I don’t think I’ll ever forget that it’s important to get vitamins and nutrients on a daily basis. Even to this day, even though I’m a grown adult, my mom is constantly asking me, “are you taking your vitamins?” Especially if I call home with the news that I’m feeling a bit under the weather, her first response, after she expresses her concern, is most often, “and have you been taking your vitamins?”

According to The New York Times, about half of adults in America take a multivitamin daily. While experts say that taking vitamins isn’t necessary or worthwhile if you maintain a healthy diet, taking vitamins and supplements (that your doctor recommends) could help keep you healthy and, in turn, potentially ward off common costs of sickness, i.e. doctor’s bills and medicine.

While you might find it necessary and important to take your vitamins daily, vitamins are not cheap. You don’t want to sacrifice quality when choosing vitamins, but you also don’t want to pay for more vitamin than you need. Here are some tips that will help you get the vitamins you need in the cheapest way possible:

Get Your Vitamins Naturally

This is without a doubt the best way to get nutrients into your system. If you can maintain a healthy diet with the nutrients you need on a normal basis, you may find that you don’t need supplemental vitamins.

Be sure to check out this article for some ideas for getting the nutrients you needs from inexpensive food sources. You might want to make some dietary changes accordingly, or you may find that you’re actually getting vitamins and nutrients that you went aware of without the help of supplements!

Of course, it’s not possible for many (most?) people to meet their daily nutritional needs with food alone, so that’s where vitamin supplements come in.

Opt for a Multivitamin

This may seem like a no-brainer of a tip, but it’s worth mentioning. While certain vitamins may be more important to you, such as vitamin D or calcium, it can get pretty pricey to buy specific vitamins. A multivitamin, however, can meet most of your nutritional requirements for the price of one bottle as opposed to several. You may still find that you need to take other vitamins, depending on your specific needs and your doctor’s advice, but you’ll save by at least bundling most of your vitamin needs into one pill.

Talk to Your Doctor About Your Needs

Sure, it’s important to get your vitamins. We’ve heard this all our lives, from doctors, parents, TV ads, school, and more. But the truth is that some people are just downright vitamin-crazy. There are some vitamins that you might not need to take because you’re getting enough from your diet. And there are some vitamins that you just might not need, period.

Do yourself a favor. The next time you visit your doctor, take a few minutes to ask about your specific nutritional needs. These will vary for different people depending on factors like age, gender, genetics and overall health. For example, a woman who has a family history of osteoporosis may find it beneficial to take calcium as a supplemental vitamin. Others who don’t have the same background may not need to bother with extra calcium.

Your doctor can give you an idea of which vitamins you should focus on getting each day and which you may not need to worry about taking. This could help save you some money, especially if you’re taking certain supplements unnecessarily.

Take Kids Vitamins

Sure, you’re saying kids vitamins are made specifically for, well, kids. But just because they might be shaped as Disney princesses or Flintstone characters doesn’t mean that they have less nutritional value than the adult brand. They will, however, most likely cost you less.

The next time you’re getting your multivitamin from the store, do a quick comparison of your bottle with the kiddie version. If you find that the ingredients are pretty much the same, you could opt for the less expensive kids’ version instead. You should also check with your doctor to make sure this switch is ok.

Take Advantage of Coupons and Sales

I’ve found in a lot of cases that I can get vitamins “for free” at CVS especially. How do I do this? Well, with a combination of techniques. First, I’ll look through online coupon resources (CVS’s coupon page, in particular) and see if I find any coupons for vitamins. Most times, I’ll find a $1 or $2 off of a specific multivitamin. Then I’ll check out the circular. Again, I’ll usually find some kind of deal on vitamins (usually buy one, get one free). Since vitamins don’t expire soon after you buy them, you can stock up without worrying about getting through them all. If the coupon matches up with the deal, you’re in luck! You can also wait until the coupon and the deal match up to ensure yourself further savings.

Then, if you’re shopping at CVS in particular, you can play the drugstore game a little bit and use those ExtraBucks you’ve earned to sweeten the deal even further. You could find yourself with 2 bottles of multivitamins at little or no cost, like I have on numerous occasions.

Also, if you’re attached to a certain brand of vitamin, you can also just do a quick Google search for coupons for that brand.

Buy Online/In Bulk

With coupon codes and special online discounts available all over the place, you may find it cheaper to buy your vitamins online. Often times, you can get free shipping or other special deals on orders of a certain dollar amount. Check out some of these sites and do a bit of comparison shopping to save as much as possible:

• Vitacost
• Puritan’s Pride
• eVitamins

Head to Walmart or Costco

When it comes to buying cheaper generic versions that are still effective, it could definitely matter where you purchase from. According to ConsumerLab.com via The New York Times:

ConsumerLab.com says it has found a few patterns that consumers may find helpful. Products sold by vitamin chains tend to be more reliable than drugstore brands, and Wal-Mart and Costco’s vitamin lines are usually worth considering. In a recent test of multivitamins, ConsumerLab.com found that Equate-Mature Multivitamin 50+ sold by Wal-Mart was just as good as the name brand Centrum Silver, but at less than a nickel a day is half the price.

What are your best tips for getting your vitamins on the cheap? We’d love to hear your input in the comments section below. Thanks for being a Tip Hero!

Sources: Money Crashers, The New York Times,

Photo credit: DIMP”,)z, Gesundheitsnewsnet, gregg_koenig