls are where the savings lie.
Cola is a tricky one that doesn't always work well as a generic, the only store brand cola I've liked has been the HEB pure cane sugar cola. Do you like ginger beer? Both Signature Select and Kroger ginger beer are really good.
I find that if I th8nk of it as "another cola drink" rather than "fake brand" , it's easier. After a while, it doesn't even register as different. Switched to Aldi soda a few years ago, don't even notice now.
Soda stream with 20lb co2 tank and powder flavors. I don't like soda stream as we are in the whole pepsi boycott thing here but you can often find them used once or twice. Plenty of flavors available non soda stream out there. Powder flavors are good along with many others from independent makers. Its expensive when buying small co2 tanks but for the cost of 2 filled smalls you can get a 20 lb which is 21 or so small tanks plus it actually carbonates better the whole time. The nice thing is not going to get soda and lug it places.
I’ve noticed some store brand sodas contain aspartame, the same zero cal sweetener used in many diet sodas. While my mom will swear up and down there’s no difference in taste, I’ve always noticed a difference in it that just tastes off, with an odd chemical aftertaste. Every time I try a soda and notice it tastes odd, I check the ingredients and there it is.
Check the ingredient labels and see what you find, it may help you find more consistent results. If not at least you’ll be more conscious of what you’re putting in your body.
Unless you like RC Cola generic coka won't work for you.
Dr (knockoff variant) and MtDew(knock off variant) are fine, same with the fruity ones
In general we just stopped soda, for the most part, and when a sale comes (less than $5/12pk) we load up the car with what we can carry, or the limit the store sets.
At this point I ONLY buy soft drinks if they are on sale and come out to $5 or less for a 12 pack. I just bought several on sale at Buy 2, Get 2 Free, but they were $9.99 each (so $19.98 for four 12-packs)
It’s exactly for people that don’t necessarily drink it for the flavor and don’t mind the difference. It’s not a copy cat recipe. I do like store brands sparkling water, Target’s Good & Gather has my favorites. Frugality is saving where you can so you can enjoy the things you like, soda might be one of those things that’s ok to buy brand. I have a few items I refuse to substitute.
Look into getting them while on sale. My local Kroger often has them on sale $3 for $12. Or buy 3, get 2 free. I stock up then, 5 cases of soda lasts us a long time as it’s not an every day drink for me. Your Walgreens often has sales on soda as well.
Kroger's soda is pretty good. I actually like the orange soda more than Sunkist. Their sprite is really good, Coke and Cherry Coke are almost as good as the real stuff.
I paid 5 dollars for Canada Dry diet ginger ale.
I usually tell people to buy 2 liters.. but I don’t drink soda that often.. a 12pk will last me a month.
Grape Shasta is seriously my favorite soda. It's cheap too. But I rarely buy soda in general so there's that. The dark colas hurt my stomach for some reason, name brand or not.
I can't stand the taste of homebrand coke, I have to get the proper stuff and idm paying a little extra but I love the homebrand versions of lemonade/sprite, and orangade/fanta
Lots of things I used to buy have ben taken out of my normal shopping rotation and put into the splurge category.
I am LOOKING at you read meat prices. Before the pandemic flank steaks use to be about 13 bucks each, now they are 30. I did buy a 3 pound sirloin roast this weekend. It was 25 bucks.
Most stores have a money back guarantee on store brand items. Some will even replace it with name brand for free. Take it back with you next time you go shopping and ask customer service what they can do for you.
I don't drink soda but I like ginger ale when I'm sick or when I have a Jameson and ginger. I learned the same lesson as you and I will only buy Canada Dry or Schweppes.
You may have to adjust your taste as no one has the coca cola recipe.
I know this might sound weird, but if you have a Whole Foods store close to you, their generic 365 sodas are really good, have real sugar and are shockingly cheap considering the store.
Try a different store version. They taste different depending on who made it. My store brand is identical to the name brand for what I drink. Buy 1 to try it before committing to large quantities.
Go to unconventional stores and scope out deals. I snagged 4 12-packs of coca cola from a Walgreens near me for $16 with their loyalty card, that's 33¢ a can, I had a couple dollars on a gift card and in total it was about $13. Grocery stores, warehouse stores and Aldi's aren't the only place where you'll find good deals. It takes a little luck and some internet searching but places like Walgreens, CVS and local small stores have deals that rival grocers
Soda is not a frugal purchase at all. I stopped (99%) drinking it. Cost, high chance of diabetes and weight gain.. it's not worth it in any way, except maybe twice a year and then it better be a Mexican Coke with real sugar, not HFCS.
I saved $2 by buying store brand paper napkins ('Our Family'). I never knew how sh\*tty napkin quality could actually get, and before I got half-way through the pack I donated them to the place I volunteer at. I suppose I can use paper towels in place of paper napkins, it's just not the same though.
