Archives for January 2012

Garage Sale: Gathering Items to Sell

January 31, 2012 by Tracy

The past two years, our family has participated in our subdivision’s community garage sale. Though I do not always have items to sell, my children enjoy running their lemonade and cookie stand. 😉

This spring, I plan to actively participate in the garage sale. While in the preliminary stages, I am accumulating items from decluttering, cleaning, and organizing our home.

As I work through each room, I keep items we use and love. The other items meet one of the following fates:

Trash any broken items.
Reuse the items in another space/room.
Give the items to a friend who needs it.
Place it in the garage sale box.
Donate to a needy ministry.

With the box(es) of items to sell, I place them in my garage, which is the holding place until our garage sale. These items are not placed in any particular order.

They are just packed neatly into the boxes and stored in the garage. As the date of the garage approaches, I will price and organize the items while using time wisely.

If you are planning a garage sale, designate a place to put your items to sell. If the items are out of sight, you will forget about them since you really do not need those items anyway. 😉 Happy planning!

Maintaining: Preserving your Children’s Artwork

January 30, 2012 by Tracy

Paper clutter can quickly overtake a space. Without constant attention, my kitchen counter will sport a mound of paperwork by the end of each day.

On top of the normal mail items, you probably have lots of school paperwork and artwork to handle. Though I enjoy all the lovely art projects brought home, I refuse to keep paper clutter.

The Dilemma

Realizing that my son worked hard on his projects and wants to display them, how do I find space for these items when they will be forgotten by the end of the week?

My Immediate Solution

Allow my son to display his beautiful artwork on our kitchen bar. The displayed artwork is visible and accessible for a few days.

My Permanent Solution

After a few days, I will ask my son if he still needs his artwork displayed. If he wants to keep it a little longer, he will ask. But if done with the project, he responds with, “Mom, you can do whatever you want with it.”

When I get the latter answer, I will take a picture of the item and then toss it in the trash. Yes, throw the item away because I have preserved the artwork via a photograph.

The picture solution is a win-win situation in our home. In using time wisely, our family can view the item at anytime without cluttering our living space.

By reaching a solution to one part of the paper trail, I can decrease clutter while preserving my children’s artwork. With my child’s consent, I throw away without guilt the bulky poster boards, irregular shaped foam boards, and sculptures because I have a photograph of his art projects.

By keeping the paper count from my children’s artwork low, I am free to work and play at home with a preserved photograph and without a sea of clutter.

Did I step on your toes? If you tend to hoard everything, then clutter will weigh you down. Rise above the clutter, take control, and only keep your favorites. You can create a beautiful organized space only after you get rid of the clutter. Choose wisely!

Question: How do you preserve your children’s artwork? Please add your answer to the comments.

Life Insurance: Policies for Head of Household – Part 3 of 3

January 29, 2012 by Tracy

This week was odd. In many ways I felt like I was just treading water. My head was above the water without any danger, but I was not making progress.

Though I did get some purging, cleaning, and organizing accomplished, other priorities fell by the wayside. Getting back to the basics and focusing on what is important, I plan to make progress this week.

If you are looking for that one organizational project to complete this week, consider working on your important documents. Need to start at the beginning? Then begin here. If you are following my filing system, then this second file opening holds our head of household’s term life insurance policy and combination whole life and long-term care insurance. The last bundle of paperwork in this file is the accidental death insurance policies.

Accidental Death Insurance

If you are a member of a bank, federal credit union, or credit card holder, then you have probably received an invitation for accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance coverage.

These policies usually give you $2,000 of 24-hour protection provided through your bank, credit union, or credit card provider without cost to you. After you accept this insurance, then you will receive options to increase your coverage for minimal cost per month.

Accepting the Free Coverage

Since these policies are nice backups, I always accept the basic coverage since the policy is free. These policies are not whole life insurance or term, but will disperse payment after death or dismemberment due to an accident.

These policies are very specific and limited, so our family bypasses the options to increase these benefits. However, we do keep the free policies.

Choosing your Beneficiary

At least once a year, I call the insurance providers to verify our beneficiary designations are up-to-date. I choose a primary beneficiary and two contingent beneficiaries.

If my family can receive a claim due to an accident, then I want to offer the insurance company multiple ways to get the payment into my family’s possession.

