Image 1: Generic Rx.

More and more people have been taking an ever closer look at their finances in an attempt to stretch their budget that little bit further. Despite a number of significant price drops in recent years, Ireland is still one of the most expensive countries to buy medicines in. To combat this, we will be taking a look at a couple of ways of reducing your medicines bill, so that you're not forking out any more than you absolutely have to.

For most goods and services the price calculation is pretty straight forward. It will typically consist of a cost price + markup + VAT. So for an item that costs €10 from supplier, the merchant will add a markup of say 30% and VAT at 21%, bringing the total price to €10 x 1.3 x 1.21 = €15.73. So if you want to buy two of these, you'll be paying 2 x €15.73 = €31.46. Simple right? So why is this important? Read on!