Saving money is at the top of most people's list, especially these days.

Experts say you can save a lot of cash at the store by buying store brand products instead of name brands.

But with all the nationwide food recalls lately, you may wonder if so-called "off brands" are safe.

KHQA hit the aisles of the grocery store to see how much money you can save, and let's you know if the money you save is worth it when it comes to quality.

We took a list of some pretty basic staples for a home and started shopping for both store brands and name brands. When it was check out time with our 15 items, we spent 55 dollars and 60 cents on name brand items.

With store brands of the same items, we spent 41 dollars and 59 cents. We saved 14 dollars and 1 cent. But did we skimp on quality?

Carolyn Tripp is a Marketing Professor at Western Illinois University. Earlier this spring, she assigned one of her classes to this very subject.

"We checked peanut butter to toilet tissue all the way up to dog food to crackers," says student Nancy Bockhold.

"They can be the exact same product. You just have to decide where to spend your money," adds student Miranda Baker.

According to Consumer Reports Magazine, there are thousands of manufacturers of store brand products...many of those are nationally known companies. For example, Birds Eye makes, of course, Birds Eye frozen vegetables...but it also makes frozen vegetables, canned soup, chili, hash, and pie filling for several store chains.

"Just because we're not familiar with the brand does not mean it's lower quality. During the assignment, many students thought Aldi's products would be inferior without tasting them. That gives you an idea about branding," says marketing professor Carolyn Tripp.

So, how do you tell if the name brand product is the same as a store brand? The easy answer is...there is no easy way. You can look at the packaging...for example, we were told the Wal-Mart brand of laundry detergent was the same stuff as Tide...now, no one could confirm this for us, but we were told the size and the shape of the bottle can be a good indicator.

"Primarily we go trial and error because you don't know just by looking at some generic brand or dealer brand...by looking at them, you don't know who makes them," adds Baker.

Manufactures aren't quick to tell you what other brands they make...after all, they're in it to make money, and more money comes in with the name brand items. Bottom line, don't be afraid to try store brands...if you like the taste or the quality, you can save a lot of money by switching.

The same goes for medicines.

Consumer Reports Magazine says compare the ingredients to the store brand and try it...if it works for you, it's a good deal.

By the way, we found a lot of useful information at www.consumerreports.org including a list of some store brand items that are made by nationally known manufacturers.