Last year I didn’t prepare well for cold and flu season. We had some Tylenol and Advil in the medicine cabinet, but that was about it. Unfortunately I realized this when we battled our first round of colds for the season. Have you ever noticed that it’s next-to-impossible to find a good deal on cold medicine when you have a cold? I ended up paying full-price for several different medicines more than once last year.
Not this year!
It’s officially Get the Medicine Cabinet Ready week at our house. Want to join me? Here’s my plan.
Out with the Outdated
I need to do a date check on each of the medicines in our cupboard. I’m sure that there are some outdated meds lurking in there! The medicine doesn’t do any good if it’s too old. So I’ll be discarding the outdated meds before I restock.
Inventory
Next I’ll take stock of what’s left. I need to make sure we have the following:
- Advil Cold & Sinus for the grown-ups – Yes, I’m a cold medicine snob… totally brand loyal here.
- Fever-Reducer/Pain-Reliever for the grown-ups
- NyQuil for Jason – I can’t stomach the stuff, but it works wonders for him!
- Children’s Triaminic Thin Strips – These are a dream come true when Emma has to take meds in the middle of the night! There’s no messy dripping. I’m a medicine snob here too, but I’ve been scouting out some good deals on them.
- Children’s Fever-Reducer/Pain-Reliever
Restock
I want to have enough medicine on-hand for at least one round of colds for each of us. We can usually count on at least one battle. I’ll be scouting out the deals on meds over the next few weeks. CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens usually have great deals. I want to take advantage of those NOW so that I’m not paying full-price later.
Add the Accessories
While cold medicines are helpful, they aren’t the only tool we use in the battle against cold bugs. I’m also planning to restock our supply of tissues and make sure that we have freezer pops on-hand. I’ll probably add a few more cans of chicken soup to our stockpile too. If I shop for these items now, we’ll have the soft tissues with lotion and throat-soothing treats at the ready!
What about you? Are you ready for cold and flu season? What other items do you keep on-hand so that you’re prepared when someone in your household is feeling a little under the weather?
This post is linked to:
:: Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family
:: Thrifty Thursday hosted by Coupon Teacher
:: Making Dollars Out of Change hosted by Madame Deals
:: Frugal Friday hosted by Life As MOM
Great tips!
Thanks, Kara! I hope it’s just a friendly reminder to everyone that cold season is – unfortunately – just around the corner. 🙂
Good thinking, I’ll be on the lookout for sales and coupons, thanks!
I know that if I don’t do this now we’ll be caught without the necessities again! I REALLY don’t want to pay full-price this year!
It’s definitely that time of year. I plan on checking my medicine cabinet and getting restocked.
Great! Hopefully none of us will end up paying full price for meds this year!
Great tip about buying the liquid gold before colds and flus arrive! I do that too. But I never tried the Triaminic strips for my kiddo. I’ll have to give them a try soon.
Stop by and visit me over at Free 2 Be Frugal sometime!
Trust me, Niki…. Those strips are a Godsend!
I always like to be ready, and I have been favoring the liquid Theraflu lately, especially the nighttime kind!
I haven’t tried that. I’ll have to keep an eye out for some coupons!
Jennifer, those are all good tips. As a nurse and a mom of 8, I would like to add a few more, if I may. In my home, we try to eat a balanced diet, with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I stock up on Vit.D pills since there is evidence that Vit. D boosts immunity. Everyone takes 1000mg. each morning. I have shown my family proper hand-washing technique (you can find it online) and insist that everyone wash their hands each time they come home from wherever and then use hand sanitizer, which I stock up on, after washing their hands. The sanitizer is used as an adjunct when they come home from school or work. The kids also carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in their lunch bags or knapsacks and are reminded to use it before they eat. You can get great deals on hand sanitizer at Costco. They also cough/sneeze into their sleeves, not their hands. And, of course, get enough sleep.
Terry, it’s funny that you would add this side of it. I thought about the prevention issue after I posted it. I almost added some things like orange juice, vitamins, etc. but didn’t. Thank you for adding your ideas here, especially from a nursing perspective!
I need to restock my cabinet! Fortunately, I generally use generic brands so when the recalls happened recently, we were fine.
For myself, I’ve been taking D to make sure I don’t get sick this year. I’m volunteering two days a week in my children’s school. I would hate to pick up a bug and pass it on to my kids still at home.
I’m going to have to investigate some vitamin D!