How much did your last period cost?

[MrsCipo]

Out of interest, what did your last period cost you in monetary terms? Including san pro, pain killers, time off work, ruined clothes and anything else you had to pay for? I had a conversation about period poverty the other day, but those involved have reusable san pro, not particularly heavy periods, etc, so didn't really 'get it'. I thought a cross section sample from a lot more women would be a bit more representative. Also wondering what other costs, in addition to those above, have been missed out

About £8 or thereabouts. I use organic/undyed/unscented tampons and buy an extra for the food bank.

£1 tops. Mooncup and a pad over night.

In Ireland so €1.49 for Boots own brand super plus non applicator tampons and €1.99 for Boots own brand super pads with wings (some left over for next time). So €3.48 in total (just under £3)

Box of 12 super plus tampax per day for 3 days. Box of 12 regular for the next 2 days

Pack of 10 super plus night pads.

Probably a lot of lost productivity as I have severely low iron levels.

Wow, that's a lot. Not surprised your iron levels are low as you must have extremely heavy bleeding 😲

£0.

Mooncup, don't need painkillers, don't need time off work, don't ruin my clothes.

Less than a pound

I'm lucky I don't get period pain so don't need pain killers

£1.50 in sanpro (body form). Nothing else.

Mooncup here so no cost.
Why are so many women spending so much on tampons and pads? Have you all tried the alternative?

I've used a mooncup and reusable pads for years so mine doesn't cost anything now.

@GladAllOver it just isn't an option for some people - I wish some women would understand that.

As previously posted I've had to have a hysterectomy at 38 due to heavy bleeding. I've spent 5 weeks in hospital prior to this bleeding profusely.

I have a job where I can be out and about visiting clients all day. At one point I kept being messaged by women asking if I had thought about reusable. Honestly - where the fuck was I supposed to put them? Some days I rely on clients or supermarket toilets. I would have probably needed to change it every hour. So I'm meant to carry round a stash with me and all the soiled ones in my handbag all day? Mooncup - just walk out of Morrisons loos and tip it down the sink in front of everyone?

Not much? A pack of paracetamol and a pack of always pads? Cant be much more than £3

I get it. I live fairly close to a major town, and maybe 4 miles from supermarkets
If I could only use the local shops, the nearby one charges quite a lot for pads/tampons and only sells branded. Can't remember the exact cost but there was quite a mark up, same at the garage. The supermarkets are on a bus route but if you're a teenager and not able to get there...
I'm lucky I can shop about and when I'm near Savers or Wilko I stock up, and also buy for work (everyone thinks there is a tampon fairy as I supply them!)

I have heavy periods, sometimes I stand up and flood straight through a pad if it's moved slightly and I'm used to my periods, for girls who have just started it's a lot harder. Heavy for me is 6-10 night time extra long pads a day

Sorry going off-topic here but I'm really surprised how many women don't need painkillers or can manage with basic ones for their period. I don't think I have a low pain threshold based on other stuff, but I get close to throwing up with pain from my periods some months, and I've even woken up actually in the middle of crying or shouting out in pain. Now I'm wondering if that means something isn't quite right. I have ehlers danlos syndrome, wonder if it could be connected to that or something.

@2monstermash My food bank gives out any sanitary products if asked, with relevant voucher of course. I try and give a few packets of disposables a month.

Myself I want to say

1 box of tampons however much that is? £2 - £3 I should think.

I think period poverty may be significant for those who have no income for example adolescent women, my mum often wouldn't have money or failed to buy sanitary protection and I often used toilet roll!!

Around £3

4 packs of pads (different thicknesses and liners for the end) approx £1 each

Ibuprofen approx 50p

Extra washing loads unsure on £

Extra loo roll approx 50p

Travel costs to stock up £1.50

So at least £6.50, probably £10 if I include extra food and bills.

Could get cheaper Lidl/Aldi pads but have had a bad reaction to these in the past.

I use reusables now so after the initial outlay no cost at all. When I used disposables it was about £5 a month. I had a tendency to flood, but I was always able to wash it out of what I stained so never had to replace anything.

But when I first started, except for an initial massive pack of pads, I had to sort getting my own which was tricky and expensive. (I'm not sure why my mom never bought me any - I think it may be a combination of being a prude and having bigger things on her mind) Also, I tended to stain more things as my periods were unpredictable and I want used to having them yet. I spent a lot of the money I made in the summer on menstrual products for the entire year. Luckily, I had access to washing facilities so no added cost there (thank you grandparents!)

The thing with period poverty is that when you don't have access to money everything becomes exponentially more expensive. It's hard to take advantage of economies of scale when you don't have enough to begin with.

Under £2, sanity towels or tampons on offer or supermarket's own brand, i use cheap paracetamols too if needed, still under £2.

Another mooncup user so nothing new needed, cost of a few mins of the microwave only. Think I've had this one for about 9 years, though I've had 2 pregnancies and breastfed in that time so it's not been in constant use- I reckon an average of about 20p per period so far.

And I find it so much more reliable than tampons that I don't ruin clothes or bedding any more either!!

About 1.50 for pads.

About £3? Pack of tampons and the odd painkiller on a bad day. Mines pretty light so no spoiled clothes or time off work thankfully! I do eat like a horse though so probably waste a further £50 on junk food that week!

@BlueBooby It may be worth getting checked. Everyones different but that does quite extreme... I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I dont get any pain and never take painkillers.

And I definitely think period poverty exsists- it's a shame that the options which out very economically, as well as more environmentally sustainable have a fairly high outlay cost- and a commitment to washing/cleaning which may not be as easy for a teenager to do without drawing attention to it.

About 65p I think. I use Morrisons own brand towels. My DD also used these too. I bought her a bag full of various branded and non branded products when she started and of all of them, she prefers those. Always make me chafe terribly and feel really sweaty. DD needs ibuprofen but usually have those in as standard and only buy the 50p ones from Home Bargains etc anyway and she'll only use a couple so pennies there. That's it really. Between the two of us about £1.50. Which I appreciate is a lot if you can't afford to eat. But I too am suspicious of the high averages quoted. As a PP posted, yes, there will absolutely be people for whom periods are heavy and painful so will have to pay a fortune each month just to function but for each one of those, my 65p will bring the average much lower. That doesn't mean I don't agree that people struggle. I definitely do, but I'd like to see how these quoted figures have been calculated.