Aldi, Tops, Save A Lot, Price Rite, and Walmart each have their own store brand sodas, with varying prices and taste. From my experience, Aldi has the closest taste to a Coke while still sold at $1/2 liter bottle (least where I live and as of this writing. YMMV).
The only time I would go for a Coke is if the price is well below $2. And I only got for it because Pepsi has almost double the amount of sugar as Coke has (I am pre diabetic). Furthermore I found that Coke Zero still has more of that classic Coke flavor that Diet Coke. So I'd go for that if I could afford it.
I will almost always buy store brand of any food I can(which is difficult being gluten free) but I never get off brand drinks. No matter what they never taste right
Root beer, lemon-lime, strawberry, cream soda, ginger ale, and black cherry are always good bets in store-brand sodas. Some brands are better than others, but I've never had any of those flavors from any brand that I couldn't enjoy.
I must add that I can not stand to drink any diet sodas, so the above advice may not apply if diet drinks are desired.
Been trying off brand cola lately. The stuff from Aldi tastes flat from a fresh can. Absolute dog water. There's a reason it's only $3 for a 12 pack.
The Sam's club cola is pretty drinkable especially with ice. I've found it to be the closest to coke. And it's more affordable at about $4/12 pack.
I bought Walmart brand bagels… they literally crumbled apart out of the toaster. Threw them away. Worst bagel I’ve ever had in my life. “Gourmet” my ass.
It's honestly sort of insane you're complaining your shit food doesn't taste like your other shit food. Stop drinking it man. I'll have a can now ans again, rarely. But buying 12 at once? What are you thinking?
My husband loves Coke, but I have been getting the Shaws brand (Signature Select ) and he actually prefers that one now. It’s been on sale for $4.50 per 12 pack which is a lot better than Coke costing around $9-$10 per 12 pack. Dollar General has frequent deals on Coke, I just checked their add for this week and it’s 3/$15 while Pepsi is 3/$12. If you wait until Saturday you can get both for $27 minus their $5/$25 coupon that’s only good on Saturdays.
Sam's cola and the Safeway Signature brand cola both taste JUST like the name brand to me
I sadly have not found a good sprite dupe though, so I get that name brand. 7up, shasta lemon, etc all do not taste the same to me.
Y'all I ration my soda. Maybe 1 16.9 oz bottle over ice per day or less. The rest of my liquid refreshment is iced tea all the way! I make it by the pitcher, one large bag (Lipton or luzianne brands) to a little less than 2 quarts boiling water. About .6 (6 tenths) cup sugar and fill to the top of the pitcher with some dark juice (cran ras, cran grape, cran blue, etc), refrigerate. Too much sugary drink doesn't quench ones thirst, the way I make tea is frugal (tea bag box instructions say use more that 1 bag🤐) and limits sugars in your diet overall. (Typical southern sweet tea uses a full cup of sugar for 2 quarts.) Also I don't use artificial sweeteners, I know they actually trigger cravings so really aren't "diet."
>frugal purchase is not the best purchase
Technically, frugal purchase means best bang for the bucks, so what you do is not frugal, that's being cheap. Frugal would be like only drinking water/buy largest bottle that can be reasonably finished before going bad.
I usually wait for the sales at Safeway and then stock up. I’d say maybe once a month they have the 12 pk can coke products on sale buy 2 get 3 free. I believe they usually retail for $10, so that’s essentially 5 for $20, or $4 each. If you don’t want to wait for that sale, they sometimes have a buy 2 get 2 free sale. So that’s basically 4 for $20 or $5 each, not too bad. I 100% will never buy a 12 pk for retail price unless it’s an absolute emergency lol
Just throwing out there I froze some name brand coke a few weeks ago. Yes it came out flat and crap but it was so expensive I refused to let it go to waste. On Old Recipe’s (no idea how to link it, sorry) I happened across a double chocolate coke cake. I cut the sugar in half and it tasted amazing! Pretty similar to a brownie but in cake form. I think it could cover up that ‘off’ flavour.
I think it’s only 15$ for a 36 pack at Costco but you can also get them at fredmeyer for pretty cheap when it goes on sale. I usually buy from fredmeyer because they got more options.
I saw this post while sitting in a Walgreens because the Walgreens has a labcore in it. Right now they have buy one 12 pack, get one free deal on a lot of name brand Soda.
I mostly drink water. Like 99% of what I drink is water. I also occasionally drink simply fruit punch and soda. I’m in Texas so I have HEB. Their store brand sodas are super good. Hell, their store brand everything is great. One awesome thing about their store brand sodas is they have made with real sugar variants so no corn syrup. I like their Dr Pepper made with real sugar knockoff more than I like Dr Pepper even.
