This weekend, I want you to collect all of your bank statements, credit card bills, Quicken reports, net worth statements, and piles of loans; hand them to a complete stranger. Let him read over everything, sift through your budgeting, and throw in a lot of hmms and mmms. What will he think? Are you spending money intelligently? Are you earning money intelligently?

I feel like I am always nitpicking at the financial behaviors I see in others’one friend spends too much on cigarettes and Mountain Dew. My cousin eats out too much, and my old roommate buys expensive furniture on credit that she’ll be paying off for years along with the newer, cooler car she just upgraded to.

Then I see people making money by selling plasma. Others spend their whole lives working to make their bosses rich (note to self: stop doing that!).

Yet I look at my own financial situation and find nothing wrong. I’m perfect! And I suppose that you are perfect, too!

The truth is’I attempt to admit to myself’is that it’s easier to find faults in the spending and earning habits of others than pin down problems in ourselves. But imagine handing over your finances to a complete stranger. He might find you and I have similar silly spending habits.

I’m not trusting any stranger. I’m pasting a fake mustache on myself and calling this new guy “Mr. Frank”. Mr. Frank is examining my habits. Heck, he’s already bombarded my kitchen to report an exceeding abundance of pasta and corn. He’s still trying to help me pinpoint illogical financial decisions. Has he found anything to report to you?

Are brand-name products worth the extra cost? Can you get the same results with generics and have a few extra dollars available for your next investment? US Airways Magazine writer Aviya Kushner answers this question with an affirmative yes. In her article Plain or Fancy? Should You Use Generics or Brand Names? Here’s What the Experts Say, Kushner argues that as long as the generic product contains the same active ingredients as its brand-name counterpart, consumers can save up to 50% by going with the generic option while getting the same results they are used to. However, Kushner warns that in some cases, the off-brand just won’t do. The present article offers some guidelines on how to determine which products you should buy generic so that you get the most quantity for your buck without sacrificing quality.

When it comes to both prescription and non-prescription drugs, it is usually okay to go with a generic brand. Dr. John Abramson of Harvard University Medical School says that “you need to know the active ingredient of the brand-name drug you want to buy the generic in… and you do have to be a good label reader.” (81). Dr. Abramson notes the importance of getting the chemical equivalent of the brand-name drug. For instance, “the chemical is the same, but the other components that make a pill or powder can be different… maybe that pill crumbles a litte bit easier, or maybe there’s a different texture to the powder” (81). In order to get the benefits of Advil, one can buy a store brand of Ibuoprofen such as CVS or Hannaford and get rid of that headache in the same amount of time. Yet, for other medical products such as earswabs, Abramson suggests that the brand-name may be better since there is no federal regulation stating that all Q tips must have the same amount of cotton (81).

As for food products, Kushner finds that at times it’s worth the extra money to buy brand name goods, especially if one is loyal to organic products. In an interview with Mollie Katzen, author of The Moosewood Cookbook and a consultant to Harvard’s Dining Services, the chef told Kushner that she is “conscious about… anything that needs USDA approval, [especially] dairy products and eggs because they can have growth hormone in them” (80). She is also aware of “package v. product.” Felder says that “nine times out of ten a generic product will be packaged by a brand name product and a lot of them come from the same source” (80). Eve Felder, associate dean at The Culinary Arts Institute of America tells Kushner that soy and corn oil are the only two generics she uses in her professional life, but at home she refuses to give up certain brand name products such as tobasco sauce and mayonnaise (80).

Ask Felder about the potency of generic olive oil and the consummate chef’s eyes light up. She says, “Olive oil is just like wine… it’s a fruit, and and a vintage. It’s not so much a brand, but which harvest. Did Spain have a really good harvest this year or did it rain a lot?” (80). Salt and honey are other products Felder never buys generic. She also recommends that people buy brand-name knives, although generic wooden spoons are permissable (80).

Kushner also discusses the viability of generic cosmetic and personal care products. According to Etienne Taenaka, winner of the Los Angeles Blow Dryer of the Year Award, given by Harper and Queens, it’s fine to go generic with blow dryers and combs, but not with brushes or shampoos. He enthuses, “brushes I’m very particular about, because many generic brushes are made in such high volume that the way they’re glued onto the base will pull the hair. With a well-made brush, the ball and the bristle is all one piece” (81). So next time you go to the salon, buy a Mason Pearson brush instead of a Goody brand at the drug store. It will last much longer and you’ll keep your hair longer too.

The bottom line: If you do your research and pay attention to the labels, you can be a smarter and wealthier consumer, but don’t be afraid to pay more for brand name products if the generic substitute is not a generic equivalent.

Sources:

Kushner, Aviya. “Plain or Fancy? Should You Use Generics or Name Brands? Here’s What the Experts Say” in US Airways Magazine, Aug. 2006 (Greensboro, NC: Pace Communications). pp. 78-81.

Welcome to The Carnival of Personal Finance #64 hosted right here at Aridni! We’ve got a huge number of articles this week. Apparently everyone is trying to make up for the day off for Labor Day by working twice as hard. =P

There are an even 50 articles being posted here, so put your reading glasses on and get to the Personal Finance! (do people still use reading glasses?)

