Enemy of the budget part 2.

I blogged a few days ago about stocking up on items but not taking care of the inventory i.e. rotating stock, checking expiration dates etc. Now I want to carry that idea a bit further.

The medicine cabinet. Lurking inside are medicines, toothpastes,OTC items plus others. If we are not careful, this can be another area where we can loose a considerable amount of money by not checking dates. Prescription medicines have use by dates, OTC meds have expiration dates and other items have dates including contact lens cleaners and solutions, some toothpastes, make-up (not always on package but is considered 6 months from date of purchase) and other select products. It is important to check these items monthly to ensure that the products and medications you have on hand have full potency for when they are needed. Also, to avoid overbuying products you cannot use within the stated expiration date.

To avoid throwing away expensive drugstore and others products it may be a good idea to do the following:

1. A listing of products that carry expiration codes
2. An inventory of products to discourage overbuying of short dated products
3. Familiarize yourself with expiration dates and where they are on pkgs.

When going over that Walgreens, Riteaid, or CVS ad don't forget to check your list or personally look over the medicine cabinet/cupboard for what you already have on hand. Does anyone really need to have on hand 4 boxes of Tylenol, multiple containers of older medications and 5 canisters of 500 multiple vitamins?

What is in your medicine cabinet????