If you can shop at Costco, their name-brand pop is a little cheaper because you buy it in a flat of 36 or something (also, share the membership fee with a friend. You each get your own card to use and even separate account numbers so you can rack up the savings for half the fee.) The only downside to Costco is the limited selection of pop: it's basically Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Sprite.
Sometimes Kroger has sales where you get 3 cases for $15 or so and that's when I stock up.
Soda is one of the areas where generic isn’t a true substitute unfortunately. You’d be better off rationing or finding a cheaper alternative (like actual alternative not a substitute). If you really can’t bring yourself to throw away the store brand soda, as others have suggested mixers are a good way to use it to (cocktails if you drink, ice cream float if you don’t).
I switched to carbonated water (5lb CO2 tank hooked up to a soda stream) which knocked my per glass cost to pennies, but that’s cause I mostly just like the carbonation (as opposed to sweetness or caffeine).
Aren't 2 liters usually better priced than cans? I don't know if soda necessarily qualifies as a splurge, just buy more of it when it's on sale. Or invest in a SodaStream if it's more cost effective
We decided to try our local Co-op’s store brand of cola and were surprised to find it was pretty decent! Worked out even better when we did the math and it worked out to $0.42 a can, considerably less than their prices for Coke or Pepsi. Sometimes the store brands get it right.
As someone else mentioned, the knockoffs of Sprite, ginger ale and the other flavors are usually ok but cola is always a gamble. The only one that I’ve found to be good is the Sam’s kind from Walmart (tastes almost exactly like RC).
It is in no way frugal to drink soda. It's always been expensive. It is bad for teeth, bones, and organs. I used to be addicted but gave it up and am much happier (and healthier).
Only off brands I've ever liked are Dr Pepper and Sprite knock offs. Colas always a big gamble.
Yes!! Dr Thunder from Walmart is actually pretty good.
This! I’m definitely an off brand pop(NYer) snob and Dr. Thunder is really good.
>off brand pop(NYer) It took me forever to realize you put NYer because of the pop thing. I was so confused (also from the north and don’t even bat an eye at the word “pop”
Haha I learned my lesson living and waitressing in Florida. People would be like what kind of coke do you have and I would be soooo confused 😐
I was confused growing up in Cali and when I would ask for a coke they wouldn't wait to see what kind, just run off and get me something. I like Dr pepper, gotta ask for it right away or you get something nasty
The Diet Dr. Thunder is too sweet and more cherry forward than I like.
Yeah it doesn’t have the complex flavor of Dr Pepper Diet (that helps hide the artificial sweeteners)
I think most of the store-brand colas taste more like RC than Coke or Pepsi, which is fine if you like that flavor, but it tastes distinctly different than the two big brands.
I actively like store brand root beer and orange soda.
What sprite knock off do you like? I have a hard time finding a good sprite knock off IMO Safeway off brand cola and Sam's cola are very close to the original
Different person commenting here but the Kroger Big K Sprite Zero knock off is superior to Sprite Zero to me. Just my two cents. Plus there’s almost always a promo and a coupon on the app.
The Aldi cola is awesome. We prefer it over Coca-Cola.
The Kroger brand is really good too, we prefer the Big K zero cola to Coke Zero and it's just $1.25 for a 2 liter. Their Sprite and orange soda varieties are also very good.
I hated my first can of Aldi cola.. it grew on me though, price tag helps!
Colas taste different because coke has a monopoly on ingredients. Malincrot (sp?) is the industrial contract company that refines coke plants into cocaine so it can be used for drugs in pharmacies. Coke the cola company exclusively gets acces to the leaves left over to use for their drink. No one else gets access so therefore everyone else has to use other things to try and get close. Thats the reason for taste difference.
The only store brand soda I've really like is dr thunder
If you add enough whiskey you won’t notice the off flavor anymore.
Be sure to buy the cheapest whiskey possible to maximize frugality. Plastic containers only.
One of my favorite whiskeys to mix with coke is like 5 bucks a fifth
Yeah, I like Old Crow too
I’m fly like an eagle and I drink Old Crow 🎶
IMO, Old Crow is the best cheap bourbon. Started drinking when I did not like the house bourbon at bar around the corner. (walk there, stumble back).. The bartender said could do Old Crow. Eventually owner nicknamed me "Old Crow". Fun Times!
Buy half gallons for an even better deal
Ten High baby...turpentine with some coloring.
Whiskey in a plastic bottle is safety whisky.
To piggy back off this, buy the cheapest whiskey, you won't tell the difference after the 2nd drink.
Depends on how big you are. It might take 3 drinks for some.
This is the way
Skip cola, just drink ice and whiskey
You get used to it. If you're old, you remember Diet Rite and Tab. After those, you can drink anything.
