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Taking the Financial Sting out of Family Flu Shots

Flu season has officially arrived. Is your family prepared? If your answer is a big “no”, could money be to blame? Without insurance, flu vaccinations are expensive, potentially costing as much as $50 per person.

doctor

Skipping these shots may seem like a good idea for your wallet, but it leaves you and your family vulnerable at a time when germs spread like wildfire. 

If you’re worried about how you’ll afford to balance your budget and your family’s health, check in with these tips. 

Use Credit Carefully

Coming up short of what you need, you may reach for your line of credit to help bridge the gap. But is this the best use of your credit?

Financial institutions like CreditFresh recommend a personal line of credit acts as your financial parachute in unexpected emergencies. 

With flu season arriving at the same time every year, getting a flu shot should be an expected winter expense. And for most relatively healthy families, it’s not an emergency. 

Budget Early for Your Family’s Shots

Although it may not fit the definition of an emergency, a flu shot is an important part of your family’s health — and your finances.

Getting sick is expensive. Between doctor’s visits, prescription medicine, and time off work, the flu can do a number on your budget. 

Creating a cushion in this spending plan may be cheaper than the cost of getting sick. By putting aside some cash towards a health fund each month, you may afford the shot and any wintertime illnesses without the help of a personal line of credit. 

Use this spending plan to spot other expenses you can cut out or eliminate, so you can free up cash for your family’s health. 

Enrol in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers no-cost vaccinations, including flu shots, through the VFC

It’s available to eligible children under 18 whether they’re insured, underinsured, or Medicaid-enrolled. 

If your child fits the bill, they may get a flu shot for free from a VFC Program provider. Just keep in mind providers may apply an administrative fee.

Check with Your Local Health Department

Some state and county health departments provide free flu shots to residents. Check in with yours to see if they’ll help vaccinate your family free of charge. 

Sign up for a Sponsored Flu Clinic

You aren’t stuck getting your shot from your family doctor or local clinic. If these health providers charge to vaccinate your family, look beyond these clinics for help.

As the flu season gets underway, schools, community centers, and churches will organize temporary flu clinics. Many of them give the shot for free. 

Check with your child’s school to see if they plan on running one this year. Otherwise, reach out online to other parents to see if they know of any anti-flu drives in your community.

Look out for Vouchers

Many of the country’s biggest pharmacies offer vouchers for free flu shots to uninsured and underinsured families. Plan a trip to Walgreens, CVS, or Target to see if there are any free flu shots left. These vouchers are available on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last, so make sure you hurry.

Plan ahead and Get Vaccinated 

Generally, you should get inoculated before Thanksgiving. This gives the vaccine time to work before the flu season hits its peak in December. 

(Don’t worry — the shot still helps even if you get it in the new year!) 

This proactive approach will also help your finances. Between tweaking your budget, hunting down VFC providers, and cashing in on limited vouchers, planning ahead will help you take some of the sting out of your family’s flu shots.




Ultimate Unclog Your Day Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway Winners


We hope we have given you some great advice and tricks to help #UnclogYourDay. Parenting is a hectic business, but we try our best to stay organized and focused on what is important. We want to thank Drano® Snake Plus along with SC Johnson for putting together a fun contest and of course for making the incredible prizes available. Thanks to all of our readers for sharing what works for your family; hopefully we all learned something new and useful.

A special congratulations goes out to Stacy and Katherine. They are the winners of the #UnclogYourDay giveaways!.







Turn Errands Into Field Trips to #UnclogYourDay

#UnclogYourDay $1000 Giveaway

If your house is anything like ours it’s busy and when I say busy, I mean from sunrise till sunset. Some days it feels like we are running nonstop, carting the kids around and checking errands off the list such as grocery shopping, trips to the home improvement store or even projects in the yard. Days like these can put a damper on the quality time we spend with the kids, so we’ve learned to incorporate some fun into these trips and projects.

Trips to the garden center tend to be dirty, heavy and confusing. I don’t know what veggies work in our garden or what kind of plant food Melinda wants. Venturing into the home improvement center can be a great learning opportunity for teaching the kids about fix-it projects and tool recognition — providing a little lesson in tools and supplies. I can remember taking similar trips with my father when I was young, and they certainly were able to help me later in life. It makes me feel good as a dad when the kids want to be involved in what I am doing and want to take a ride to wherever I’m going.

While it would be easier and faster to just run these errands by myself, we need to realize they offer quality time with the kids. Best of all they enjoy going and we have a good time together.

Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway

How do you squeeze in quality time with your family? Tell us to earn an extra entry into the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway. This is your final chance to enter, as the contest closes soon! To enter, simply share your own tip, trick or idea for a chance to win 1 of 2 $1000 gift certificates redeemable for a consultation with a professional organizer, a home cleaning service and/or a gift certificate to a major home retailer, provided by Drano®. This giveaway is sure to help you and your family unclog any day! Use the gift certificate to buy home organizing products to keep your home clog and clutter free!

Click here to see the official rules and click here to see additional ways to enter the contest.

Drano® wants to help families everywhere unclog their days to enjoy more quality time with family and friends. Thanks again to Drano® for sponsoring this fun campaign. For more information on Drano® Snake Plus, go to Drano.com.

Disclosure: LookWhatMomFound.com is working with SC Johnson to help get the word out about the new Drano® Snake Plus. We are paid to write about Drano® Snake Plus, but our thoughts and opinions are all our own.




A Family Calendar can help #UnclogYourDay

#UnclogYourDay $1000 Giveaway

Blogging, work, child care, vacations, appointments, school functions, conference calls, football, concerts, play dates, parties and field trips – these are just a few of the things we need to keep track of on a daily basis.

We are a busy family. There is a lot to do and it’s easy to get tripped up and forget something. A family calendar is something I’ve been utilizing for many years. Ours is posted in a central location (the kitchen) where we can all see it at a quick glance, and also add things as they come up. There is no excuse to not know what is on the agenda for the day, week or month. The key to keeping a family calendar is discipline. It doesn’t work if you don’t update or read it. Even the youngest members of the family (who may not be able to read yet) can recognize birthdays, beach days, dentist appointments and sleepovers by using a sticker system. Small visual identifiers can be used to keep the non-readers involved and prepped for the upcoming week.

Along with the family calendar I have my own personal planner that is accessible from my smart phone, iPad, and laptop. If I’m ever somewhere without one of those things (which is highly unlikely) I’m able to access it from any computer. I can schedule blog posts, phone calls, reviews and deadlines in one spot. With the family agenda plastered on the kitchen wall and my personal to-do list at my fingertips, there is no reason to stumble through a day.

Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway

Share how you keep your family on track and your day unclogged to earn an extra entry into the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway. To enter, simply share(with a comment below) your own tip, trick or idea for a chance to win 1 of 2 $1000 gift certificates redeemable for a consultation with a professional organizer, a home cleaning service and/or a gift certificate to a major home retailer, provided by Drano®. This giveaway is sure to help you and your family unclog any day! Use the gift certificate to buy home organizing products to keep your home clog and clutter free!

Click here to see the official rules, and click here to see additional ways to enter the contest.

Drano® wants to help families everywhere unclog their days to enjoy more quality time with family and friends. Thanks to Drano® for sponsoring this fun campaign. For more information on Drano® Snake Plus, go to Drano.com.

Disclosure: LookWhatMomFound.com is working with SC Johnson to help get the word out about the new Drano® Snake Plus. We are paid to write about Drano® Snake Plus, but our thoughts and opinions are all our own.




I Disclose




#UnclogYourDay by Keeping Tools Close at Hand

#UnclogYourDay $1000 Giveaway

Being a father to a teenage daughter, eight-year-old-boy and three-year-old little girl, you can bet I always need to have tools close by to fix whatever they decide to break that day.

I have two huge tool boxes in the garage filled with wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, Allen wrenches and other random things. I have no idea what some of the tools are even for but don’t want to toss just in case I need them to fix something around the house. In addition to the surplus in the garage, I have screwdrivers strategically placed in drawers around the house along with flash lights and Allen wrenches because you never know when duty calls and I need to make a quick repair before bed or during dinner.

One tool that is essential with three ladies in the house is the Drano® Snake Plus. You can only imagine the amount of hair that goes down the drain on a daily basis. Since Sabreena has heavy, thick, long hair, Drano® is the only solution to my often clogged drain problem.

Having tools and keeping them handy is essential in running a smooth household and doing it quickly. It isn’t cleaning, cooking or putting the kids to bed but my duties as handy-man are necessary to keeping this house safe and in working order.

Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway

Drano® wants to hear how you take care of the handyman business around the house. We are hosting the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway to help us spread the word about ways to unclog your day. To enter, simply comment below this post to share with us your own tip, trick or idea for a chance to win 1 of 2 $1,000 gift certificates redeemable for a consultation with a professional organizer, a home cleaning service and/or a gift certificate to a major home retailer, provided by Drano®. Use the gift certificate to buy home organizing products to keep your home clog and clutter free!

