Vitamins — Ways to Spend Less to Feel Great

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So you’ve decided to start taking vitamins. Good for you! Just watch out for the sticker shock that’s sure to hit you if you haven’t purchased vitamins and supplements before. They are pricey! I can easily spend $100 for 2 or three 30 day supply bottles! It’s easy to spend upward of $200 per month so it pays to shop around. With that in mind I’ve listed a few tips to help you get the most bang for your money.

Tip #1:  Don’t give more for the fancy label. Many vitamins and supplements come in very ornate looking packaging.  Once you commence reading the fancy label, if you don’t see any difference between its ingredients and the cheaper brands’ - that’s likely because there is no difference.  Many times, you are paying more for the name on the bottle because you are paying for the company’s advertising.  In reality, vitamins from companies with a huge difference in price from other brands actually come from the same factory.

Tip #2:  Generic brands are equally as good as name brands and cost about half the price.  Again, examine the label.  If the generic has the same ingredients as its competitor’s; it is the same thing.  In fact, numerous companies put out a generic brand along with their name brand to seize price-conscious shoppers along with their more discerning customers.  On some generic labels, you will often find a “distributed by” in fine print on the back of the bottle.  Always buy generic when you can to save money.

Tip #3:  Most chain nutrition stores have a preferred member discount card.  If you shop on certain days of the week or buy certain products, you can really save a lot of money.  These large chain stores also have frequent sales for members-only on all kinds of name brand vitamins and supplements.  You’ll find nutrition chain stores in most cities, so they are convenient to get to as well.

Tip #4:  If you have a favorite brand, check out their website on the internet.  They almost always have vouchers and unique offers that you can take advantage of online, or coupons that you can print off and use locally.  It might even be a good idea to get on their e-mail list.  That way you will be notified when they are offering discounts.

Tip #5:  Do a search for “cheap vitamins” on the internet.  You will be able to find numerous discount vitamin warehouses that deliver cheaply priced name brand vitamins right to your door.  This is the best way to save money on vitamins and supplements, because some of these internet vitamin warehouses sell name brand vitamins for over half-off the regular price.  Shipping charges are also usually nominal as well.

Tip #6:  Buy your vitamins in mass quantities when you can.  If you are buying something like vitamin C for example, and your whole family takes it, you will save money if you buy the larger bottles of it.  The same goes for multivitamins.  You can also go with a friend who is buying the same supplements and split the larger bottle in half.

Tip #7:  Buy synthetic vitamins and supplements when you can.  It is always better to buy vitamins that are derived from natural sources.  The whole point of  buying vitamins is to get nutrients from a natural food source, as opposed to using a synthetic drug.  However, the difference between a lot of synthetic and natural vitamins has yet to be determined.  In many studies, the difference between synthetic and real vitamins is minimal at best.

By staying alert to the good deals, you will find that saving money on your nutritional supplements is not hard to do.  While vitamins and supplements can be expensive, there isn’t any cause to spend more than necessary to stay in good health.