Money is tight in a tough economy. In an uncertain economic climate, one thing is for certain prescription drugs are costly. Prescription drugs take a chunk out of the family budget. The editors of SleepBetterTips.com have compiled a list of 14 ways to save on prescription drugs:

1. Ask for samples from your doctor. When my doctor prescribes me a new prescription, I always ask for a sample. I’m always hesitant to get a whole bottle of sleeping pills when I don’t know if they work for me. Typically, my doctor will give me a sample for a few days; and if I think the sleeping pill works for me, I can go to the pharmacy and get it filled properly.

2. Go to a mass retailer discount chain (e.g., Walmart). Big retail chain competition is heating up in the prescription aisle. Kmart, Target and Walmart all have good prices for generic prescriptions. The last time I checked, Target and Walmart had $4 prescriptions for a 30-day supply for medicine. Kmart had a$10 for 90-day supply. You should either visit the store or go online to see what

3. Look for coupons or rebates. After I visit my doctor, I never head straight to the pharmacy to get it filled. Instead, I head home to go online to look for coupons and rebates. I had to fill a brand name drug the other day and found a $35 rebate. The rebate was hassle free; I had to fill in one quick form and mail in my pharmacy receipt. The best part was that I could reuse the rebate each time I get it filled (which is monthly). It took less than 4 weeks to get my rebate check.

4. Switch to generic. Did you know that switching to a generic version of a drug could save you up to 80% per prescription? That’s a huge amount of savings. According to the FDA, about 50% of generic drugs are manufactured by the brand-name companies. Talk to your doctor on whether switching to a generic brand is a viable option.

5. Mail order options. You can save money on your prescriptions by going the way of mail order prescriptions. Instead of getting a 30-day supply of prescription drugs, mail order prescription drugs send a 90-day supply.

6. Preferred drug brand. You should call your insurance company to see if there is an alternative to your prescription drug. It worked for me! I called my insurance company and asked if they had a preferred brand to the brand name I was prescribed. They gave me two options of one generic brand name and one preferred brand name. I called my doctor and asked what my doctor thought. He switched me to the preferred drug brand. I was able to save $10 a month!

7. Apply for patience assistance programs. The patience assistance programs are designed to help subsidize the cost of prescription drugs through government or not-for-profit advocacy programs.

8. Use your HSA or FSA accounts. Flex spending accounts allow you to buy prescriptions pretax.

9. Discount prescription cards. A variety of discount card exists that can help you pay for your prescription drugs and are not part of your insurance. However, it is important to note that you should look into whether you are eligible for the different kinds of cards and whether or not they can benefit you.

10. Enlist your doctor and your pharmacist. Be honest and tell your doctor about your financial situation. Doctors and pharmacists are our allies and may be able to give you advice and resources on how to save on prescription drugs.

11. Price shop among your local pharmacies. All your local pharmacies are not created equal. There might be two pharmacies around the corner, but they might not offer the same price. Look around and you might surprise yourself on the cost savings that you can incur. By the way, you can look around and see if there are any specials is you move your prescriptions from one pharmacy to another (they have these every now and then).

12. State Assistance. More and more states have pharmaceutical assistance programs for low-income households.

13. AARP members are eligible for many discounts, including mail-order pharmacy discounts.

14. Partial orders. When receiving a new prescription, ask the pharmacist to give you a partial order to see if the medicine will work. If you find the medicine doesn’t work for you, you won’t have wasted money on the extra pills.
If you have any other tips, feel free to add them in the comments section below.