Medicine Woes
I have found out that US Benadryl is only available as Nytol and it's behind the counter so when I run out of mine very shortly, I will need a sleep aid. I guess I do use it before I go to bed so my skin doesn't itch, but I don't think they want people to take it daily like I do.
What they call Benadryl here is actually Zyrtec in the US, making my previous statements about the unreasonableness of drug prices slightly incorrect because one tablet is around $.30, while in the US it's closer to $3 if you don't have insurance. That would be all fine and good if Zyrtec did squat for my itchy skin but I need Benadryl.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
They may have the NHS but...
$16 for 24 Benadryl tablets? Are you kidding me? I can get 400 generic at Costco for $3.98. It's about $3.50 for 16 Ibuprofens and $20 for 50 lactaids, which of course I totally lost. I think in the US it's around $14 for 48 generics so I guess the markup isn't too bad on that. I think I spent $6 on 6 Immodiums- but I was desperate.
$16 for 24 Benadryl tablets? Are you kidding me? I can get 400 generic at Costco for $3.98. It's about $3.50 for 16 Ibuprofens and $20 for 50 lactaids, which of course I totally lost. I think in the US it's around $14 for 48 generics so I guess the markup isn't too bad on that. I think I spent $6 on 6 Immodiums- but I was desperate.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
What is wrong with banking in this country?
Seriously- they find like a million ways to gouge you. If I buy something online, I have to use a credit card, so why charge me extra for using a credit card? Like I want to buy a plane ticket that ends up being $10 more because of the credit card charge- but what other way can I buy it? It's not like they offer direct draw from my checking account. Apparently the Visa Electron is free to use online, but typically it's used for children or people with horrible credit- so the rest of us are rich enough to pay an arm and a leg everytime we use a credit card?
Seriously- they find like a million ways to gouge you. If I buy something online, I have to use a credit card, so why charge me extra for using a credit card? Like I want to buy a plane ticket that ends up being $10 more because of the credit card charge- but what other way can I buy it? It's not like they offer direct draw from my checking account. Apparently the Visa Electron is free to use online, but typically it's used for children or people with horrible credit- so the rest of us are rich enough to pay an arm and a leg everytime we use a credit card?
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Credit Card Suspicions
For some reason, the UK is really suspicious of credit cards that aren't from here. Most of them have some sort of chip in them, while ours have nothing. In some stores, they simply won't take foreign credit cards at all, while others have to make a copy or take an imprint because they're afraid the credit card company won't pay. I've never experienced this in any other country. There were some differences in Japan and fewer places that took credit cards, but if a company/restaurant gave you the option of paying by credit card, it didn't matter where it came from. In the UK Ikea, you can pay the bill by any credit card, but in the delivery area they require a UK one.
Like Japan, the UK has places you can pay your bill by cash in a convenient store or grocery store. They aren't quite so nice about telling you where those stores are though. In Japan your bill will have a logo on the back for each store, here you just have to walk around trying to find a "pay point."
In other news, lots of services require a contract- phone, internet, cable. I don't remember any of those in the US requiring anything. I guess if you want a traditional landline you just have one choice, so there's no reason to require a contract there. Most people still only have 1-2 choices for internet and if you have cable you're going to go with cable and if you have something like Fios you'll get Verizon internet. What's the most annoying is that there are lots of limits- you can't get cable internet without cable TV or the broadband phone, you can't get a traditional phone line without a yearlong contract, which you need to get ADSL. So now we're stuck paying for 3 extra months of phone, but we'll try to cancel at the end and see what happens.
For some reason, the UK is really suspicious of credit cards that aren't from here. Most of them have some sort of chip in them, while ours have nothing. In some stores, they simply won't take foreign credit cards at all, while others have to make a copy or take an imprint because they're afraid the credit card company won't pay. I've never experienced this in any other country. There were some differences in Japan and fewer places that took credit cards, but if a company/restaurant gave you the option of paying by credit card, it didn't matter where it came from. In the UK Ikea, you can pay the bill by any credit card, but in the delivery area they require a UK one.
Like Japan, the UK has places you can pay your bill by cash in a convenient store or grocery store. They aren't quite so nice about telling you where those stores are though. In Japan your bill will have a logo on the back for each store, here you just have to walk around trying to find a "pay point."
In other news, lots of services require a contract- phone, internet, cable. I don't remember any of those in the US requiring anything. I guess if you want a traditional landline you just have one choice, so there's no reason to require a contract there. Most people still only have 1-2 choices for internet and if you have cable you're going to go with cable and if you have something like Fios you'll get Verizon internet. What's the most annoying is that there are lots of limits- you can't get cable internet without cable TV or the broadband phone, you can't get a traditional phone line without a yearlong contract, which you need to get ADSL. So now we're stuck paying for 3 extra months of phone, but we'll try to cancel at the end and see what happens.
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