A woman has revealed how she saves a small fortune on hay fever medication with one shrewd buying tip – and it will save you forking out on the summertime essential.

Emma Mead, 35, from Essex, a part time working mum-of-three, was tired of itching, watery eyes and sneezing fits, and didn’t care for shelling out for pricey allergy relief.

After growing tired of the symptoms during the high pollen count, she decided to do something about it.

“I researched the ingredients on well-known hay fever products,” Emma told NeedToknow.online.

“[Turns out] as long as the ingredients are the same then there is no difference at all in the item.”

Sharing her money saving tip with her followers on TikTok (@emma_lou_), Emma revealed how “big brands” didn’t necessarily mean better ingredients.

She explained: “A lot of people are drawn in by the big brands [like Piriteze], but look at the price.

“£10 if you don’t have a Club Card for a pack of 30, or you can go to your local pharmacist and ask for the generic.

“So this is the same ingredient as what’s in Piriteze but for only 99p.”

She continues to compare costly brands with their generic counterparts revealing a staggering price difference.

She goes onto reveal it’s not just allergy tablets with generic nasal sprays available for over £7 less than the “leading brand”.

Emma also confirmed it’s not just hay fever brands we’ve been over spending on.

She said: “It’s other products as well. For example, Nurofen Max Strength Tablets – which say on the pack that they are equivalent to 400mg of Ibuprofen. So you can buy a packet of generic 400mg ibuprofen and it is the same thing!”

Emma’s other tips for beating the pollen count include keeping windows closed at night,
using a nasal spray, eye drops and antihistamine tablet to help all symptoms.

The thrifty mum added: “I love a bargain, especially with prices rising so much at the moment.

“My advice for helping bring the food shop down is to look at the shelf edge labels at how much the item is per ml or grams etc and to check this against the ‘offers’ the shop are offering – as sometimes the offers they are promoting are not actually the best price.”