Downsizing Life

With the stock market dropping over 500 points today, I thought it would be appropriate to share one of my latest money saving tips. I think all of us have name brand products that we like to buy because of their good taste or quality. But when times get tough, that's when you need to look at alternatives. An example would be buying a lower priced generic brand instead of a name brand. Every time the economy forces me to do this, I feel like I'm downsizing my life. This week my cat got downsized. Instead of Purina One, he now gets regular Purina cat chow. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice the difference, and I get to save a few bucks. I didn't want to take a chance on getting a totally different brand (cats can be very picky). Sometimes you can find a cheaper brand name product that performs equally well. Another example is toothpaste. When Colgate came out with a product that was similar to Sensodyne, I switched to save a buck. Garbage bags and paper products are other items that don't need to be name brand. I haven't gone totally generic (yet), but these days I measure of my economic status by how often I have to downsize my life.