Have you tried these coupons yet?

Here are my favourite coupon links at the moment, which will save you money on your baby- and kid-related purchases: 

CereVe
Save $2 on moisturizers or cleansers; I found their moisturizer to be the most effective when my 4-month-old's forehead was chapped from cold weather. 

Treehouse Kids Supplements

Save $1 on their probiotics, multivitamins, omega-3s and vitamin Ds. Use this coupon during a sale and you'll stretch your dollar further. 

Boiron Canada

Save $2 on the children's line, which includes Camilia for teething, Cocyntal for colic, Coryzalia for cold symptoms and Stodal for coughs. 

Advil 

Save $3 on any Children's Advil product. 

The Healthy Essentials Program

Affiliated with Johnson & Johnson, this site features a slew of impressive coupons, including $1 off Johnson's Baby Lotion, $1.50 off Children's or Infant's Tylenol, and $1 off any Aveeno Baby product. 

Where do you get your favourite coupons? Share your answer in the comment box below. 

Teething coupon - get it NOW before it expires

My cousin gave me a great tip recently: Boiron has a $2 off coupon for their line of children's products. But it expires December 31, 2012. So print it off now and get your teething stuff before it's too late!

Their Camilia doses have always been my go-to for minor teething irritations. I just bought a pack a few days ago with the coupon. Here's my spending summary. (Note: I got it at Walmart.)

$12.99 - $2 = $10.99 for 30 doses
(Doesn't include tax here because I don't have the receipt in front of me and I suck at math.)

Another product I've tried by Boiron is Coryzalia, which I used last summer (see my August 2012 post for deets). It's great for stuffy and runny noses for colds and seasonal allergies.

And ... it's Christmas Eve today. Hope your family and yourself have a great holiday!

Don't cheap out on your health

A few weeks ago, my family recovered from a nasty case of kiddie germs: My daughter got the flu (I know, it's not even flu season!); I got her flu, then strep throat and then side effects from the antibiotics; then my husband had some throat thing happening.

Although I initially felt like I wasted most of July thanks to sickness, I did learn a new baby-saving lesson: Sometimes you need to cough up the dough for better health.

My daughter didn't need antibiotics, however, she did have some sniffles. I got her Coryzalia Cold (by Boiron) for $12.99 (30 doses) at Walmart. But I got a lucky break here because I usually see this product at health stores for around $16.99. She wasn't in the mood to eat or drink either (and she was throwing up, ew), so we got popsicles for her, which were about $5 for a pack of 24 (sorry, I don't remember the brand or exact details here!).

As for myself, here was my get-well shopping list:

Exact Cough Lozenges (30 pack) x 4 = approx. $8
Penicillin prescription (30 pills) x 1 = approx. $5 (we have health insurance, thank goodness!)
Chloraseptic Throat Spray x 1 = approx. $12

Thankfully, my husband caught his germs at an early stage and was able to use my leftover cough lozenges.

So looking back at what we spent, actually it wasn't all that bad. But when you are living on a tight family budget, an extra $30 can throw you off big time. If we didn't spend that money on health costs though, it would've affected our well-being. I was using up to 30 lozenges a day (otherwise my throat would've felt razor blades!), so those lozenges made a HUGE difference in daily coping.

So folks, here's today's lesson:

• If you need to spend money on your health, don't feel guilty. You need it to take care of your little ones and yourself!
• If you are on a budget, I found that Walmart and Superstore had effective products at decent prices.
• Lastly, try not to put off seeing a doctor/walk-in clinic! I waited over a day and thinking back, I probably should've seen a doctor earlier. I just thought I could deal with the throat pain. Boy, was I wrong!