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Archives for 2012

10 Minutes to an Organized Dresser Drawer

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How was your 60-minute challenge? My house needs more than 60-minutes of decluttering.

With lots of help from my family, I tackled the alcove of our bonus room ridding lots of unused toys and freeing up 2 shelves of a bookshelf. Though I had great plans to return to the project, I chose to focus on other priorities.

If 60-minutes cannot be found in your schedule, try spending 10 minutes to an organized dresser drawer. For this challenge, I refrained from my unmentionables and chose my sock and hosiery drawer. 🙂

Remove all items

To organize the space, dump out the entire drawer. When the drawer is empty, keep it empty while you sort.

Sort all the items

Place all the items removed from the drawer into one of three piles.

    1. Keep
    2. Donate/Sell
    3. Trash

Organize the “keep” items

Look over all the items you plan to keep, and group similar items together. For my drawer, I grouped all my white socks together, then the dark socks, and finally, the hosiery.

Designate a Space

With your empty drawer, plan where to place the groups of items.

Return “keep” items

Place the items into their designated space. If your first plan does not work, experiment until you find an arrangement that works for you. Then return your drawer to the dresser.

Toss the trash

Deposit your pile of trash into the garbage.

Remove the items to donate/sell

Add these items to your donate/sell stash and rid them from your home. Our family’s stash is in the garage, and I failed to get the items out of the house quickly. A few days later I found my toddler playing with a hat formerly placed in the donate/sell pile. Guess I’ll just have to swipe it later. 🙂

Enjoy your results

    

Before                                                             After

Congratulations! One organized dresser drawer complete. If the momentum takes you, organize another. Take it one drawer at a time, and happy organizing!

Question: Which dresser drawer needs your attention this week? 

Life Insurance: Children’s Policy

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Though I would not normally invest in a life insurance policy for our children, Paul and I do have one life insurance policy that covers all three of our children.

For us, the purpose of life insurance is to cover our family expenses after our deaths. Our children would not leave any debts or responsibilities, so we choose not to carry policies for each of our children.

The one policy we carry is a group policy through Paul’s employer. The cost is less than $3 per month and holds coverage for $15,000. For the inexpensive price of this coverage, we have chosen to carry this insurance for our children.

Housed in the fourth file opening of Box 2 of our important documents, the life insurance documentation for our children’s policy includes the summary page and information page.

Summary Page

This summary page has the contact information for the benefits administrator, benefits identification number, and employee number. Click here for more details about this summary page that I keep at the front of each file opening to make access quick and efficient.

Information Page

To make a claim, we must contact the benefits administrator at my husband’s office. The benefits administrator works with the provider directly. Therefore, we do not hold a paper copy of this policy.

In setting up this file, I contacted the benefits administrator and requested a detailed explanation of where, when, and how to send a claim. I typed that information creating an information page. In the awful event that we need to file a claim, Paul or I will get this document and follow the steps.

Tracy’s Tip: Waiting until tragedy strikes to get this information will add anxiety and stress during your time of grief. Researching now and writing down the instructions will save you time, energy, and stress in the future.

The information page includes:

    • How to Make a Claim
    • How the Payment is Dispersed

These two documents complete the fourth file opening and the second category – life insurance. As my children grow, we may decide to carry policies for each of them. If and when that time comes, I will place those policies in this file opening.

You may need more file openings for your insurance documents. If you carry policies for your children or parents, then you may need a file slot for each person. Keeping your file organized by either insurance type (term, long-term, accidental, etc.) or by person (Dad, Mom, Child #1, etc.) will help you in using time wisely to reach those documents.

This process is a marathon. I worked for 3-4 months exclusively on these files when I set them up. At that point, I was a stay-at-home wife and had the time to invest in organizing and researching the information. If I were setting up my file now, then it might take a few years. With three little ones, spending time training them is a top priority.

If you struggle with organizing your paperwork, then consider your schedule. I pay/schedule bills twice a month. During this time, I am near my important documents and spend 15 minutes filing, organizing, and updating my files. Find a time when you are already near those documents. Planning to organize is one step closer to executing your goal. Happy organizing!

Question:  When are near your important documents, what are you doing?

Staples: Rewards and Easy Rebates – Part 1 of 2

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Staples)

Between my little artists and printing coupons, our household consumes lots of copy paper. At a cost of $5 to $9 per ream, the paper gets expensive, but thanks to Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates, I get copy paper for free, and you can, too.

