My Husband The Bargain Shopper...

When I was pregnant with Juliana we never anticipated her medical issues.  Who would?  When it was time to move her from the uber-concentrated formula (concentrated to make it higher in calories) to whole milk, we were told that we wouldn't be transitioning her to whole milk.  Instead, we would be transitioning her to a high calorie drink.  Going along with a high calorie drink is a high price as well.  Insurance won't cover it because it's not her primary food source, so since Juliana doesn't have an N-G tube or a G-tube they won't cover any of the cost for her drink.  To order it through a pharmacy like Walgreens or Target, it would cost us around $65 + $18 for shipping for a case of 27 juice box size 8 ounce drinks.  On a good day, Juliana will drink 2.5 of them, sometimes 3 (if it's the first week of her appetite stimulant).  Needless to say, this has been costly, and last year we had not budgted for this.  This year we did.

Anyone who knows our family, knows that I lovingly refer to Ryan as "Hitler of the Wallet".  Ryan holds us to a tight budget, and it is good that he does, especially when things like high calorie drinks fall into our laps unexpectedly.  Ryan had the idea of searching for Juliana's beverage on eBay, and fortunately we have been able to find it there and buy it cheaper than through a pharmacy.  In fact, Ryan won one of the recent auctions for $20!  I can't tell you how much that excited the two of us, especially since we are trying to find money to send Noah to preschool in the fall.  Most auctions don't end that cheaply, but we can usually get a case for $40.  I'm sure some of you are probably thinking that we are nuts for paying that much for a kid's drink, but what else are we supposed to do to get pounds on Juliana?  We will do what we have to do and we know that God will provide.