Saving Money...On Colds, Flus, and Worse!
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
Three weeks ago, it began. Our oldest child came home with a fever and missed the last week of school. Two days later, my wife and I caught it, and so began a miserable two weeks, which included three flight changes and cancellations, two courses of antibiotics, and a doctor’s visit on Christmas. Finally, we’re improving. But in the depths of my illness, I thought to myself…what good can come of my experience? And so, here are a couple of tips on Saving Money on Colds and Flu:
Prepare in Advance
Make sure you are well-stocked with the things you need for an extended illness. This means having all the relevant remedies on-hand, but also things like food (canned soup, crackers, etc) and hydration (Gatorade or other sports drinks, Pedialyte, etc). One of my most painful money-losing moments came last week when I decided the only thing I could possibly force myself to eat was chicken soup, finding that we were out of cans, and having to order a bowl of chicken soup from Panera on DoorDash for $18 ($8 for the soup, $6 in tax and delivery fees, and a $4 tip). And the soup was mediocre at best.
Buy the Store Brand!
Name-brand cold and flu remedies can be very expensive, and since we only (hopefully) get sick occasionally, a lot of them expire only partly-used. To save more than 50% on just about every medicine, I always buy the store brand. For example, a 200-count bottle of Advil tablets currently runs $21.42 on Amazon. The private-label bottle with a similar quantity (Amazon Basic Care ibuprofen) is about $9.
And there are even private-label versions of more expensive remedies. For example, Amazon sells private-label versions of Mucinex DM and Flonase (which can sometimes run $20-30 or more) at deep discounts. You may need to do some detective work, but typically the packaging says “compare to [the brand name]” and you can always look on the back label and compare ingredients. And you don’t need to buy at Amazon: almost every major retailer offers their own store brand versions of most common medicines.
But don’t just listen to me—pharmacists buy the store brand over 90% of the time. I wrote about this and more in my tribute to store brands, featuring my adventure at the headquarters of Celestial Seasonings.
And of course, if you haven’t already, get your four additional free COVID tests from the federal government here. These came in handy this time making clear that I did *not* have COVID.
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
I’ve gone full circle on gambling, which I used to enjoy enormously (mostly poker) when I was in my 20’s. I now think it’s a dangerous scourge. This week’s sad and infuriating example—Casinos Target a Vulnerable Clientele: Older Asian Gamblers.
On a more fun note, I’ve enjoyed occasionally checking in on this webcam of a random watering hole in Namibia (via The Browser). Springboks, zebras, jackals, hyenas, ostriches, warthogs, owls, and occasionally more exotic animals take turns, and a community of a few hundred fellow viewers takes notes on each animal that drops by.
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.