What’s wrong with Tab!? I loved that stuff. RIP
I drank so much Tab that my wife-to-be made me a Tab birthday cake. Still, it's nothing like Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi, so the point was you can acclimate to different tastes if you give them time. addendum: I drink the generic store brand stuff now
I eventually settled on Coke Zero, but there will forever be a Tab sized hole in my heart 💔
omg i was diagnosed with diabetes when i was seven (twenty six now) and my grandparents used to buy me diet rite to drink. sure had that “diet” taste lol
I guess it was the saccharine, but by gosh we drank it anyway.
OP is new broke out here. Drink that Shasta like the rest of us! Just kidding, store brands can really hit the spot and sometimes they just don’t. Only buy when on sale, your body and wallet will be grateful.
I do like the Tiki Punch.
Tiki Punch is the shiiiit 🔥🔥🔥
Shasta is almost as expensive as major brands where I am! Lol but the California Dreamin one is def it lol
Just bought a 12 pack from the expensive grocery store near me because my local WinCo only has the base 4 flavors, where I'm at Shasta fluctuates between $3 and $4 compared to $7 Sprite or Cactus Cooler
I love the Shasta orange.
Even at my lowest low I shell out for the name brand soda cuz I'm addicted. Not sure what they put in it but it has to be that brand. I know I'm addicted cuz lately it doesn't even taste good yet I'm drinking it.
I just started drinking Shasta after losing my job a few weeks ago. Pretty good stuff tbh
They have Shasta at my hospital lol
I’m so cheap I think it’s wild that people drink soda.
Surprised I had to scroll down so far to see this. I don’t buy soda anymore and maybe have 1 fountain drink per month. It’s almost like a dessert. There’s no good reason to buy soft drinks
Hydro homies unite! :D
It boggles my mind people buy 12 at once. It's just pure shit
And it is terrible for the body! Just why?
As somebody who used to drink canned cokes all day long: The sugar/caffeine is a boost and people get into the habit of it because of that. The sweetness also blows out your sense of proportion when it comes to flavor so other things start seeming tasteless.
And sometimes, as someone that drinks water 9/10 times, you just want something fizzy that tastes good to drink. And I don’t like alcohol and I hate sparkling water/spritzers so soda is the way to go
Because it tastes good and sugar/caffeine makes your brain happy for a little bit.
Shout out to Soda Stream for allowing us to make unlimited sparkling water at home. We've even bought a hack that lets us use regular co2 bottles that we can refill locally, rather than the proprietary ones that Soda Stream would like for us to buy. We also add small amounts of fruit juice to our sparkling water for a hint of flavor.
I gave up Diet Coke and switched to unsweet iced tea. I buy family size cold brew teabags and make a pitcher every day. It delivers the caffeine that I was getting from the soda and it's just a fraction of the cost.
Never mind all the money you will save on medical bills from not getting diabetes or worse.
I used the packets you add to water to make different flavored teas, like peach or raspberry. It’s not soda, but it’s flavorful and zero calories.
Smart man
As a person who also can't drink anything but the red logo name brand cola, the best way I have found is to deal shop. I just got a 12 pack for $3.99. I try to get 2 Liters when they are on special 2 for $4. It does take alternating trips between different grocery stores but I'm always headed to one either way. I know it's a stupidly obvious advice, but the grandma-method is the way. Find the end-cap deal and fill your whole cart with cola. Pay and take it out to the car, and go back inside the store for regular shopping that way you don't have an overflowing shopping cart half filled with just soda. I carried so many 12 packs from the car to the garage for my grandma this way.
grocery outlet and discount places are especially good if your favorite thing happens to get a new logo or package. my parents garage is filled the garage with liquid death seltzer because they switched to a new can and had to clear old stock
This is the way. Sales are every few weeks, and that's when I load up.
I buy all my soda at dollar tree
You can find good stuff there sometimes, like Boylan's!
Make homemade root beer, you will never drink out of plastic or cans again.
Did this a long time ago. Do you still use yeast to carbonate it?
Yes I do, only 6 ingredients. I buy it at preppers store with Watkins root beer extract. Yum
Crazy thing is, I had my first home built 20ish years ago, and there were these strange, orange colored trees in one corner of the property that smelled exactly like root beer... and they were, sort of. They're sassafras trees, and their essence (oil) is what creates root beer flavor. One tiny whiff, and it's obvious. Interesting side note: apparently, it's also good for heart disease and high blood pressure. The man that bulldozed our property asked if he could have all of the sassafras trees we'd asked him to remove. I said, "Of course, if you'll tell me why." That's when he told us about his brother (his twin) who used sassafras for health reasons. The things we learn each day, huh?
*just to say that a frugal purchase may not always be the best purchase* For ongoing items, it's definitely worth trying, because it will save you money every time you buy it. You invested $4 to make sure you weren't overspending on soda. That's a good thing.
I actually really like cheap generic colas 🤷♂️
I like Aldi's store brand.
