It’s been smooth sailing all month – at least budgetwise – and you’re coming into the homestretch (the last week of the month) with approximately 1/4 of your grocery budget left to spend.
Your purchases are all planned out, you’ll be stocked up on everything you need to feed your family fresh and healthy food until the new month.
You’re supermom (or dad :-)
And because of that, I want your opinion during this Money Talk:
Then sickness hits.
You don’t have any chicken noodle soup, saltines, Sprite, or those special crackers that are the only thing your picky eater can keep down. Plus you need Tylenol.
And all that stuff is going to kill your grocery budget for the month.
How do you combat that?
Do you always keep that stuff on hand and risk it going bad and going to waste?
Do you call up grandma and grandpa and ask them to bring it by? (not that I would EVER do this)
Help me readers – what do you do?? Leave me a comment, and you might be featured next week!
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I JUST got the flu, and it derailed my budget too. Granted, that was because I had to buy Tamiflu, which is $120… ugh.
But for all the other stuff that comes along with being sick, I did all of the above. I already keep the pantry stocked with soup – it’s winter anyway, so I usually buy a can or two of soup every time I go to the store. Even better? Stock up on soup when it’s on sale. Soup takes FOREVER to go bad.
Tylenol or Advil we usually have in the house too, just in case and for general aches and pains. DayQuil & NyQuil is expensive, but not too long ago, Amazon had a coupon for a combo pack of DayQuil/NyQuil, so I bought a pack of that and have been whittling it down with the sickness we’ve all had. Stock up on drugs when they go on sale, but don’t buy more than you typically use. I’ve had Advil go bad on me because I use it so infrequently!
I did ask my Mom to pick me up some ginger ale for my stomach… so yeah, did that too :)
If you’ve stocked up on soup and some medicines before, it’s not quite so hard to add crackers and Sprite (or Gatorade) to your grocery list. Luckily, a lot of stores have coupons for bottled beverages, so typically I’ve been able to find a coupon for Sprite or Gatorade.
GOOD LUCK! Everyone I know (except for my bf, and I’m slowly recovering) is sick right now, but they’re in the hospital. :( I’ve been a hospital shuttle for the last 2 days! I feel ya, lady. Hope your family feels better pronto!
Wow – that’s killer on the Tamiflu!
We were sick last week and I had thrown away the cold syrup because it had expired. Things went much better the second day when we had drugs. I definitely didn’t feel like cooking, so I was pretty pleased when our two year old asked for toast for dinner. We did have chicken soup and crackers on hand though.
It’s good when you have the stuff on hand, but really tough when it expires and you thought you were good!
I have a category in my budget especially for medicine and sick foods! So it doesn’t totally de-rail my budget, but I also don’t have to ask someone else to get the soup and medicine for me.
This is a great question! We (knock on wood) don’t get sick too often, which I’m very thankful for. But when we do, the whole house usually gets it (me, husband and two kids). We always have Tylenol on hand for headaches and general body aches, but we never have much more than that. When sickness hits, we buy what we need, whether that’s expensive medicine, a trip to the doctor’s office or even a trip to the ER. Health is nothing to mess around with and is totally worth messing up your budget for (in my opinion!!)!!
I try to stock up on medicines when they are a great deal at the drugstores. I do usually end up needing a few things from the store, but we have a separate medical account so it doesn’t really blow the budget.
I am dealing with this right now. I am a new teacher and seem to be Perma-sick. Dayquil, Tylonal, Viatmins, tea are eating my budget!! I have decided to start buying in bulk and stocking up on sales.
That’s a great question. We typically use food as our medicine (hat tip to Socrates, I believe?). Believe it or not, a big part of that is garlic and onions. Aren’t my kids lucky? ;) We always have garlic and onions around, as well as honey and dried herbs. I mix these up into a syrup and dose the household every couple of hours. They get better either from the syrup, or from fear of having to take more!
That’s fantastic advice! I remember when I lived with my parents, basically anything could be cured by apple cider vinegar and honey! You’re definitely not sick the next day!
HA HA yes apple cider vinegar can “cure” them quick! ;)
Last year we went through this, the 3rd round of illness that spring it finally dawned on me we always drop 60-80 bucks each round of illness (me and hubby and 3 kiddos). Between adult meds. kid meds. and toddler med., sicky food, AND Lysol spray and clorex wipes it all adds up. I normally am frugal with homemade cleaners but when you are sick too, you just want the bugs dead fast so you can slink back to the couch.
To combat all that I slowly started stocking our medicine cabinet better. I started staying on top of all my homemade cleaners so it is easier to just grab them then go to the store, and started doubling recipes to have homemade soups/broth in the freezer. Now its just money for cheap crackers and soda.
Also I started budgeting in more supplements to boost their immune system. Elderberry, Vit. C etc. etc.
Above comment mentioned onions and garlic, I already cook a lot with those because they are cheap flavor/ super foods. Husband and I both take apple cider vinegar most days anyways and sometimes our kids ask for it. We water it way down and add a touch of honey, reminds me of the sourness of homemade lemon-aid, so they drink it well.
Another illness expense I need to factor in is seasonal allergies that are starting up. I usually pick up a bottle of Claritn now to take for the next month and then I finish it come Sept. when I have another allergy flair up. For others though I can see it really busing the budget.
Heres to everyone feeling better and keeping the budget form looking ill this month!