Benjamin Franklin's adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" still rings true today. With March and April reigning as peak months for contracting influenza, there is nothing like doing one's best to prevent from getting sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend flu vaccinations done in October and November. For those who have skipped this precaution, other prevention tips include avoiding close contact with sick people and avoiding eyes, nose, and mouth touching.
My bills went exponentially up this month for the very reason of flu illness. Additional sick visits to the pediatrician, each $20. For my youngest, we took him to the emergency room when his fever led to shakes, ending up with a bill for over $270. Over-the-counter Mucinex cost $13, after using a coupon. Tamiflu medication copay was $27! Sadly, I couldn't even go to the Price Chopper pharmacy for this, since Tamiflu was out of stock there, and therefore I was not able to at least recapture some of the cost with gas points (they would have awarded me $1 off each gallon of gas for a new prescription). Until this month, I was not aware that a small bottle of Pedialyte can cost almost $7! I did not stock up on Gatorade, juices, gingerale, and other fluids that were most probably on sale a month or two back, and ended up needing to buy these items full price, including popsicles that were made from 100% juice and ended up costing almost $5 a box! Add to this full-price on children's Advil, Tylenol, and Motrin (my son had 103.5 for almost four days, requiring us to piggyback medication), and one can see how easily one can go astray from sticking to a grocery budget.
Save your coupons in an organized manner so that they will be on hand at a moment's need. Stock up on OTC medications, fluids, anti-bacterial wipes, and tissue boxes when they are on sale. And by all means, keep purchasing that not-from-concentrate orange juice weekly from whatever grocery store advertises them on sale. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and a pound of money.
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