Using Time Wisely

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Archives for 2012

Using Time Wisely: Counting my Blessings (49 – 62)

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

April came and went without a counting my blessings post. Though it was not written, I have much for which to be grateful. My children went through an illness resulting in a round of antibiotics.

While playing nurse and cuddling, I chose to let everything go. I rested and concentrated on my children. In continuing where I left off, I spent time counting my blessings.

49. Caring pediatrician, who listens and seeks to help our family.

50. Immediate access to qualified professionals to process lab work.

51. Available medication for a short wait.

52. Free medication through programs like Publix’s Free Medications Program.

53. Hours of watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with my toddler tucked in my arms.

54. The iPad.

55. Reading an e-book on the iPad while my toddler slept in my lap.

56. Toddler, who wanted to rock. My 2-year-old has decided that she does not like to rock before bedtime anymore. But when she is not feeling well, she wants to rock with Mommy while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

57. Rest.

58. Pre-school daughter, who understands she just needs to sleep. When she gets sick, she likes to crawl in my bed and sleep.

59. Energetic son, who helped retrieve needed items and played quietly while the girls slept.

60. Hubby taking shifts and cleaning up the illnesses when the smell got to me.

61. The healing of my girls.

62. Spending lots of time with my family at home.

Life with little ones is tough. Remembering that these times pass quickly, I take a deep breath, pray for strength, dive in, and count my blessings while using time wisely.

Question: What blessings are you counting today? 

Event Planning: On the Job Training

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Growing up in a home where parties were the norm and not a rare occasion, I learned how to organize an event via on the job training. I can still remember arranging fruit and vegetables on trays, filling cups with ice, and counting plates and napkins. Those training sessions equipped me with skills I use today.

As I stay involved with many events, my children join in the process. By involving them and allowing them to help, I offer on the job training for event planning.

My oldest daughter loves to cook, clean, sort, and organize with me. Embracing her desire to help, I give her simple instructions, space to work, and time to complete the task.

Simple Instructions

While setting up for an open house, I received a request by my daughter to help. As I surveyed the tasks, I chose to give her the opportunity to place the pink and blue (Sweet n’ Low and Equal) packets into one bowl and the white (sugar) packets into another bowl. After having her repeat the instructions back to me, I left her to work.

Space to Work

I went to the kitchen to bring out the trays of goodies. When I returned, I checked my daughter’s work and praised her for continuing to sort.

Time to Complete the Task

Without rushing her, I gathered the other items and added them to a kitchen cart. When my daughter finished, we packed up the extra supplies and transferred the items from the cart to the table.

  

By giving my daughter simple instructions, space to work, and time to complete the task, she welcomed the praise she received for helping with the open house. What a joy to watch my daughter develop confidence by completing tasks alone!

As I continue assisting with events, I seek for ways to include on the job training while using time wisely. By teaching, demonstrating, and encouraging, I am providing opportunities for my children to develop, practice, and perfect their event planning skills.

If you have little ones close by that love to help while you are busy executing your plan, consider offering on the job training. You might save time with the extra help and nurture a special relationship in the process. Our little ones are watching and learning. They love the extra attention and opportunity to succeed alone. Happy training!

Questions: What tasks can you entrust to your child?

Spring Cleaning: Track, Sills, and Baseboards – Oh Yuck!

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Though I am not where I want to be with my spring cleaning, I am not where I started. My kitchen sink, beds, and medicine cabinet show the results of my housework.

In entering our busiest month of the year, I may need to put the spring cleaning on hold until school is out. May is just full of last-minute field trips, school programs, soccer season for my two older children, and end-of-year parties.

A few things still remain on my spring cleaning to do list. These items include the following:

Sliding Glass Door Track

This track gets quite filthy from season to season. Since it has been about a year since cleaning the track, it needs to get done.

Window Sills

With little black smudges from tiny fingers, my window sills need some attention. Some sills just need a good dusting and a squirt of Windex. Other sills need the Mr. Clean magic eraser for those stray crayon and pencil marks. 🙂

Baseboards

No matter the size of your residence, you have more baseboards than you think you have. Though I try to clean the baseboards when I clean each room, I know I miss some.

Concentrating on the baseboards once or twice a year keeps the dust bunnies away.  Though my baseboards probably need a new coat of paint, I will focus on getting them clean before beginning any new projects.

Keeping the house clean, organized, and uncluttered is a full-time job. With a running To Do list that never gets completed, I understand how the mundane gets tiring.

When I get burned out, I stop and think about why these tasks are on my list. Usually it is because my family operates more efficiently when there is clean laundry in the closets and drawers, clean dishes in the cabinets, food on the table, non-sticky floors in the bathroom, and space to run and play.

In using time wisely to organize your household, you are investing in the lives of your family. Take courage. Those little projects matter even if no one else notices. Hang in there, and happy spring cleaning!

Question: What projects still remain on your spring cleaning list?

Prescriptions: Paid Prescription Coverage

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In updating the Quizzle information last week, Bill from Quizzle left a great comment about Quizzle’s free credit report and score. Thanks, Bill!

My goal is to impart accurate information. If I find errors or changes to posts I have written, I will write an update to that post. Thanks for the mini break.

Back to our filing system, we will move on to the fifth category: prescriptions. This short 2-part series will explain the documents housed in this single file opening.

