The average American menstruator currently spends at least $6,000 on menstrual products in her lifetime, or roughly $20 per cycle. Plus, with inflation, the cost of pads and tampons has risen sharply since pre-pandemic times. In other words, you’re not alone if you’re starting to feel like period products are costing you an arm and a leg. Many women and girls in the U.S. simply can’t afford period products, and often wind up missing school or work while they’re menstruating.
Affordable Period Care: The Benefits of Reusable Products
The situation is so desperate for some that they’ve turned to makeshift solutions, like rags, paper towels, toilet paper, diapers, or socks. For others, period care eats into other areas of their budget, like groceries or school supplies. Even if you don’t have to make major sacrifices to afford period products, the costs can still add up to a massive burden. Here are some reusable alternative period products whose upfront cost could save you big bucks in the long run.
Period Underwear
A single pair of period underwear can cost as little as $20-40, even for heavier absorbencies, depending on the style. While that might seem like a lot, consider the fact that you could potentially get through a whole cycle on just 2-3 pairs. Each pair can be worn for up to 12 hours, which means you can switch them out before bed and throw a pair in the wash. Even if you don’t have access to a washer/dryer, you can hand wash period panties and hang them to dry overnight.
With proper, gentle care, period panties can last a couple years before the fabric starts to wear out. At most, you might have to replace a pair after about six months of heavy use. In other words, with period panties, you could get away with spending as little as $30 a year on period care (three pairs of panties x $20 divided by that two-year lifespan). However, even if you spend a bit more generously, you could still be looking at serious savings over time.
Period underwear can last even longer — and save you even more — if you use them as a backup method. For example, you could replace your pads with period underwear and use them in conjunction with an insertable like a menstrual cup. Using an insertable exposes your period underwear to less moisture, meaning less overall wear and tear and a longer shelf life. To make them last even longer, you could also layer your period underwear with a reusable snap-on pad on your heaviest days.
Menstrual Cups
Speaking of menstrual cups, these are one of the most effective ways to achieve huge cost savings on menstrual products. As with period panties, the upfront cost runs about $20-40, but many brands of cups can last up to a decade. If you tolerate the cup well and aren’t prone to much leakage, one cup could be your only period care product. Divide $20-40 by ten years and it quickly becomes clear just how much you could save by using a menstrual cup.
Even the cleaning process for cups is more affordable than some other methods of period care. All you have to do is rinse or wipe them out and boil them after each cycle (not each use) to sterilize them. That means no money spent on detergents, coin laundry, or even bathroom trash can liners. All you need is a pot and a little hot water — use a microwave, if you don’t have stove access. (Don’t ever put the cup itself in the microwave; just use it to heat the water.)
There are only a few possible financial downsides to cups, one of which is that they’re more expensive to replace than a tampon. In the unlikely event that you accidentally drop your cup in a public toilet, you could be out some extra cash. More likely, any costs incurred will come from accidentally leaking and staining your clothes. To avoid this, practice inserting and removing your cup without spilling, and/or use a reusable pad or period underwear as a backup.
Menstrual Discs
Until recently, the only widely available menstrual disc was disposable, so it wasn’t designed to be reused. Newer brands and models, however, are meant to last for up to two years — and, in some, cases ten. The average cost is a bit less variable than other period products, with most brands of reusable menstrual discs costing around $30-35. A few outlier brands sit around the $10-15 range, but it’s hard to speak to their reputation for quality.
At any rate, the disc carries the same advantage as the cup: you can keep using it over and over throughout your period. Depending on the brand and material, some should be boiled, while others are best washed out with soap and water. For best results, carefully follow the instructions that come with your menstrual disc. Also, make sure you’ve bought a disc that’s designed to be reused; don’t wash out and reuse one of the disposable models.
Pick a good, long-lasting disc, and the savings can amount to as much as you’d save by using a menstrual cup. The main difference between the two is mostly up to individual preference and how well the device works with your body. One advantage to the disc is that its design makes it possible to have penetrative sex with the device in place. However, some people prefer the cup because they find the disc more difficult to insert and remove without making a mess.
Cyclical Savings
The long-term cost of period care doesn’t have to be so expensive if you choose the right reusable options. Unfortunately, for some folks, the upfront cost of these products can still be unattainable. However, a handful of charities, women’s health clinics, universities, and even some countries have started offering free reusable period products to people in need. Reusable period products are also FSA and HSA eligible, so you may be able to get them tax-free.
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