Documents Kept Safe

These two policies for Paul, provided through our credit union, include the following documents:

Certificate of Insurance
Correspondence from Provider
Beneficiary Designations

Each set of documents is paper clipped together, and then both sets are paper clipped together and housed behind Paul’s combination whole life and long-term care insurance documents. All these items are then placed in the second file opening of Box 2, holding our important insurance documentation.

With another file opening complete, you are on your way to getting those insurance documents organized. Though our files are different, finding a place for each type and labeling the sections allow for quick retrieval. Besides getting organized, filing your important documents will help you in using time wisely for years to come. Happy organizing!

Swag Bucks: Advanced Guide

January 28, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Swag Bucks

If the beginner’s guide and intermediate guide have left you wanting more ways to earn Swag Bucks, then the advanced guide is for you. Since I am more of an intermediate Swag Bucks player, I will recommend these posts on earning more Swag Bucks:

Couponing to Disney: How to Earn with Swag Bucks

Money Saving Mom: 15 Ways to Earn More Swag Bucks (in 3 parts)

Living Loving Learning Naturally: How to earn MORE Swagbucks (link no longer working as of July 10, 2014)

Need an extra tip on how to search? Check out this You Tube video for a great tip on searching to earn more Swag Bucks.

Swag Bucks is not a get rich quickly program. However, earning Swag Bucks throughout the year will help in stretching your dollars. By choosing gift cards, I get to fund birthdays, anniversary, and Christmas gifts.

In using time wisely, find a system that works for you as you search the Internet and earn those Swag Bucks. Happy savings!

This post includes affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Using Time Wisely! Click here for my disclosure policy.

Question: How often do you search the Internet through Swag Bucks? Please add your answer to the comments.

More Swag Bucks Posts:

Family Activity: 5 Benefits to an Outing in the Park

January 27, 2012 by Tracy

Even with the colder weather, my children need time outside. The fresh air, change of scenery, and space allow them freedom to explore and release their energy.

On school days, I try to give my children time to run around on the playground or in the gymnasium. Tired out before we arrive home, they are calm and mild-mannered for the ride home. My son is then focused on his homework, and the afternoon runs smoothly.

For a great Saturday morning activity, Paul and I took the kids to a local park. With two play sets, Paul watched our older kids on the big jungle gym while I watched the toddler on the smaller-sized playground.

Eventually, the entire family ended at the little playground. 🙂 With five different slides, each chose a different one. With the camera close by, I caught them having fun.

Having a family outing at the park provides the following 5 benefits:

1. Free Admission

In our area, we have five or six parks with child-friendly activities. For older children, consider a park with Frisbee golf. Though my children are still too young, we live near two parks with free courses which our niece (age 11) and nephews (ages 13 and 9) enjoy.

2. Contained Space

Most parks with playgrounds include a fence or barrier to keep the children from roaming out-of-bounds. Keeping up with three children or more is manageable when there are boundaries. Though kids will venture out of the area, educating them on safety and obeying the rules makes for a wonderful outing within the boundaries.

3. Creativity Encouraged

My daughter amazes me with her creativity. Having a jungle gym with multiple slides, tunnels, and levels allows for many hide-and-seek spots or tag options. Even with the great equipment on which to play, my children often enjoy using a stick to draw in the sand or stacking rocks by the trees. 🙂

4. Room to Explore

Finding a balance beam, merry-go-round, or rocking animal helps my children experiment with cause-and-effects relationships: if I push this dolphin to the ground and release it, what will happen? Now, what if I push this dolphin backwards and release it? Oh, it goes the other way.

Just giving them time and room to explore feeds my children’s brain development while making connections through visual and tactile means.

5. Social Skills Practice

Besides playing with each other, my children enjoy meeting new friends and including them in their fun. By introducing themselves and communicating the rules to their games, our children are practicing their social skills. Encouraging sharing, kindness, and taking turns on the playground reinforce the training gained from home.

Making a visit to the local park continues to bring excitement to my children. With the cost, space, and development benefits, we visit often.

As you seek family outing options, your next outing might be close by at your local park. In using time wisely with your family, there is no need to spend money on an entrance fee. Just give your family your time and energy. They really want you!

Need other ideas for a fun family activity, check out the event page on Facebook for new activities posted often. Have a great weekend spending time with your family. 🙂

Question: What are the favorite obstacles at your local park? Please add your answer to the comments.