How Much Is Your Period Costing You?

Hands up if you resent spending money on period products. Whether you’re financially fit or you have too much month left at the end of your money, chances are the last thing you want to be putting in your shopping basket is a pack of tampons. If you’re unlucky enough to suffer from heavy periods, painful periods, or long-running periods, you can find yourself forking out more than others just to survive the month without a bloodbath.

And when you factor in unpaid time off work due to period pain and those little indulgences to cheer yourself up through the PMS, the period-related bills can creep even higher.

There’s no doubt that periods are a costly endeavour that none of us chose for ourselves. But for many, the cost of periods isn’t only frustrating, it’s crippling.

One in ten teenage girls has been unable to afford sanitary products and one in seven has had to borrow tampons or sanitary towels from a friend because they couldn’t afford to buy their own. These statistics come from a 2017 study by children’s charity, Plan International UK, following research which surveyed 1,000 girls and women aged 14 to 21.

With all this in mind, I’ll share two different types of data below. The first comes from a charity devoted to tackling period poverty. The second, is from a lighthearted study that’s aim is to essentially promote the company that commissioned the research.

How much does a period cost over your life?

The charity Bloody Good Period estimates that the lifetime cost of a period is around £4,800. This figure is based on essential period products such as tampons, sanitary towels and liners.

Other studies have been carried out to assess the cost of periods in a broader sense. For example, in 2015 VoucherCodesPro asked 2,134 women aged 16 to 45 how much they spent on their period each month.

Respondents said they spent about £13 a month on sanitary towels, tampons, and/or menstrual cups, a further £8 on new underwear to replace those damaged by leaks, and £4.50 on pain relief.

But the data also included money spent on chocolate and other comfort foods (£8.50 a month) along with £7 on “other” items, such as magazines, toiletries (I imagine this includes stuff like face masks and bubble bath) and DVDs.

I don’t know why people are still buying DVDs either but I had nothing to do with this survey.

When looking at the voucher code company’s data, this brings the estimated lifetime cost to around £18,000.

How much does a period cost each year?

Based on Bloody Good Period’s research, the average annual cost of a period is around £128.

When we look at the voucher code company’s data, periods cost women £492 a year… I don’t know about you but I’ve never spent this much on menstruation, no matter what luxury comforts I throw into the equation.

How much does your period cost each month?

When we take Bloody Good Period’s figures and divide this by the number of months the average woman is likely to menstruate, this brings the average monthly cost of a period to just under £11 a period.

For the average person, £11 a month on period products is affordable. However, for those experiencing period poverty, it’s common for what little money they have to be spent on other essentials such as bills and food.

Looking at the voucher code company’s data, the average monthly cost of a period is a whopping £40.

How can I save money on my period?

If you’re not suffering from period poverty and you want to save money on period products, there are lots of things you can do.

First, consider switching to a reusable alternative to disposable products. I’m in the process of switching from tampons to the menstrual cup and just a few days in, I’m loving it already. You can read about my progress in my 7 Days of Using A Menstrual Cup review. If moon cups aren’t for you, consider reusable pads. These can be rinsed under the tap and popped in the washing machine before being used again and again.

I appreciate reusable sanitary products aren’t for everyone, so the next thing to do is to assess the disposable products you’re using and look for cheaper alternatives in the shops.

Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis came up with the Downshift Challenge to encourage shoppers to drop one brand level on day-to-day purchases to see if there’s any difference in the quality of the product. While this trick is often used for food, there’s no reason why you can’t try it with sanitary products too. So if you currently use Tampax, swapping to a supermarket’s own brand tampons could save you money with perhaps little to no difference in quality.

Please note that this post includes affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase using one of the links within this post, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.