Stocktaking your medicine cupboard could save more than just your health!

Last night, I could feel the inklings of a headache coming on, so I decided to reach for the Panadol before it took hold. When I pulled down the medicine box out of the cupboard, I decided I should check out the expiry date of the things in there and declutter all the old unused items whilst I was at it.

To my horror, there were medicines in there which had expired as far back as 2007! There were unfinished prescription medicines that had been there for so long I didn't even know what they had been taken for in the first place. There were even quite a few medications which I had duplicates of, and they were all past their expiry date. 

As I started tossing these medicines into the bin, I thought about how much money had been wasted, buying unnecessary medicines, some of which had cost over $40! There was literally hundreds of dollars worth of now useless medicines clogging up my cupboard.

I decided to write up a list of all the medications which we were left with and their expiry dates. I wrote this list into the notebook which I carry around with me in the nappy bag. This way, whenever we go to the doctors and are told to buy 'such and such', I can check the list before I head to the chemist and hand over my cash, and see whether we already have that medication at home.

This list will also ensure that I can keep track of which staple medications (such as Nurofen, Panadol, Infant Panadol etc) are about to go out of date and need to be replaced. There is nothing worse than having a sick child in need of Panadol at 10pm on a Sunday night when there is no chemist open!

So as you can see, taking 10 minutes to check the medicine cupboard at home will not only benefit your health, but also your bank balance!