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Hi, everyone!

Welcome to fall. Yes, it’s that time of year again. When you can count on the leaves changing, the temperature dropping, pumpkin flavor getting added to everything (yum!), and… the flu making its rounds (yuck).

Get your flu shot for your health. And if that’s not convincing enough, do it for your wallet.

That’s right.

Not only can you protect yourself and your family from the flu, you can do it for free and even get a little spending money out of the deal.

Total win win!

So how do you do your part to prevent the spread of this year’s virus AND get paid doing it?

Read on to learn how.

If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you know all the very good health reasons to get your flu shot.

So what about the good budgeting reasons to get your shot?

Budgeting reasons to get your flu shot

  • Avoid using Sick Days – if you get the flu, you’re going to be stuck at home feeling awful, using up your sick days (if you have them).
  • Don’t Miss Work – while you’re sick, you’ll be missing work, possibly for two weeks or more. What a depressing and preventable way to miss work- and if you’ve already used up your sick days, you’ll be missing the pay for those days too. Or even worse, you could lose your job.
  • Avoid the Cost of Medicine– depending on your insurance, just getting the medicine you need can be over $100. And if you get the preventative medicine to stop the spread of the flu to other family members, then double, triple, or quadruple that price tag. Just a quick important note though– If you do find yourself with the flu, BUY THE MEDICINE. Frugal Rule of Thumb: Debt is better than dead.
  • Skip the Extra Loads of Laundry– trying to get better and prevent the spread of the flu to other family members means extra laundry work, extra electricity, water, and soap. Plus, who feels like doing laundry when they’re sick?
  • Don’t Give the Flu to Your Family– the flu is extremely contagious, so now your other family members are in jeopardy of feeling awful and you’re in a vicious cycle requiring more money again to get better.
  • Prevent Doctor Visits and/or Trips to the Emergency Room– things can go downhill quickly and require even more medical expenses to get well.
  • Don’t Die– Funeral costs is a morbid reason, but this list is focusing on budgeting reasons… just last year in the United States alone, the flu killed over 80,000 people. The flu is taking more lives each year, and last year was the worst death toll in 40 years. https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/26/cdc-us-flu-deaths-winter/
  • Avoid Lost Wages– If you’re dead, your family loses you and your wages, forever. On that note: do you have life insurance? If not, make it a short-term goal to get it.

So, those are some super negative budgeting reasons, covering mainly hidden costs of not getting your flu shot, but there are two really exciting positive budgeting reasons to get your flu shot too.

  • One, it’s most likely free to get your shot, and
  • Two, you can get gift cards or coupons for getting your flu shot, depending on where you go.

Once you realize all the hidden costs of not getting your flu shot, then getting it – for free and/or with coupons – becomes a no-brainer.

Without further ado, let’s go over in more detail how to get a free flu shot plus some moolah.

Get free flu shots

Free, free, free! Did I mention it’s free?

Getting your flu shot is free with (nearly) all health insurance plans. Even all those insurance companies know it’s a money saver to prevent the flu!

Just call the number on the back of your insurance card if you want to verify.

Many businesses even provide a flu shot day at the office for employees. Check with your HR to find out if they’re going to schedule one. If your employer does this, you can usually sign up for a time slot to get your shot without even clocking out.

You can also make an appointment with your primary care doctor.

Or you can walk in at many pharmacies like CVS or Walgreens. Even some grocery stores have shots available, like Publix, Price Chopper, or Hy-Vee.

Note: If for some reason you don’t have insurance that pays for your flu shot, you can still get it from most of these places for less than $40. For example, Hy-Vee only charges $25: http://www.postbulletin.com/life/health/hy-vee-offers-flu-shots-at-senior-center/article_5d9b5b37-a8e9-5194-9a81-148bb7761b22.html

So you see, you’ve got plenty of options on where to go to get your flu shot.

However, my preference is to go to a walk-in clinic/pharmacy inside a store where my family shops. Why, you ask?

Get free money

I like to make a little money when getting a flu shot.

And there’s no need to go through the rigmarole of setting up doctor visits and missing work or school to make it to appointments because you can go to a walk-in clinic in the evening or on weekends.

Seriously! Many places are clamoring for your flu shot business in the hopes you’ll spend some money while you’re there.

Even if your place of employment sets up a free flu shot day, you could be missing out on some perks you could get elsewhere.

How it worked for my family

Our family went to the CVS Pharmacy inside Target. We had no appointments, just walked up to the counter on a Friday evening with our health insurance cards, asked for flu shots, and were done within half an hour.

We each got a $5 Target gift card out of the deal!

There was no minimum purchase required to use them either, but we did need to spend them within a month. However, that was no big deal for us because… Target.

Plus, they asked us if we wanted them to let our primary doctors know that we’d gotten our shots. Yes, please! Fewer phone calls for me to make!

Our daughter got to find a toy she liked for being brave and getting her shot. She’s 9 so it’s been an ordeal every year, but the $5 for toy incentive went a long way towards convincing her that the shot was worth it. 🙂

When I hugged her and told her how proud I was of her bravery, she giggled over my shoulder, announcing that we were stopped in the diaper aisle.

Of course, Target’s CVS Pharmacy isn’t your only option for getting flu shot perks. That’s just where we decided to go.

Here’s a list of other places with perks available out there!

Places that pay you to get your flu shot from them

Get your flu shot early in the fall as soon as you see advertisements, and you’ll be sure to get one before supplies run out. They’re usually available starting in late September or early October.

Don’t wait to get your flu shot- it takes two weeks for its protection to fully kick in.

Added benefit of getting your flu shot early is more of the flu season with protection.

So what are you waiting for? Go get your flu shot and perks today!

Please share in the comments if you see other deals available when you’re out and about. Also, I’d love to hear how your experience went.

Frugal thumbs up!

Joni