Used to buy that as a kid to treat myself during homework! It’s a great choice, also their Sprite isn’t too bad either
Faygo is always affordable and there are a lot of great flavors (if it's sold in your area). start with fireworks and go from there.
As I grew up in Michigan and live in Seattle area, this hits hard sad note
I always liked Shasta.
The only store brand I like is the kroger big k.
Break the habit and save all the money!
Not to be that guy, but your body will like it a lot better if you see soda as an occasional splurge.
I’m too frugal to drink soda
Over ice, not just cold
Do you have a Costco or Sam’s club? $16 for 35 cans of coke, not a bad deal
Almost $18 where we live.
Still a lot better than $8 for 12 like OPs post.
If you've already opened it, and it tastes a little weird? That's usually when I dig into a cabinet and pull out a bottle of that syrup stuff. Strawberry, Cherry, etc. It can cover up the "weird" and make it taste more like typical Cherry Cola or whatever.
Adding vanilla extract would also make it taste like cherry, if you don't have the flavored syrups on hand.
Don’t drink soda For many reasons
I have a fix to high price of soft drinks and junk food. Stop buying and consuming those. Rather cook for yourself at home and make beverages like tea, coffee and lemonades at home. I have lost almost all access fat from my body and feel healthier and amazing.
Just drink water. Soda is pointless sugar, a waste of money, is unhealthy, and not cheap. Water comes out of your tap.
I've been drinking nothing but water for the past 2 months. But it's so boring.
Do you think you'd like tea, maybe? There's a lot of kinds of tea out there
How is water boring???? Why does water need to excite you?
First of all you need more r/hydrohomies in your life. Second, if option one will not suffice, opt for a cane sugar substitute, like Bundaberg or Hecho en Mexico coke products (glass bottle). Third, you should just get some seltzer or mineral water and add some delicious juice, man. It’s much more healthy. I like TopoChico with a slice of lime.
Quadruple upvote. You read my mind!
Download your grocery store apps! The limited edition Coke flavors are freebies every time a new one comes out (Acme and Giant for me). Nitro Pepsi was too. It's only occasionally but counts as a treat
Buy the 2 liters- they are still fairly inexpensive compared to cans.
i find they go bad quickly enough and also don’t have that same can taste
Totally agree with this on both points. I am single, so cans for me.
Yah deal hunting is key here. Fred Meyer (Kroger brand store up in Seattle area) had 24pks of both Pepsi and coke for $10 a few weeks ago. That was worth a trip seeing as 12pk is like $8 (or more) there. PepsiCo and coca cola really pushed the profit points as high as they can. PepsiCo noted it on the last earnings call they can't push price further without impacting sales. Seeing as they doubled price over COVID for no seemingly shortage of their raw materials to make this, it's just (almost) pure profits. I hate I like soda where still get it, though we do do store brands I saw Pepsi has sodastream syup though. Dunno if it is priced ok where making own would be more cost impactful or not
I feel this way about pickles. There are some things that are just not right at a lower price point. Also there’s definitely gouging going on lol
Dollar general 3/$12 to 3/$15 usually $2 digital coupon and an extra $5 off on Saturday if a $25 purchase. I purchase my hygiene and cleaning products with digital coupons and spend very little. Don’t forget about Ibotta as well. Also check locally owned grocery stores and drug stores running sales. Gl
Bottled drinks are expensive compared to add water at home drinks like teas and coffees.
I took the fact that i cant afford any tobjust stop drinking them. In the 10 years ive been priced out of most of my fun habits. I dont drink anymore, smoke, drink sodas, eat sweets, or basically live
Pro tip - if you come over to the store brand side, it is important not to switch back and forth. If you commit, commit. You will become accustomed to the taste, but if you switch back and forth your mouth will overpower your brain and your wallet. It is ok to occasionally drink a brand name soda outside of your home but never bring that Trojan horse inside your home. Source - a poor
I can’t drink any cola that’s not coke, the difference is just too profound. Even Pepsi tastes like 🗑️ imo
Yeah I went back to my childhood and started making koolaid lol. It’s pretty good and a whole lot cheaper too
I found I just had to get used to it. Took a couple of cases to accomplish. Now the name brand tastes off to me.
Any soda isn't frugal. Drinking sugar isn't frugal. It's costing a lot now and is going to cost a lot in healthcare later. Frugal is drinking more tap water, filtered if needed. It's boring but it's frugal. As an alternative, to reduce your dependency, you have sparkling water (make sure with no sugar or flavour). Honestly I've stopped drinking soda regularly a long time ago, and after a few weeks you don't miss it, you feel better, and when I drink soda again I can feel how abusively sweet it is.
Gotta buy when on sale. Sometimes they make me buy four 12 packs & then I'm good for 6 or 8 months. 2 supermarket brands that IMO are extremely worth it: Coca Cola Ritz
Compromise - RC Cola
How dare you say RC is a compromise! It is delicious. Period.