Earn additional entries below
Follow Mom (@LkWhtMomFound) and Dad (@anddadtoo) on Twitter and tweet this giveaway 1 time per day. For the tweet to qualify, please leave a link to each Tweet on this blog post (not the other blog posts). You can tweet one of these three messages to qualify:

  • Want 2 #unclogyourday? Visit @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for chance to win $1,000 prize to organize your day! Rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Drano and @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo want 2 #unclogyourday! Enter for chance at $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Check out @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for a cool contest. Unclog your day w/ a $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB

Subscribe to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! via email or RSS feed, bottom of page.

To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must first leave a comment describing ways to unclog your day on the blog post.
Your entries must comply with the linked rules or they won’t be eligible for prizes. This contest ends 11:59 pm, September 13, 2011. The winners will be emailed and will have 72 hours to claim their prize. For complete rules please read the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway Contest Rules.
About Drano® Snake Plus

The new Drano® Snake Plus can help unclog life’s toughest messes. Drano® Snake Plus is a brand new, innovative product that resolves the toughest clogs the first time, guaranteed or it’s free!* Drano® Snake Plus combines a flexible, easy-to-use 18-inch tool with a powerful pro concentrate gel, the thickest and most powerful gel from Drano® that clings directly to the clog, quickly dissolving it.

Drano® wants to help families everywhere unclog their days to enjoy more quality time spent with family and friends. Thanks to Drano® for sponsoring this fun campaign.
*see drano.com for more details

Disclosure: LookWhatMomFound.com is working with SC Johnson to help get the word out about the new Drano® Snake Plus. We are paid to write about Drano® Snake Plus, but our thoughts and opinions are all our own.



I Disclose




#UnclogYourDay with Meal Planning Made Easy

UnClog Ur Day $1000 Contest courtesy of Drano

What’s for Dinner? I hate this question. What I hate even more is when I have to say, “I don’t know.” There is nothing more stressful than scrambling at 4 p.m. with no defrosted meat, no prepped veggies and a clock ticking down. For years I’ve made great strides in doing a meal plan and grocery list to match so we have very few last second runs during the week.
There have been many methods that I’ve tried:

  • Meals on index cards
  • Random searches online
  • Spreadsheets
  • Stack of cookbooks with recipes flagged

meal planning session

What works best for me is a simple piece of paper with each day of the week listed and the meal that is planned. If I’m extra motivated I will use a calendar and plan 2-4 weeks at a time. We tend to eat the same meals: tacos, pasta, grilled chicken and pizza but each week I like to add in a new or revised recipe. Last week’s “new recipe” was Chicken Marsala. We made the investment into some quality wines, added mushrooms to the grocery list and enjoyed something new. Adding a new meal expands the kids’ taste buds and gets us out of dinner ruts.

Along with the meal plan we always have old standbys for those nights when things just don’t go as planned. Sometimes it’s ordering from our favorite pizza place, sometimes it’s pulling frozen meatballs from the freezer to whip up a quick batch of spaghetti. The meal plan is a guideline to keep us organized during our busy days.

Ultimate Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway
How do you avoid meal time madness? Help others make their family meal time run smooth by sharing YOUR tips and tricks. And to help unclog other parts of your day beyond meal time, we are hosting the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway. To enter, simply comment below this post to share with us your own tip, trick or idea for a chance to win 1 of 2 $1,000 gift certificates redeemable for a consultation with a professional organizer, a home cleaning service and/or a gift certificate to a major home retailer, provided by Drano®. Use the gift certificate to buy home organizing products to keep your home clog and clutter free!

Follow Mom (@LkWhtMomFound) and Dad (@anddadtoo) on Twitter and tweet this giveaway 1 time per day. For the tweet to qualify, please leave a link to each Tweet on this blog post (not the other blog posts). You can tweet one of these three messages to qualify:

  • Want 2 #unclogyourday? Visit @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for chance to win $1,000 prize to organize your day! Rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Drano and @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo want 2 #unclogyourday! Enter for chance at $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Check out @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for a cool contest. Unclog your day w/ a $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB

Subscribe to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! via email or RSS feed, bottom of page.

To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must first leave a comment describing ways to unclog your day on the blog post.
Your entries must follow the linked rules or they won’t be eligible for prizes. This contest ends 11:59 pm, September 13, 2011. The winners will be emailed and will have 72 hours to claim their prize. For complete rules please read the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway Contest Rules.

