Cutting my spend on "monthly" matters

[Charlottenette]

Just been doing my end of year receipt sorting and wondering where the money goes and I have worked out that I spent nearly £200 on tampons, pads, panty liners and intimate wipes in 2016. OMG!! I have long and heavy periods and use Tampax brand with liners and pads and then have a bad habit of using 3 or 4 Always Daylies plus disposal bags every day between them. I'm planning to go to supermarket own brands in 2017 and cut down on my liner habits. Any advice on best cheap brands/shops that work as well as Tampax and are supermarket baby wipes OK for down there?

I know mooncups are often recommended on here, have you thought about one of those? Then you just have a one off payment, I'm going to try one this year as I'm trying to save a little.

90% of the responses you are going to get to this will be people saying get a mooncup and that the wipes are completely unnecessary.

Do you really put pantyliners in a disposal bag each time?

Recommend a one off investment in a moon cup, I found mine to be very liberating!

Huh .... 90% might turn out to be an underestimation!

Mooncup, or meluna or something like that.
Failing that, ditch the wipes and disposal bags.

Why use dailies??

I am another mooncup user. Haven't bought disposable sanitary wear in years.

Or try cloth pads as back up for tampons.
I use cloth pads from honor your flow on their own on light days or for mid month discharge and as back up for tampons at the heavy end of periods. I spent about £30 on the pads and then spend less than £1 a month on tampons.

I use Sainsburys (when not pregnant) find the towels and tampons just as good as always.

The first and easiest trade is to ditch panytliners and bags. Go with washable pads as back up. When you change them, which I only really do at home anyway, you fold them in on themselves so they don't need a bag of any kind.

If you get a moon cup (and they are brill), the pads are a good back up for that too.

I've never used wipes. A flannel, tissues, never wipes.

Things can go in the bin wrapped in toilet roll.

I'm a bit confused, do you use a tampon, with a pad, with a liner? And then you use wipes, and disposal bags? And then 3-4 liners every day when not on period?

I might have got that wrong. Firstly key thing is you feel confident and covered with what you have. But tampon, pad and liner together seems unnecessary? I would think the liner doesn't add much, but I don't know how it is for you. I wear liners sometimes just after my period, but only for a couple of days, I think the question is what difference does that make to you each day realistically as I have never really 'got' daily liners but might just be I haven't had the need.

Bodyform is good, non irritating and cheap, usually about £1/pack of 12-14 pads depending on absorbency and will go on offer regularly too. I only use pads and find Bodyform very reliable and comfortable.

The disposal bags seem unnecessary, at home you can wrap things up in their wrapper and stick in the bin, outside everywhere usually has sanitary bins.

The wipes seem unnecessary but do you find they make a big difference during the day? I shower in the morning and in the evening just use a jug and pour warm water (trick I learned from postpartum care!) to feel 'fresher' if I feel the need.

Your spend works out around £16-17/month, so trying to figure out if that's a box of each of those items every month. I spend about £2/month (very roughly) but just on pads, so if everything else is quite pricey and bought every month I can see how it would add up.

I've experimented with Sainsburys Basics which are fit for purpose. But if you're needing tampons, pads, and liners most of the rest of the time, then a visit to the GP might be a good idea.

I spent about £60 3 years ago on cloth pads and liners and then I buy one box of super plus tampons (cheap supermarket brand) every three or four months for heavy days.

However you are probably not going to want to go straight to using reusable/cloth stuff from what you are using now so how about using nappy sacks instead of the special bags, and only using them for the tampons, not everyday liners. You could try using cheaper tampons when your flow isn't so heavy if you are worried about them not being so reliable. I suppose baby wipes would be okay, but throw them away, don't flush - I use little baby wash cloths (3 in a pack from the pound shop) with plain water if I need a freshen up during the day and wash and reuse them.

I really rate wilko sanitary products. Their tampons are just as good as lillets and about a quarter of the price.

Get a mirena coil, I hear periods are non existent if you have one of them.

I use Aldi own tampons, smart price liners in sainsburys & normal bar soap for washing because I think shower gels a bit rubbish on getting you clean.

I wrap in loo roll and chuck them in the kitchen bin. There's no smell at all.

The average woman doesn't need liners everyday. It's just marketing. Knickers are there to protect your outer clothes. The knickers don't also need protection! You could save loads by ditching them.

Mooncup and if you need back up on heavy days, just the supermarket own brand pads which cost a pittance. You'll be able to save most of that £200

Lose the wipes, irritating and an eco disaster. Use water poured from a bottle or jug if more needed than your daily.bath or shower.

But that much bleeding is not right. Consider medical help.

Mini pill. No periods.

Intimate wipes?!! What's wrong with toilet tissue.

I use Aldi tampons and towels, they are perfectly fine and I have very heavy periods for the first 2 days.

I may use a pantyliner for a day either side of my period but find them quite irritating to be honest.

I don't use wipes of any sort. Everything is wrapped in loo roll and binned. I probably spend about £3-4 a month but things get carried over to the next month so could be less.

You use something daily?! Why?

I don't understand why anyone would buy "intimate wipes". The fewer chemicals in your foof the better.

The Lidl ones are better than the tampax pearl and cheaper than the standard tampax...

Wilko ones are fine, as are Sainsbury and tesco basics / economy, but, each of us is different. You need to try what works for you, but start with the real basics and then work up if you don't get on with them.
However, i don't understand why you need special wipes, nor disposable bags - instant cut down on expenses there and then.

Would you try reuseable pantyliners? I really like the eco femme branded ones from femininewear.co.uk and I think you could save money easily with a couple of packs of those.