I didn't find pheonix down very useful in FFV. they only give you back 1/8 of your maximum HP

In FFVII you could use W-item to fully heal that character with an Xpotion in the same turn. In FFVIII it was helpful to only have a small amount of HP so you could use limit breaks. So i would only use a pheonix down occasionally after a battle, which means however many were dropped by monsters was enough. i never had to buy one
