Spending lots of money at the pharmacy is the last thing most of us want to do. Chances are, you’d probably rather splurge on a nice night out, new pair of shoes or an awesome vacation than you would on a few prescription medications, but the price of these meds can really add up each month. It’s unfortunate that prescription drugs are so expensive, because it causes many people to think about skipping medications that they truly need. But there is a way around this dilemma, if you’re able to consider alternative options to saving money on prescription medications. So follow these tips and soon your trip to the doctor won’t be a stressful experience.

Preventative care

There are lots of ways to save money on your prescription meds, but the very best of all is never to need them in the first place. So how can you make this a reality? Well, start by eating a healthy and mainly organic diet filled with lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Exercise 30 minutes per day at least 5 days per week to keep your heart healthy, and disease away. And always make it into the doctor for your regular preventative exams. As you get older, you’ll need to get exams like mammograms and colonoscopies, so don’t skip out on these because you could prevent the onset of something more serious (and costly) later on.

Just ask

You’ll never know where or how to get cheaper prescription medications if you don’t just ask around. So talk to your doctor and let him know about your situation, because he might be able to recommend some medications that are less expensive. Also, your doctor can recommend if all of the medications are truly necessary, or if there are cheaper remedies you can try (like preventative care on your own!) Or you can go into a legal Canadian pharmacy and ask if they have a generic drug you can try. When it comes to going shopping for your prescriptions, shop around at different pharmacies to find the best price. If you do it once, you’ll save yourself time in the future since you’ll already know where to go.

Ask for samples

One major financial drain that some people experience is forking over the cost of an entire month’s or more supply of a drug, and then realizing that their body can’t even tolerate it. Avoid this wasteful situation by asking your pharmacist for a free sample of the drug you need. This way you can see if your body has any sort of reaction, and it is works for your condition. If this drug doesn’t work for you, you haven’t spent any money on it.

Double dose

One strategy you can use to save money on your pills is to ask your doctor to prescribe a pill with a double dose of strength. This can be effective because medications usually don’t double in price even if you have double the strength. So you can actually take half a pill, get the same amount of medication and spend less money than you would if you were buying two bottles.