Joe Raedle/Getty Images

What do you spend money on when you’re sick?

Marketplace Weekend Staff Oct 9, 2017
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Cold and flu season can be expensive. Even if your office pays for flu shots, you might spend money on extra protection — vitamin C, hand sanitizer, zinc. And then, if you do catch a cold (or the flu) the price tag gets even higher — soup, tea, cold meds, cough syrup.

Tack on missed workdays, trips to the doctor and visits to the pharmacy for prescription medicine, and you could be shelling out hundreds of dollars for a bad seasonal bug.

Marketplace Weekend wants to know what you spend when you’re sick — and what you spend it on. Would you rather pay for preventive care? Do you suck it up and work through your cold? How do you brace against the flu… and its high price tag?

Let us know how you cope. Get in touch on Facebook or tweet at us, @MarketplaceWKND. Email the team at Weekend@marketplace.org, where you can also send us your voice memos, or give us a call at 800-648-5114. Also feel free to comment below!












There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.