The New Way To Take Your Vitamins

I’m a supporter of all causes, until I find a flaw in them. I love trying new things. In fact, I am addicted to trying new things. I will believe something until I personally prove it to be untrue, even when others call me crazy for it, which is probably not always the smartest way but I like to think I lean more toward the side of positivity.
Because of this, I am one of those individuals that gets sucked into kick starters left and right or any new and shiny product, subscription and so on, as long as I think it’s worthwhile.
One of my latest discoveries is Care/Of personalized daily vitamin packs and it’s not hard to explain what caught my eye with this new startup.
Oh, where to begin!
The personalized packaging that has your name printed on it? The individually packaged vitamins for daily use? The convenience? The quiz you take to find out what vitamins YOU really need? The way they somehow make it appear that this is a cheaper way to purchase your vitamins?
After one month, I truly loved my Care/Of subscription.
Just as I was about to adjust my vitamin pack, after doing a considerable amount of research on what my body is most likely deficient of, because I realized their quiz did not get the job done in my opinion, I paused as I saw my total monthly cost of $35. It’s not exactly breaking my bank, but was it really worth it?
I will say the most beneficial part of this subscription is being able to grab my individually wrapped vitamin packs on my way out the door for work each morning, without having to remember to refill my 7-day weekly pill organizer every week, which I was terrible at and eventually gave up on taking my vitamins all together, how the elderly manage I am still trying to figure out. For that reason, I love Care/Of.
One thing I did not enjoy the thought of was the amount of waste I am generating by having this service. Every day I open my vitamin packet and throw away the empty packet after my vitamins are gone. I really started to feel guilty for the plastic (or whatever it’s made of) wrapper I was throwing away every day. I mean, sure some things like candy bars are always going to be in plastic wrappers, that just makes a little more sense, but these are my daily vitamins that I am choosing to purchase and by doing so I am creating more waste, all while I could have just one bottle that holds 200+ pills for six months. A six-month supply of vitamin packs = 180 wrappers. Yikes.
Now let’s get down to why I am really writing about this: Cost Efficiency
If you’re like me, a broke millennial graduate with too many bills to pay as it is, you’re looking for all possible ways to save. Here’s the breakdown.
My vitamin pack includes (only 1 of each): B12, Magnesium, K2, Rhodiola, Zinc
Care/Of prices each of these at $5 (B12), $8 (Magnesium), $9 (K2), $8 (Rhodiola), $5 (Zinc) per month, a 30-day supply.
And again, if you’re anything like me, you buy everything on Amazon (we will ignore the issue of Amazon taking over the world and shutting down stores). Although I do have a Prime membership, even if you have to pay for shipping, I have a good feeling that the total cost will still be less than the cost of a Care/Of subscription.
Here is a ballpark amount of how much each vitamin would cost per month, for a 30-day supply, if I purchased a bottle of each of these specific vitamins from Amazon: $2.86 (B12), $1.99 (Magnesium), $2.86 (K2), $7.60 (Rhodiola), $1.22 (Zinc).
I would be saving roughly $17.60 per month.
Now we know you can’t just buy a bottle of a certain vitamin for a 30-day supply, usually. So, given the brand, number of capsules, etc. that I choose to go with, prices do vary. But being that broke graduate I mentioned earlier, I took a few minutes to find the best valued option for each vitamin. I did not look for the cheapest option. I do value what I put into my body, so I research the ingredients in the vitamins as well as read reviews on the brands. You will typically find bottles of vitamins that have about 150–200 tablets in them, which means I’m also not going to have to purchase these monthly, but taking one per day would last me around six months or possibly more.
Based on that, my choices ended up being a bottle of B12 with 150 capsules for $14.34 (a five-month supply), a bottle of Magnesium with 200 capsules for $11.99 (a six-month supply which are 500mg when Care/Of Magnesium vitamins are only 400mg), a bottle of K2 with 100 capsules for $8.60 (UM, this an entire three-month supply of K2 for the cost of a one-month supply from Care/Of), a bottle of Rhodiola with 60 capsules for $15.20 (with 500mg compared to Care/Of’s which only has 250mg), and a bottle of Zinc with 250 capsules for $9.83 (hello, this is an eight-month supply!)
I have already admitted to my guilt of laziness that led to skipping my vitamins because I could never remember to set aside two minutes in my week to get my daily vitamins together for the week ahead, but when I think about spending $35.00 per month on my Care/Of vitamin packs OR saving about $18.00 a month on my vitamins (which is equivalent to about three and a half venti coffees from Starbucks, let’s be serious), it’s a no-brainer.
I absolutely love this subscription, but I can no longer justify it.
But if you’d like to give it a try to see for yourself, you can try coupon code SWEETDREAMS for half off your order or TWOFORYOU for your first two weeks free. Hopefully those are still working promo codes, and if not, sorry, I tried.
