Little bottle of vitamin D

Little One is given vitamin D drops every day (the national recommendation is 10 micrograms / day). Each time the tiny bottle is about to finish, I get annoyed. There is always remains on the bottom of the bottle, that doesn´t come out, no matter how vigorously I shake it. The stuff costs at least 1476 € / liter, so there is a price tag for each drop!

This product includes lactic acid bacteria, and one bottle lasts about 4 weeks. Somebody might say, that it would be cheaper to care ones stomach by eating oatmeal instead. And buy cheaper vitamins. But Little One has used these drops since he was two weeks old and never any stomach problems. So we are not going to change it.

Could there be a way to tackle this problem? I tried to remove the plastic pieces: the ring around the neck and the piece that aids the liquid out of the bottle neatly drop by drop. First I tried with a sturdy kitchen knife. Way too heavy and sharp equipment for this operation - please don´t try! But an ordinary table  knife (not sharp) did the trick. And it was possible to trickle more liquid out, for about a week´s use.

How much do I save by doing this? I get one more week in addition to the original four weeks. One bottle bought in a two-bottle package costs 11,07 € / 4 weeks. Price of a week is thus about 2,75 €. This operation gives me 10 weeks more in a year, so the annual savings will be 27,50 €. I think this makes sense, especially when the time needed was less than a minute :)



Best wishes,
Nina

Thrift and frugality are addictive

Even in such a measure that some people want to blog about it. That includes me. Im not the poorest of the poor (luckily, so far). Nor am I the richest of the rich (unluckily, so far).  Being frugal feels natural to me, and I actually quite enjoy thinking about new and even suprising ways to save money (and time and nature as well).

I also need to practise my English, which is the second objective of this blog. Much of its content will be the same stuff as in my Finnish blog Nuuka-Nina.

The first frugal observation is about babies and thermometers. Many, many years I survived with one traditional thermometer. Then we were blessed and the Little One arrived. First we acquired a digital thermometer (with a Moomin character, of course :) Then we wanted to buy another digital thermometer, because the first one was suspected to be not-so-accurate. It was not enough. A fine appliance that measures the temperature from the forehead was also bought (with a good discount, though). We even have a pacifier-thermometer. We have used about 100 € (136 $) to purchase them. The one that has really been useful and reliable, at least in my eyes, has been the first one. A simple basic 5 € (7 $) piece, with a clear scale. We could have saved 95 € (129 €)... Well, maybe in the next life... :)

A while ago that best one disappeared. Little One seemed somewhat feverish, so I headed to the pharmacy. Now I knew what to look for: a decent traditional thermometer. And I also remembered to show the loyal customer card, so I will receive some tiny refund later on :)

Thank you for reading and welcome again!

Best wishes,
Nina