It has been almost 2 weeks since my 17 year old daughter brought home the H1N1 illness to the house. It swept through our three teen agers, one boy friend and myself. My husband was the only one that didn't get it but he may have been vaccinated back in the 70's. I am still not recovered but everyone else is doing fine. I am on day 3 of acute laryngitis. Hopefully, I will be back to normal by Monday since I am giving a presentation at the North East Library on Tuesday at 6 pm!
Being ill with colds, flu, stomach bugs, etc. can be frugal! I have found that we do nothing that costs money like shop for things or go out for entertainment purposes. We have saved some serious money by being sick. However, our running out to purchase quick food options and sick room supplies eats up any cost savings from not going out to shop. I decided that with a bit of planning, being sick need not take its toll on your budget as well as your body. Here is a list of things that you can do in advance to be ready for the inevitable winter illnesses.
1. Keep over the counter medications on hand. Always have the family's favorite cold remedies, anti-diarrheal medications, and fever relievers on hand all winter long. Don't wait to run out before buying more. I use generic medications and purchase them at Wal-Mart. Next week I will make sure they are in my shopping cart so I can replenish the supply.
2. Keep a store of tissues on hand. Same as above. Always have 3-6 boxes as back up in the cabinets.
3. Keep a supply of frozen meals for those nights when adults are too sick to cook. You can defrost a home-made, previously frozen dinner in the morning. This will keep the calls out for pizza to a minimum.
4. Canned soup or frozen, small portions of home-made soup, should be kept on hand. We go through a surprising number of Ramen noodle packages as well as a pot of chicken noodle soup (also referred to as "Jewish penicillin" in our family!) when we get sick.
5. Hide away a few bottles of ginger ale or 7up when they go on sale. Inevitably, someone will come down with a stomach ailment and not be able to drink anything but clear sodas.
6. If there is an adult that is able to, hit the library for DVD's and books. Especially for kids, this can make lying on the couch, feeling terrible, much more bearable.
Hope this helps you to get through your winter illnesses in a frugal fashion.
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Jill, what a timely post and great reminder! For me, it was surgery that prompted the preparation, but my husband and I just did most of these things. We did spend on somethings... some used DVDs, some frozen foods and tacked up the menu to an inexpensive take out place that specializes in full meals (veggies and rolls, etc). But before hand I made sure we had kids' pain relievers and prescriptions on hand as well as bandaids (who wants to run to the store and leave the recovering mom in charge if those items are needed). We keep "a typhoon kit" that often needs to be restocked after one of us is sick, having been mysteriously depleted of canned soups, ramen, clear beverages and the like. But having them on hand does save us the effort of dragging a sick person or caretaker to the 24 convenience store out of necessity.
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