The common cold can cost up to $11K per year – here’s how to keep your bottom line healthy

The common cold can wreak havoc with finances but here’s how to minimise the impact by staying healthy and not paying over the odds for treatments.

The common cold can be big hit to the family finances. Picture: iStock

It’s often disregarded as simply a sniffle or “just” a cold. But the true cost of a cold can become a financial burden when you consider lost work days, unused child care and medication.

And now, financial planner Canna Campbell has calculated the cost of a cold to be up to $11,000 a year for the average Australian.

She started with the average wage of around $94,000 a year, which is about $361.53 a day. If you work in an industry with unpaid sick leave, like a trade, contractor, freelancer or you are a business owner, that figure can blow out to $737.53 a day when you add in unused daycare costs. The average Australian adult gets two to five colds a year and a standard cold lasts three days, so that’s around $11,000 out of your budget a year.

“I know a bunch of bananas can cost three or four times a packet of TimTams on sale but the long term effects of eating a diet with fresh fruit and vegetables will pay off when you get sick,” says the mother of three and founder of SugarMamma. “It’s important to think of the long term benefits of sustainable health and wellbeing – of fresh fruit and vegetables over fast food.

“And as soon as you feel tired or unwell, jump on to products with antioxidants so you can be back in the workplace as soon as possible.”

The good news is that the average family can reduce these costs by shortening the duration of a cold.

The common cold can cold a family up to $11,000 a year, a financial planner has calculated.

Here’s how:

* Antioxidants have been shown to help ease the symptoms of a common cold because they fight free radicals in your body. You can boost antioxidant levels in your body by eating foods rich in vitamin C and E, like leeks, onion, garlic, grapes, berries, pumpkin, mango, apricot, carrots and leafy greens. Even tea and red wine are sources of antioxidants.

* There are also some cold and flu medications available over the counter that help relieve the symptoms plus boost your immunity to help reduce the duration of the cold. Products like the Sambucol Black Elderberry range and the EASEaCOLD Cough, Cold & Flu range (which contains vitamin C, zinc and echinacea) could help.

In addition, when buying medicines to treat a cold, consider the following tips to get the job done and save some money,

* Look for generic versions of the big brands (check the active ingredients first) and match the treatments you buy to the symptoms you have. Many products have a combination of ingredients that treat more than one symptom, so aim for those that address the symptoms you have. Ask doctors for advice on less expensive versions or investigate buying in bulk.

* Don’t be tempted by cheap overseas deals. The Therapeutic Goods Association says that such products may not meet the same safety, quality or efficacy standards as those bought in Australia. Potential pitfalls include fake medicine, undisclosed ingredients, medicines past their use-by date or drugs that are contaminated or the wrong dosage. Also beware fake online pharmacy scams, that might either steal your credit card details, or send you dodgy medicine.

THE COST OF A COLD

For Melissa Neville, the cost of a common cold can be a lot more than financial. The Canberra mum of three is a wedding hair stylist but also works with the elderly, people in palliative care and those in the NDIS system. Plus, her husband, Darren, is an intensive care paramedic.

Melissa and Darren Neville with their three children.

“If either one of us are sick, we absolutely cannot go to work because the people we work with are too vulnerable and cannot afford to get sick,” the award-winning hairdresser and owner of Missy’s Magic Styles says. “But also, there’s the financial cost because while my regular clients may be able to move around appointments, I still end up losing hundreds from having to take days off. And there would be new clients whose business I could lose altogether.”

With three children aged 16, seven and five, colds are common during flu season.

“I make sure we all have vitamins and try to stay as healthy as possible,” she says. “But I won’t lie, I get nervous coming into the winter months.”