I’m sure you’ve all heard or seen a commercial from the website 1800petmeds, but there are actually a lot of pet pharmacies on the internet ready and willing to send you medicines for you beloved pets. I actually have three dogs and only buy my pet medications (this includes flea and tick treatments as well as heart worm prevention) from the vet.

The reason is because, even though places like 1800petmeds and other online pet pharmacies say that their medicines are 100% authentic and are the exact same as the medicines that you would buy from the vet, sometimes they aren’t. I have been told stories of pet owners who have purchased their dogs’ medicines from online pet pharmacies and ended up with the wrong prescription or medicines that were open, expired, or simply not genuine medicines.

Sure, I would buy pet supplies from these places, but never their medicines. The vets know that a lot of people are buying from these online pharmacies and are now matching prices with them to make sure that pet owners are getting genuine medicines for the same prices that they would be getting them for online. All you have to do is ask your vet if he or she will match the prices. My vet actually told us upfront that she would match the prices and we pay exactly what the online pharmacies are charging, except we pay sales tax.

I know that some vets won’t do this and they still enjoy charging outrageous prices for medicines that could easily be found cheaper elsewhere, but sometimes it’s better to call around and get the best price from local vets. I think the best way to measure how much a vet will charge for medications for your pet is to ask about heartworm prevention. You can see the cost at 1800petmeds and compare.

I don’t think medicines for animals or humans is something that people should skimp on. If you want to save money, try to cut it anywhere else first. I just don’t think most people would consider buying their child antibiotics from an online pharmacy, so why would you get your best friend’s medicines from somewhere similar?

And that is an actual picture of my dog when he was a puppy.

Where I live, health food stores are hard to come by, but I do know a little about their goods. So, when I came across this article called “10 Things Health Food Stores Won’t Tell You” on SmartMoney, I just had to talk a little about it.

1. Organic doesn’t mean healthy all the time. A survey recently found that consumers believe that organic foods have more nutrients in them than other non-organic foods do. This is very debatable. While organic doesn’t mean more nutritious it does mean it is a FDA monitored word that means that no synthetic or harmful (like pesticides) substances were used in growing produce and that no antibiotics or growth hormones were used in raising livestock.

2. Label standards are guaranteed to be the same today as they were yesterday. Once there were regulations on what was to be considered and labeled organic, lobbyists started hitting up senators for weakening of the regulations. It has worked on a few occasions, such as when two Alaskan senators sponsored an amendment to a wartime bill that would open the door for seafood caught in the wild to be labeled organic.

3. Our store sells overpriced prepacked goodness. Heath food doesn’t have to eat up your entire grocery budget for the month in a week. You can do things like shop at farmer’s markets or join a co-op to get healthy organic (and locally grown) produce. I find it absolutely ridiculous to pay 3 times more at the grocery store for organic beef versus regular beef.

4. There is no regulation on dietary supplements. The dosing instructions as well as the daily amounts on the bottles of dietary supplements (sometimes called vitamins if the store can get away with it) is not regulated by the FDA. Claims that the companies make on the bottles don’t have to be entirely accurate and things can end up being banned in the future. What you may be taking right now as a supplement, may, in the future, be a banned toxin (see: ephedrine).

5. Just because it’s from a health food store doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight. Recently, in my small town, a Smoothie King store has popped up in a strip mall. Everyday in class, I would see a quarter to a third of my classmates with the cups ranging from the “small” 20 oz size to the behemoth that they call a “large.” Smoothie King drinks are good, but they are FULL of sugar, and where there’s sugar, there’s calories. Many of the smoothies offered are meant to be meal replacements, but many times I would see people having a Subways sandwich with the smoothies. Now, I don’t know what they had in the cups, but I’m sure they weren’t looking at the nutrition facts when they were ordering (I always have to because too much sugar makes me really sick).

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.