When it comes to saving money, one way to reduce your bills is to consider buying generic products instead of the brand name. You may be surprised to know that some of the brand name products come from the same manufacturers as store brand products. For example, Alcoa, which produces Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil, also produces store-brand lines of foil, plastic wrap, and plastic bags. Birds Eye is another company that manufactures store-brand lines of frozen vegetables as well as soup, hash and pie filling.

SmartMoney.com reported there are five things you should always purchase generic. The first one is produce. Choosing unmarked fruit over those with a Sunkist or Del Monte sticker could save you plenty.

Something else to consider buying generic is over-the-counter medications. The drugstore-brand pain, cold and cough medications many times contain the same ingredients as the name brand. The Food and Drug Administration requires any products with the same active ingredient must meet the same efficacy standards. Choosing a store-brand can save you quite a bit. In fact, if you bought the store-brand products for the equivalent of Tylenol, Advil, NyQuil and Afrin you could save up to $15 at Giant Eagle.

While you're at the drug store or grocery store, check out the store brand products for your skin care and beauty needs. There's not much difference when it comes to simple products such as nail polish remover, dandruff shampoo or eye makeup remover. Pricier products that use exotic ingredients such as an anti-aging creams, you will want to pay closer attention to.

If you buy organic food, here's something you may not know. Jared Early of Whole Foods said," It's the same organic standards no matter what brand it is." All the products go through the same third party process in order to be certified organic. Whole foods carries hundreds of name brands and one generic, called 365. "Same high quality ingredients at a low cost," said Early.

Finally, pantry staples such as flour, salt, spices and sugar, are held to exact same government regulations for production, packaging and storage. So sugar is sugar, whether it says Domino or Valu Time, the store brand for Giant Eagle. And the savings, is a whopping $1.30.