We’ll start off with last week’s host 1stmillionat33 who gives us some investing advice My investing advice if you have $1000 to $10000

“Finding a new job can be a daunting challenge. But if you follow my simple 21-step plan, you’ll soon be battling cranky alarm clocks, rush-hour traffic, and the “living for the weekend” daily grind.” Madeleine Begun Kane presents Working Stiffed posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

“Your kids are starting out strapped because they haven’t been taught how to fend for themselves properly because YOU were so busy working your tail off trying to keep a roof over their heads!” Frugal Wisdom from Wenchypoo’s Warehouse: Another Book You Shouldn’t Bother Buying–Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t Get Ahead

What does a credit report look like? How can I read one? If I’m running a credit report on someone, what sort of information should I be looking for? The anatomy of a credit report

Think your finances are screwed up? It could be worse. You could be Jack Bauer, who needs much more than 24 hours to get his money house in order. Here’s something Jack Bauer can’t fix in 24 hours

From Opportunities Aplenty we find out How Aussies Get to Pay Off Their Mortgages Early

Errors on medical bills are more common than many consumers realize. This post includes steps for detecting, correcting and avoiding billing errors at the hospital and at the doctor’s office. The Frugal Duchess: Watch out for Medical Bill Mistakes!

A lot of peole are scared to start saving their money because it’s a scary world. People don’t know a lot about it and therefor scared of it. Here is an article that explain one of the most basic things that people see all the time. What Does the Dow Jones and Nasdaq Mean on the Front of My Yahoo/MSN homepage?

3 ways it costs more to be a women is Adult ADD and Money’s followup to 3 ways it costs more being a man

We’ve all heard “don’t put off for tomorrow…” but it can be sound financial advice when considering insurance. A health problem can mean a big insurance problem, as well. Bob Vineyard explains. Cost of Delay

How much does an average nursing home cost?A post about the cost of nursing homes in retirement and how to plan your retirement to protect you against that possibility.

Not dividends, not growth, but both. HJL wants to let you know why he love investings in companies that pay and are increasing their dividends.

Tired but happy has to make a choice between Roth versus the 401k.

A new blog that has popped up in the last month, My New Choice, looks like it is off to a great start. They bring us a Strategy to Curb Impulse Buying

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is going to be keeping a good chunk of change. If you need to work on your home you might be able to as well. Energy Policy Act of 2005 Saves Me $500

FMF gives us the math behind his own retirement number How I Set My Retirement Number

(Continue reading this article…)

As human beings, I think we hold a natural ability for intelligence. Yet by going to work every day for someone else, the ability to express and explore some of that intelligence becomes hindered. Do you ever feel like a yes man? You think of these great ideas to multiple productivity or cut back expenses… yet the ideas are so radically different than current methods that everyone laughs at you. The method your boss implements works just fine’why would they switch?

You eventually become conditioned to speak up only when you’re told to speak up. Part of your ambition starts to die. Didn’t education challenge us to do otherwise? To question theories and procedures? When you step into the workplace, I think you often make the choice to settle for a potential that’s less than what you are capable of achieving, which is always easier than taking a risk.

What if the boss were you?

In order to survive, you cannot be a yes man and be self-employed. So if you’re tired of being scoffed at, why not become the boss of your own ideas? You’d be able to utilize the intellectual capabilities within you to further your business and ideally, your profits. I’ve read a lot about companies that devote a specific amount of time each year to job development and training. Other companies give employees time to tinker with their own ideas during a specific portion of the week. I think that these environments motivate an employee. Unfortunately, I doubt that you (like me) have snagged such a situation.

I truly believe that the ultimate form of satisfaction may very well come from self-employment. Know any self-employed person who says, “Damn, I miss working in bureaucracy!”? E-mail me immediately if you find such a person because I’m not sure if they exist.

A self-employed person isn’t letting her fears overpower her. The boss isn’t altering her priorities or her satisfaction in the day.

Being self-employed’how to start

You can read gobs of personal finance and wealth books’I did that. You can major in business’I did that. But you know what? None of those experiences taught me how to foster the start-up skills. Nowhere did I learn how to build an idea.

Most of us aren’t in a situation that would allow us to quit our jobs and start anew. The key is ease. I recently wrote about my goal to add $400 to my monthly income–$400 that I earn working for myself. If you don’t know what type of business you want to run, just as I don’t, I think that a financial goal is the only other way to start thinking about how to get going.

I used to listen to people tell stories about missing the beach, so I’d share a memory of when I was on the beach. Now I’m thinking’what can I do to bring the beach to Montana? I don’t mean to literally scoop the shore up… but could I invent a product or opportunity to bring the beach or memories of the beach? My mind starts to buzz, and I forget about my houseguests.

The truth is that I know I can obtain that $400/month. I’ll be sharing ideas’the ideas missed in books and class’that show how to foster that million-dollar idea.

You can’t pretend to be content working from 9 to 5 and letting your ideas be the topic of scoffers. This situation isn’t the life experience that you desire. It’s easier to pretend that your situation is acceptable so that you can avoid the challenge of charging at the situation you really want for yourself. You can have whatever you want. You wouldn’t be reading Aridni if you didn’t want something more. Now is the time to give in to desires, not the fears.