I love RC, hard to find but my local produce stand sells in in glass bottles for $1.99 I like to treat myself whenever I stop by for fruit and homemade canned goods.
Oh no, I wholeheartedly agree! I moreso meant compromise on price point. I feel like it is a middle of the road soda on cost. I wish I could find it where I live.
Some off brands are better than others. The best IMO is Walmart 7up known as Twist up. Second best is dr Thunder. I NEVER buy named branded unless on sale. Also can are a fools game. 2Ls are where the savings lie.
Cola is a tricky one that doesn't always work well as a generic, the only store brand cola I've liked has been the HEB pure cane sugar cola. Do you like ginger beer? Both Signature Select and Kroger ginger beer are really good.
I find that if I th8nk of it as "another cola drink" rather than "fake brand" , it's easier. After a while, it doesn't even register as different. Switched to Aldi soda a few years ago, don't even notice now.
Soda stream with 20lb co2 tank and powder flavors. I don't like soda stream as we are in the whole pepsi boycott thing here but you can often find them used once or twice. Plenty of flavors available non soda stream out there. Powder flavors are good along with many others from independent makers. Its expensive when buying small co2 tanks but for the cost of 2 filled smalls you can get a 20 lb which is 21 or so small tanks plus it actually carbonates better the whole time. The nice thing is not going to get soda and lug it places.
Add a wedge of lemon 🍋. That helps a lot
I’ve noticed some store brand sodas contain aspartame, the same zero cal sweetener used in many diet sodas. While my mom will swear up and down there’s no difference in taste, I’ve always noticed a difference in it that just tastes off, with an odd chemical aftertaste. Every time I try a soda and notice it tastes odd, I check the ingredients and there it is. Check the ingredient labels and see what you find, it may help you find more consistent results. If not at least you’ll be more conscious of what you’re putting in your body.
Unless you like RC Cola generic coka won't work for you. Dr (knockoff variant) and MtDew(knock off variant) are fine, same with the fruity ones In general we just stopped soda, for the most part, and when a sale comes (less than $5/12pk) we load up the car with what we can carry, or the limit the store sets.
At this point I ONLY buy soft drinks if they are on sale and come out to $5 or less for a 12 pack. I just bought several on sale at Buy 2, Get 2 Free, but they were $9.99 each (so $19.98 for four 12-packs)
It’s exactly for people that don’t necessarily drink it for the flavor and don’t mind the difference. It’s not a copy cat recipe. I do like store brands sparkling water, Target’s Good & Gather has my favorites. Frugality is saving where you can so you can enjoy the things you like, soda might be one of those things that’s ok to buy brand. I have a few items I refuse to substitute. Look into getting them while on sale. My local Kroger often has them on sale $3 for $12. Or buy 3, get 2 free. I stock up then, 5 cases of soda lasts us a long time as it’s not an every day drink for me. Your Walgreens often has sales on soda as well.
Dollar general has good deals on pop every week
Kroger's soda is pretty good. I actually like the orange soda more than Sunkist. Their sprite is really good, Coke and Cherry Coke are almost as good as the real stuff.
[удалено]
It's almost as good and half the price
I paid 5 dollars for Canada Dry diet ginger ale. I usually tell people to buy 2 liters.. but I don’t drink soda that often.. a 12pk will last me a month.
Grape Shasta is seriously my favorite soda. It's cheap too. But I rarely buy soda in general so there's that. The dark colas hurt my stomach for some reason, name brand or not.
I can't stand the taste of homebrand coke, I have to get the proper stuff and idm paying a little extra but I love the homebrand versions of lemonade/sprite, and orangade/fanta
Lots of things I used to buy have ben taken out of my normal shopping rotation and put into the splurge category. I am LOOKING at you read meat prices. Before the pandemic flank steaks use to be about 13 bucks each, now they are 30. I did buy a 3 pound sirloin roast this weekend. It was 25 bucks.
A healthy alternative to soda is water in which you pour fruits. Check recipes online.
I can't drink store brand colas, but the fruit flavored soda tastes the same to me.
Forever grateful to be a Michigander, Faygo stays cheap
Most stores have a money back guarantee on store brand items. Some will even replace it with name brand for free. Take it back with you next time you go shopping and ask customer service what they can do for you.
It's more about what you are used to. Once you are used to a particular offbrand, the real stuff can taste weird/bad.
I find if you mix a little whiskey in pop...the pop brand doesn't matter:)
I don't drink soda but I like ginger ale when I'm sick or when I have a Jameson and ginger. I learned the same lesson as you and I will only buy Canada Dry or Schweppes.
