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When I walked in the door from a meeting I couldn’t miss, I couldn’t help but joke that our living room looked like a Civil War hospital scene.  At one point this week, all 7 of us were sick at home.  It’s not much fun to power through and make sure everyone is still cared for, but I still haven’t located the phone number for my substitute mom.  So on we go.

We spent a lot of time watching Netflix and eating popsicles this week.  Good thing those are frugal choices, anyway.

Saving money when everyone is sick is fairly simple.  Luckily, the supplies you need to combat germs are fairly cheap.

So let’s talk about the latest in this frugal Friday series.

The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week

Settlement Check

Mixed in with the junk mail, you’ll occasionally find a legitimate notice about a lawsuit that affects you.  Whenever we get a notice like this, I read through it to determine if it actually applies to us.  If it doesn’t apply or I feel that it’s frivolous, I skip it.

If I determine that we actually were affected by the claim, I then do some research online to make sure it’s legitimate.

Typically I send in my information and then forget all about it.  Which makes it that much nicer when a settlement check shows up in the mail.  It wasn’t a fortune, but it was certainly a nice bonus!  You can bet it will be headed to pay down our debt soon.

Don’t Assume Anything

My son brought home a letter from school that said he’d lost a library book.  When I asked him about it, he shrugged.  My guy is incredibly smart…but smart people are often messy.  Not the first time he’s lost a library book.

But I decided to mention it to his teachers anyway.  It turns out that the book was in the classroom library instead.  That saved me replacement costs of the book…and all it cost me was a simple question!

Hanging It Up

While axing the landline can be a great way to save money, we still have one.  Ours is bundled with our internet to make it a nearly free option.  And I like that my kids can use a phone that isn’t lost or dead in case of emergency.

That said, there are only a couple of people who ever call this phone.  I’d say 90% of the calls we get are scammers or telemarketers (yes, despite the fact that we are on the do not call list).

With scammers getting more and more sophisticated (you’ve probably heard the new one where they try to record your “yes”), I hang up more quickly every day.  If I don’t get an immediate answer to my “Hello” or there is a beep before someone talks to me… click.  I don’t have time, and have no desire to be scammed out of my hard earned money.

It does make me sad for the elderly that they are probably scamming pretty successfully.  Educate your Grandma about this!

Saved On Gifts

My family is entering the new word of shopping for teenagers.  This can be tough!  I think an Amazon gift card is a great gift for teens, since they enjoy music and shopping for themselves.  So I redeemed my Swagbucks to help cover the cost. (Learn more about how I earn Swagbucks here.)

Put a Little Love In Your Home

I had to try a couple of the ideas I found for my post filled with Cheap or Free Valentines Day Decor Ideas.  Since we had a rough week, I stuck with the free printables and the paper heart chains.

Those are some of the ways we saved money this week.

Luckily, most of the family is on the mend and headed back to work and school now!  Hopefully we’ll all be healthy soon.  🙂

How have you saved this week?