Moving into a new place is a great opportunity to take inventory on all your personal care products, what you might need more of, and what can be incorporated into your health routine. Moving can be stressful and tiring, but you can help yourself out by making sure you have the products you need to take care of yourself.

Essentials

Everyone’s medicine cabinet looks different, but there are a few game changers that we find helpful to always have on hand. If you are sexually active, having easy access to pregnancy tests and condoms is helpful in keeping a peace of mind. No form of birth control is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy or the spread of STDs, so using condoms and checking for pregnancy will stop you from questioning your sexual health. Keeping pregnancy and ovulation tests handy will help figure out your cycle and save you from uncertainty in the future.

Make sure you’re stocked up on any vitamins and medicine you take regularly. Just because you’re moving shouldn’t mean your health gets put on pause, so try making it a priority to ensure your health products make it over in the move.

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Expired Products

Getting into the habit of checking the expiration dates of your health products will save you from uncertainty and unnecessary last minute trips to the drug store in the future. Before moving, go through your medicine cabinet and toss whatever is expired. If you take prescription medicine, take note of the use by date and talk to your doctor about getting a refill if it is approaching. Similarly, check your vitamins for expiration dates and consider re-stocking if they are passed or near that date. 

Believe it or not, sexual health products also expire. The average shelf life of a condom is only 3-5 years depending on the brand. This may seem like a long time, but if you’ve been using the same box of condoms for a few years or use what you have laying around, there is a chance it could be expired. The effectiveness of condoms  is not something worth messing with, so we suggest leaving expired condoms behind and restocking when you move. 

Tampons and pads usually last for around 5 years before expiring. Always air on the side of safety by checking the packaging for expiration dates and store them in their original packaging. You can also look out for discoloration or odor from your pads and tampons to see if they’re expired.

Pregnancy and ovulation tests typically expire 2-3 years after they were manufactured. Once the tests pass their use by date, the results are much less accurate and no longer considered valid. To be sure you can trust your results, check that the tests haven’t expired and always take more than one.

We hope this makes your move less stressful and helps you continue to prioritize your health. If you did forget something during the move, Stix is here to help. Shop our products today and we will deliver to your door on a one-time or subscription basis.