FAQ Friday:Illness

The most common thing I see is "We spent more because we're ill" be it on medication, food, drink, or whatever.

Though I haven't been asked this question, I thought it could be brought up as a good one to ask. I realize that the conventional cold season has ended. However, in this house, we are all currently nailed hard with colds.

First of all, medications: we buy generic. The only time we buy name brand is when I can combine a sale with coupon to make it cheaper to get name brand than to get generic. We also try to keep them on hand, so that we don't suddenly have to buy $20 in medicine all at once. It doesn't mentally sting so bad than.

Honestly, Target is one of my favorite places for generics. Their up and up brand carries a fabulous price with quality product. Their infant ibuprofen is almost half the price of Motrin, and it's essentially the same darned thing. Same with other generic medications. If you're not sure, feel free to look at active ingredients and compare.

Something that we do that my husband grumbles about...


I buy both of these products (in generic). He constantly tries to tell me that there is absolutely no difference. Yet, to me there is one. Nyquil makes me drowsy, dayquil doesn't. So to get through a day with a toddler-I must have dayquil because I certainly can't be falling asleep.


This is another product I keep stocked in my house. Again, we usually do generic, but sometimes I can get a B1G1 coupon from Pedialyte and than I will get that because they usually have more flavors. Once, I was even able to get a coupon at the same time from Target and combine them to get 2 for less than Target's brand of pedialyte. I never crack these jugs unless our daughter is very ill. If she's still drinking nicely, I won't crack a pedialyte.

Now, I also must note as to why I insist on rotating flavors. Remember when we were children and cough syrup was almost always grape? Now I can't do most grape flavored things because they remind me of being ill. So, I'm very careful of that for our daughter.


We have also been known to take leftover chicken and make chicken noodle soup from scratch, but that, I believe is another post!

What does your family to to keep the cost of being ill down?