Though there are other office supply chains, I find the Staples program easy to navigate. Now there are quirky exceptions, but overall, Staples has two great programs: Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates.  In part 1, I will focus on the Staples Rewards and next week in part 2 end with the Easy Rebate Program.

Staples Rewards

The Staples Reward program offers 100% back in Staples store credit through vouchers either mailed or e-mailed to you at the end of each quarter. You will then have 3 months to use or lose your credit. Once expired, Staples will not honor the vouchers.

To receive 100% back in Rewards for the promotional items, you need to know the rules:

    • Requiring a loyalty card. To get your Rewards card, just ask a customer service representative on your next visit. The card is free, and takes less than 5 minutes to complete the application.  You can then begin using your card immediately.
    • Locating the Reward offers. Within the weekly sales flyer, the promotional offers will state “100% back in Rewards.” With these promotions, you buy the product using your loyalty card and pay the full price. Your rewards are automatically processed and either mailed or e-mailed to you, depending on your preference, at the end of the quarter.

TIP: If you buy items that generate a Staples Reward and pay with a reward certificate, you WILL NOT get another reward. These rewards will not roll. However, you can use your Staple Rewards certificate to pay for easy rebate items since you get cash back, not store credit.

    • Receiving your reward. You do not send any receipts, make any phones calls, or take any surveys. Just wait. If your rewards exceed $10, then you will get your check or e-mail at the end of the quarter. If you did not accumulate $10, then the rewards will carry-over until your balance reaches $10. At the $10 mark, your rewards will release at the end of that quarter.
    • Spending your reward. Your rewards will expire 3 months after issuance. Be careful to pace yourself. You do not want to find things to buy to use up your remaining rewards. Take it slowly and enjoy the process.
    • Using coupons on Reward items. If you use store or manufacturer coupons on an item with 100% back in Rewards, then you will receive 100% back of what you paid. For example, if copy paper is triggering a 100% back in Rewards for $5 a ream and you used a $1 manufacturer coupon, then you will pay $4 + tax for that ream. Your Reward will include $4 for this transaction.

TRACY’S TIP: To maximize my coupon use and my Rewards, I choose not to use coupons on 100% back in Rewards. I will save my coupon for another deal since I am already receiving that amount back in Rewards.

Around Christmas, I purchased ear buds and then later two packages of batteries that were all on Staples promotion for 100% back in Rewards. After waiting a few weeks, I received two vouchers: $15 and $21 that expire on March 31, 2012. (My vouchers came separately because I had two transactions. I would have received one voucher had I purchased all the product together.)

When redeeming my rewards, I purchased items using my loyalty card and ended with $.06 remaining in Rewards. Since I used the vouchers, a coupon with my $.06 reward printed at the bottom of my receipt. I still have until March 31, 2012, to redeem my $.06 on another transaction.

The Staples Reward program is another promotional opportunity to stretch your dollars while using time wisely. Understanding this Staples program will save you money, energy, and time. With a well-stocked supply stash, you won’t need to rush to the store, paying full price, to replenish an out-of-stock office need.

Next week, I will continue this short series and share how to use these Staples Rewards with Easy Rebates to get copy paper (and other office supplies) for free.  Happy savings!

Question: What office supply product would you like to get free? 

IHOP: National Pancake Day on February 28, 2012

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Photograph Credit: IHOP

Mark your calendars! The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) has announced their celebration of National Pancake Day.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012, each guest at participating IHOP locations will receive a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes.

During this celebration, IHOP will be taking donations for Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities. Please consider donating when participating in their free event.

Is your morning routine hectic enough without adding in a breakfast on the other side of town? Totally understand!

Our morning schedule is already busy, so we will plan to attend IHOP during the dinner hour. One of these years all my kids will be in school, then maybe a date lunch might work. 😉 In the meantime, we will enjoy our breakfast for dinner. Happy celebrating!

Target: Dr. Seuss Storytime – February 25, 2012

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On Saturday, February 25, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., participating Target locations will host a Dr. Seuss Storytime. This celebration includes a live reading of The Lorax, free goody bags, and fun activities. To find a participating location, visit Target’s website.

Photograph Credit: Target

Looking for other inexpensive activities? Check Using Time Wisely’s event page on Facebook. Updates occur regularly. 🙂

Enjoy using time wisely this weekend!