Sick season is upon us, and I do NOT want a repeat of what happened to our family during the first few months of 2014.
© Andy Dean / Dollar Photo Club
We were all sick right before little Bella was born in January. Being pregnant, going into labor, and dealing with postpartum issues while sick is definitely something to avoid. I wish I had done some simple things to better prevent myself from catching a cold at that time.
I kept track of our illnesses then, and now I’m so glad I did. I only remembered one or two times that my daughters got sick, a handful of times my husband was sick, and the four times I was sick. I didn’t realize, until I looked at my notes, that we all got sick much more than that.
Staying healthy is not so easy, but when I look back on how often we were sick this past year, I am more motivated to do things that will prevent us from getting sick. That is why I want to give you a free printable so you can track your own family illnesses. This can also aid you when you go visit the doctor so you can remember all the different symptoms you’ve had, what medications you have taken, and if you are getting plenty of rest and water.
Prevention Is Key
First, these links might be useful to you if you want to prevent certain ailments from happening in the first place.
Homemade Elderberry Syrup for Flu Prevention from Wellness Mama
A Mom’s Top 20 Ways to Exercise from Simple Holistic Girl
9 Tips on Staying Healthy for Labor from Humble in a Heartbeat
Health Benefits of Garlic from Healthy Living How To
The Anti-Flu, Immune-Boosting Super Green Smoothie from Green Reset
Stop a Cold in Its Tracks! from I Think We Could Be Friends
Organic Mattresses: Why We Switched from Wellness Mama
The Costs of Getting Sick
What I’ve realized over the past few years is that getting sick is a whole lot more expensive than staying healthy. When you come down with any ailment, these are the direct and indirect costs associated with it:
- Doctor Visits – $25
- Medicine – $20
- Call in sick – more than $100/day
- Tissues – $3
- Lots of Vitamin C – $5
- Getting others in the house sick – another $53/person (if they are kids or do not work)
- Housework has to wait
- Stuck at home
The total cost of one person getting sick, staying home from work for 3 days, visiting the doctor, getting a prescription, and getting another family member sick is at least:
$406
*These are amounts from my own experience. Yours will probably look a lot different. The point, though, is that it costs a lot of money to get sick.
Track Your Illnesses
If you use my family illness tracker, you can see how often you and your family members get sick, as well as what remedies work. It might also be beneficial to keep track of how much rest and water you are getting while you are sick.
Click on the link or the picture to download your Family Illness Tracker.
What do you do to prevent your family from getting sick? Do you agree that getting sick is expensive?
Linked to: Thrifty Thursday, SHINE Blog Hop, and Thrifty Thursday
Hey Charlee! Thanks for the shout out! I really appreciate it!
You’re welcome, Serena 🙂
Thankfully we don’t have to worry about the costs of visiting a doctor (we’re Canadian… yay health care)! My hubby has medications covered by his health insurance plan. However, I’ve been sick this past week and oh my how the housework has suffered. Eeek! I’ll get to it… eventually.
Thanks for sharing.
Wishing you a lovely evening.
xoxo
Jennifer, I’m so sorry you aren’t feeling well this week. I hope whatever you have passes quickly. I think when moms get sick, the housework fairy should pop by every day and at least tidy things up a bit. It would be so much better for our stress levels, and, thus, our health! Get better!
I’ve significantly reduced the costs of us getting sick by using natural remedies instead of buying OTC. Also I don’t usually go to the doctor’s unless the child’s fever hasn’t gone down no matter what and stays high, or if it’s something like chicken pox or similar typical child disease. Ear infection, cold, flu, fever- we treat it all at home.
I love hearing about other’s natural remedies. Do you have any that work wonders? My husband gets bronchitis every year (sometimes more than once), so I’d love to hear a natural remedy that might help it disappear!
Yes, getting sick is not only not fun, but costly. What a great idea to track all of this information. I always think I will remember it accurately, but I usually find that I don’t. Thanks for sharing this at the #shinebloghop, Charlee.
Thank you, Heather, for stopping in!
The only thing scarier than being sick is your cost breakdown! OMG. I didn’t even realize how much it costs to get sick. For the 9 months of pregnancy I didn’t get sick ONCE! Then, on my due date, I got the worst freaking cold I’ve had in years. Luckily Dylan was a week late because I would not have had the energy to deliver him.
Yes, good thing he was late! Being sick while going into labor is the pits! Although, it did seem like my symptoms went away while I was in labor. Then only a few hours afer she was born, they came back full force and got even worse. 🙁