Prescriptions

  • Paid Prescription Coverage
  • Free Savings Cards

Summary Page

The first document in my seventh file opening is our summary page. The basic information is the same with the benefit administrator’s contact information, policy numbers, and provider numbers included. In case our insurance cards are lost or stolen, I can quickly contact the administrators to report the incident.

Paid Prescription Coverage

Knowing how fortunate we are to have affordable prescription coverage, we keep the following documents in this file:

1. Drug Plan Booklet. This pamphlet explains our benefits from using direct mail over retail pharmacies to prior authorization guidelines.

2. Correspondence. Our provider issues an updated preferred drug list each year which I keep for reference.

3. Prescription Member Guide. This booklet lists name brand drugs and parallels their generic counterpart. This guide is helpful for doctors to see what our insurance deems an acceptable generic substitute for the name brand version.

4. List of In-Network Pharmacies. When choosing a pharmacy, I use an in-network provider. Though I can use whichever pharmacy I choose with our PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), I will pay less out-of-pocket if I use an in-network provider. This list is helpful if I need a prescription and my usual pharmacies are out of stock.

This file is small because I only keep the most recent documents tucked inside. When I get the new member guide, I toss last year’s version. In keeping only the documents I need, this file remains compact.

NOTE: I know some of you do not have prescription drug coverage due to the cost to carry this benefit. If this is your situation, then hang on. Next week, I will share some free savings cards that you can use at pharmacies across the United States to lower your out-of-pocket expenses. Just because you cannot afford prescription coverage does not mean you need to pay full price. 🙂

As you file your insurance documentation, adjust your categories to meet your needs. In using time wisely, staying organized will save you money, energy, and time. Go at your own pace, but keep filing. Happy organizing!

Question:  What is the most you have paid for a prescription?

Roadside Assistance: Are You Overprotected?

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

When I earned my driver’s license at the age of 16, my parents gave me two items: an emergency $20 bill and my own AAA card.

If I got stuck in traffic with a low gas gauge, then I was to use the $20 bill to get gas and go home. My parents took care of filling up the gas tank. (I appreciate it more now than I did then.) 😉

The AAA card provided roadside assistance. If I had a flat tire, locked the keys in the car, or the car would not start, I was to call AAA for help. Though I did not need the services of AAA, I proudly carried my card through high school, college, and into marriage.

Fast-forward a few years into our marriage when Paul and I purchased our first new vehicle. As a perk, our vehicle came with a 5-year roadside assistance package. Since our AAA membership was up for renewal and we did not need the roadside assistance, I counted the cost of keeping or losing these AAA benefits:

Maps

When we traveled, we requested the maps from AAA. With the easy to follow directions, we enjoyed our commutes to and from our destinations. Without AAA, we would not have this access. But, I could find this information within a few minutes through the Internet.

State Guides

In planning our stays, we found the state guides so helpful. With admission times and prices, we could design a trip that fit within our time frame and budget. If we dropped AAA, then we would miss the new additions to these books. With or without AAA, I could search online for entertainment in that area and find the same information, but AAA would save me time.

Discounts

By showing my AAA card, I received discounts at lots of establishments. Without my card, I would lose these savings. Though I would have to plan ahead, daily deal sites (i.e., Groupon, LivingSocial, etc.) offer savings of 50% or more which are better than the 10-20% discounts received with my AAA card.

Notary Services

With free notary services for legal or official documents, AAA signed and sealed those documents without charge for members. Though I did not use this option often, I needed it for authorizing an insurance change, selling a vehicle, and submitting a court affidavit. At the time of our decision, I was not sure if other providers we used had this service.

One day when I stopped by our State Farm insurance office, I asked our agent if they had notary services. To my surprise, they offered free notary services to their customers. Yeah! I had every area covered for which I needed AAA.

Roadside Assistance

Upon hearing that I was considering dropping AAA, our State Farm agent offered to add roadside assistance to our policy.  Though I did not need it, I wanted to know more and asked for details. Discovering that this option was less than $10 annually, I filed this information away for future use.

When we purchased our second vehicle, we added the roadside assistance to that policy. We then waited to add this coverage to the new vehicle until our 5-year roadside assistance ended through the dealership. Now both of our vehicles have roadside assistance coverage through our insurance company.

Though each insurance company is different, our roadside assistance option works this way:

1. Need assistance

2. Get the help you need – call a tow truck, pay him, and get the receipt

3. Submit the receipt to my insurance agent, who immediately writes a check for the service amount

Cons

    • Find your own help
    • Pay up-front
    • Visit the insurance office

Pros

    • Get help sooner than 45 minutes to an hour
    • Quick reimbursement
    • Receive temporary AAA cards to entice me back into a membership

With our decision upon us, we weighed the pros and cons of our AAA membership. Realizing we could stretch our dollars further and gain similar benefits through other means, we allowed our AAA membership to lapse and did not renew. That decision occurred almost 7 years ago, and we have not regretted our decision.

Now, some insurance companies automatically offer each customer roadside assistance. If you hold a AAA card just for the roadside assistance, then check your insurance policy. You may be overprotected. In using time wisely and stretching your dollars, you might save $50-$100 by adding a roadside assistance option to your auto insurance policy and dropping your AAA membership. You have a choice.

A simple question about notary services ended up saving our family around $60. If you are looking to tighten your budget to reach your financial goals, then check your insurance policy. You might be overprotected. Happy savings!

Question: Does your auto insurance company offer a roadside assistance option?