Drano® Snake Plus
The new Drano® Snake Plus can help you unclog life’s toughest messes. Drano® Snake Plus is a brand new, innovative product that resolves the toughest clogs the first time, guaranteed or it’s free!* Drano® Snake Plus combines a flexible, easy-to-use 18-inch tool with a powerful pro concentrate gel, the thickest and most powerful gel from Drano® that clings directly to the clog, quickly dissolving it.

Drano® wants to help families everywhere unclog their days to enjoy more quality time with family and friends. Thanks to Drano® for sponsoring this fun campaign.
*see drano.com for more details

Disclosure: LookWhatMomFound.com is working with SC Johnson to help get the word out about the new Drano® Snake Plus. We are paid to write about Drano® Snake Plus, but our thoughts and opinions are all our own.








I Disclose




Bumps and Hurdles and the Way to Unclog Your Day – Giveaway

UnClog Ur Day $1000 Contest courtesy of Drano

For some families summer means vacations, relaxing by the pool, playing a bingo game and sleeping in. However, things are different at our house. We get up and go and yes we have vacations and pool time. We also have camp, day trips, gardening, festivals and more. This is the way we love to live our lives. However, sometimes things do not go smoothly. Life throws in some bumps and hurdles to slow you down.

We’ve all been there. It’s time to get out of the house and the kids are fighting, the phone is ringing and the dishwasher is leaking on the kitchen floor. Whether this is the exact scenario or you switch out the kids for the cats, all families struggle with road blocks at any given time. These moments don’t need to stop us in our tracks. Families need to learn to use the tools we have to get over the bumps and hurdles and keep our days and lives going.

This is where a tool like Drano® Snake Plus comes in. Drano® Snake Plus is a brand new, innovative product that resolves the toughest clogs the first time, guaranteed or it’s free!* Drano® Snake Plus combines a flexible, easy-to-use 18-inch tool with a powerful pro concentrate gel, the thickest and most powerful gel from Drano® that clings directly to the clog, quickly dissolving it. The advanced nature of the tool and gel combo will help families avoid wasting time and money on unplanned trips to the store and visits from the plumber.

Our family is excited to partner with SC Johnson and talk about how we unclog our days to keep our lives running as smoothly as possible. Every couple of weeks we’ll share a new method we use to stay on course, keep organized and remain sane. Feel free to use these tips, improve them or share your own.

To help us spread the word about ways to unclog your day, we are hosting the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway. To enter, simply comment on this post and share your own tip, trick or idea for a chance to win one of two $1,000 prizes redeemable for a consultation with a professional organizer, a home cleaning service and/or a gift certificate to a major home retailer, which will be provided by Drano®. Use the gift certificate to buy home organizing products to keep your home clog and clutter free!

You can enter the contest using the three different ways below:
• Leave one comment describing ways you unclog your day under each of the Drano® Snake Plus blog posts we make during the campaign. We will post five times during the campaign so make sure to leave your own relevant tip or trick after each post.
• Follow Mom (@LkWhtMomFound) and Dad (@anddadtoo) on Twitter and tweet this giveaway 1 time per day. For the tweet to qualify, please leave a link to each Tweet on this blog post (not the other blog posts). You can tweet one of these three messages to qualify:

  • Want 2 #unclogyourday? Visit @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for chance to win $1,000 prize to organize your day! Rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Drano and @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo want 2 #unclogyourday! Enter for chance at $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB
  • Check out @lkwhtmomfound @anddadtoo for a cool contest. Unclog your day w/ a $1,000 prize! See rules: http://bit.ly/npKWGB

• Subscribe to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! via email or RSS feed, bottom of page.

To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must first leave a comment describing ways to unclog your day on the blog post.

Your entries must comply with the linked rules or they won’t be eligible for prizes. This contest ends 11:59 pm, September 13, 2011. The winners will be emailed and will have 72 hours to claim their prize. For complete rules please read the Ultimate “Unclog Your Day” Drano® Snake Plus Giveaway Contest Rules.
We hope you use our tips (and the winner uses the prize) to help you and your family unclog, reconnect and relax.

*see drano.com for more details

Disclosure: LookWhatMomFound.com is working with SC Johnson to help get the word out about the new Drano® Snake Plus. We are paid to write about Drano® Snake Plus, but our thoughts and opinions are all our own.

















I Disclose