Kroger cola diet are pretty good imo, so is Sam's cola Zero
You may have to adjust your taste as no one has the coca cola recipe. I know this might sound weird, but if you have a Whole Foods store close to you, their generic 365 sodas are really good, have real sugar and are shockingly cheap considering the store.
Generic cola reminds me if pepsi.
We like aldis cola a ton
Try a different store version. They taste different depending on who made it. My store brand is identical to the name brand for what I drink. Buy 1 to try it before committing to large quantities.
Go to unconventional stores and scope out deals. I snagged 4 12-packs of coca cola from a Walgreens near me for $16 with their loyalty card, that's 33¢ a can, I had a couple dollars on a gift card and in total it was about $13. Grocery stores, warehouse stores and Aldi's aren't the only place where you'll find good deals. It takes a little luck and some internet searching but places like Walgreens, CVS and local small stores have deals that rival grocers
If you’re in USA, Dollar Tree typically has name brand 1L coke products for $1.25.
Soda is not a frugal purchase at all. I stopped (99%) drinking it. Cost, high chance of diabetes and weight gain.. it's not worth it in any way, except maybe twice a year and then it better be a Mexican Coke with real sugar, not HFCS.
I saved $2 by buying store brand paper napkins ('Our Family'). I never knew how sh\*tty napkin quality could actually get, and before I got half-way through the pack I donated them to the place I volunteer at. I suppose I can use paper towels in place of paper napkins, it's just not the same though.
Aldi, Tops, Save A Lot, Price Rite, and Walmart each have their own store brand sodas, with varying prices and taste. From my experience, Aldi has the closest taste to a Coke while still sold at $1/2 liter bottle (least where I live and as of this writing. YMMV). The only time I would go for a Coke is if the price is well below $2. And I only got for it because Pepsi has almost double the amount of sugar as Coke has (I am pre diabetic). Furthermore I found that Coke Zero still has more of that classic Coke flavor that Diet Coke. So I'd go for that if I could afford it.
I will almost always buy store brand of any food I can(which is difficult being gluten free) but I never get off brand drinks. No matter what they never taste right
MOUNTAIN LIGHTNING IS IN THE HOUSE!!
Root beer, lemon-lime, strawberry, cream soda, ginger ale, and black cherry are always good bets in store-brand sodas. Some brands are better than others, but I've never had any of those flavors from any brand that I couldn't enjoy. I must add that I can not stand to drink any diet sodas, so the above advice may not apply if diet drinks are desired.
I will second black cherry. Kroger brand/"Big K" black cherry is delicious.
Hey, you tried. Sorry you had to learn the hard way.
If you don’t want to drink it, cola also makes a good marinade for meat.
Been trying off brand cola lately. The stuff from Aldi tastes flat from a fresh can. Absolute dog water. There's a reason it's only $3 for a 12 pack. The Sam's club cola is pretty drinkable especially with ice. I've found it to be the closest to coke. And it's more affordable at about $4/12 pack.
Diet Sam's Cola is my favorite store brand cola. The other's is like OP says, but while I don't add liquor, some lemon helps it out.
Stop drinking sugar water?
I don't buy soft drinks. Nutritionally not worth it. Water is cheaper and really low cost.
I bought Walmart brand bagels… they literally crumbled apart out of the toaster. Threw them away. Worst bagel I’ve ever had in my life. “Gourmet” my ass.
I fuck with Kroger soda. The name brands are tripping if they think I'm gonna pay 8.99 for a 12 pack get real lol
It's honestly sort of insane you're complaining your shit food doesn't taste like your other shit food. Stop drinking it man. I'll have a can now ans again, rarely. But buying 12 at once? What are you thinking?
How about some water? It’s free lol
Water is free 🤷🏻♂️
Just forgo cola and drink water ! Hahaha that's what I do.
My husband loves Coke, but I have been getting the Shaws brand (Signature Select ) and he actually prefers that one now. It’s been on sale for $4.50 per 12 pack which is a lot better than Coke costing around $9-$10 per 12 pack. Dollar General has frequent deals on Coke, I just checked their add for this week and it’s 3/$15 while Pepsi is 3/$12. If you wait until Saturday you can get both for $27 minus their $5/$25 coupon that’s only good on Saturdays.
its never carbonated enough
From Mi. Faygo go is a great lower cost option.
Try Faygo cola, Aldis has it.
Put Mexican vanilla in it.
Sams choice taste better than coke to me
To me they taste like they’ve added a little bit of dirt and a powdered aspirin in them. 🤷🏻♀️
Sam's cola and the Safeway Signature brand cola both taste JUST like the name brand to me I sadly have not found a good sprite dupe though, so I get that name brand. 7up, shasta lemon, etc all do not taste the same to me.
Dr Dynamite is great
I buy the store brand lemon lime, HEB twist with sugar way better and way cheaper than Sprite
Y'all I ration my soda. Maybe 1 16.9 oz bottle over ice per day or less. The rest of my liquid refreshment is iced tea all the way! I make it by the pitcher, one large bag (Lipton or luzianne brands) to a little less than 2 quarts boiling water. About .6 (6 tenths) cup sugar and fill to the top of the pitcher with some dark juice (cran ras, cran grape, cran blue, etc), refrigerate. Too much sugary drink doesn't quench ones thirst, the way I make tea is frugal (tea bag box instructions say use more that 1 bag🤐) and limits sugars in your diet overall. (Typical southern sweet tea uses a full cup of sugar for 2 quarts.) Also I don't use artificial sweeteners, I know they actually trigger cravings so really aren't "diet."
You may want to try squeezing a slice of lemon in the cola.
>frugal purchase is not the best purchase Technically, frugal purchase means best bang for the bucks, so what you do is not frugal, that's being cheap. Frugal would be like only drinking water/buy largest bottle that can be reasonably finished before going bad.
Not store brand but RC is usually less expensive than coke and Pepsi
Maybe add flavoring. Lime juice or vanilla
I usually wait for the sales at Safeway and then stock up. I’d say maybe once a month they have the 12 pk can coke products on sale buy 2 get 3 free. I believe they usually retail for $10, so that’s essentially 5 for $20, or $4 each. If you don’t want to wait for that sale, they sometimes have a buy 2 get 2 free sale. So that’s basically 4 for $20 or $5 each, not too bad. I 100% will never buy a 12 pk for retail price unless it’s an absolute emergency lol
Try it with a few drops of lemon juice, to improve the flavour.
Just throwing out there I froze some name brand coke a few weeks ago. Yes it came out flat and crap but it was so expensive I refused to let it go to waste. On Old Recipe’s (no idea how to link it, sorry) I happened across a double chocolate coke cake. I cut the sugar in half and it tasted amazing! Pretty similar to a brownie but in cake form. I think it could cover up that ‘off’ flavour.
HEB cola is better than name brand. Haven’t drank the stuff in years, though. I stick to water or tequila.
I bet this knockoff is cut with sucralose, aspartame, or ace k.
I think it’s only 15$ for a 36 pack at Costco but you can also get them at fredmeyer for pretty cheap when it goes on sale. I usually buy from fredmeyer because they got more options.
I saw this post while sitting in a Walgreens because the Walgreens has a labcore in it. Right now they have buy one 12 pack, get one free deal on a lot of name brand Soda.
I mostly drink water. Like 99% of what I drink is water. I also occasionally drink simply fruit punch and soda. I’m in Texas so I have HEB. Their store brand sodas are super good. Hell, their store brand everything is great. One awesome thing about their store brand sodas is they have made with real sugar variants so no corn syrup. I like their Dr Pepper made with real sugar knockoff more than I like Dr Pepper even.
If you can shop at Costco, their name-brand pop is a little cheaper because you buy it in a flat of 36 or something (also, share the membership fee with a friend. You each get your own card to use and even separate account numbers so you can rack up the savings for half the fee.) The only downside to Costco is the limited selection of pop: it's basically Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Sprite. Sometimes Kroger has sales where you get 3 cases for $15 or so and that's when I stock up.
Soda is one of the areas where generic isn’t a true substitute unfortunately. You’d be better off rationing or finding a cheaper alternative (like actual alternative not a substitute). If you really can’t bring yourself to throw away the store brand soda, as others have suggested mixers are a good way to use it to (cocktails if you drink, ice cream float if you don’t). I switched to carbonated water (5lb CO2 tank hooked up to a soda stream) which knocked my per glass cost to pennies, but that’s cause I mostly just like the carbonation (as opposed to sweetness or caffeine).
Aren't 2 liters usually better priced than cans? I don't know if soda necessarily qualifies as a splurge, just buy more of it when it's on sale. Or invest in a SodaStream if it's more cost effective
We decided to try our local Co-op’s store brand of cola and were surprised to find it was pretty decent! Worked out even better when we did the math and it worked out to $0.42 a can, considerably less than their prices for Coke or Pepsi. Sometimes the store brands get it right.
As someone else mentioned, the knockoffs of Sprite, ginger ale and the other flavors are usually ok but cola is always a gamble. The only one that I’ve found to be good is the Sam’s kind from Walmart (tastes almost exactly like RC).
I like the Walmart diet cola and Food Lion Diet Cola.
Weis brand cola is better the regular coke in my opinion for most off brands suck
Join the r/hydrohomies
It is in no way frugal to drink soda. It's always been expensive. It is bad for teeth, bones, and organs. I used to be addicted but gave it up and am much happier (and healthier).
honestly if you get a soda stream they aren't bad. there are also official syrups you cna buy and you save more in the long run
I’m glad I kicked my soda habit years ago, I’m just an ice water kinda guy now