Using Time Wisely

Organized to save money, energy, and time

You are here: Home / Archives for 2012

Archives for 2012

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

by

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

by

Photograph Credit: Swag Bucks

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

by

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.

Evaluating: Taking a Step Back – Part 1 of 3

by

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Cyberhawk Innovations)

When the hustle and bustle of grocery shopping has ceased and in the calm of my household (in theory), I evaluate by taking a step back to review, learn, and strategize.

Just taking 5 minutes to note the great deals, the bypassed deals, and the did-I-really-need-that deals, I learn more about how I shop and how to improve on my next shopping adventure.

To help improve my grocery shopping savings, I review the grocery list, where I jotted down ideas and made notes.

Reviewing your Grocery List

After putting away all the groceries and cleaning up the kitchen, I take a moment to check the grocery list. In looking over the list, ask these questions:

1. Did you jot down any menu planning ideas?

If so, add those ideas to your menu. With my menu planner on the refrigerator, I turn from my counter to the refrigerator and write the ideas on the schedule.

2. Did you get everything on your list?

If yes, are you pleased with this shopping trip? If not, why not? (Answers will vary.) How can you improve?

If not, why did you choose to bypass the deal?

If not, due to out-of-stock items, did you get a rain check? Was the rain check written correctly? Does the rain check expire? If so, place it near the front of your store envelope to use on your next trip.

3. Did you buy more items than you planned?

Did you need those items, or was it an impulse buy? If an impulse purchase, were you hungry? Influenced by your children?

Using these questions while reviewing your shopping list can pinpoint areas where you excel while revealing your tendencies. By taking a step back and reviewing my shopping trips, I learn what I did right, what I bombed, and how I can improve.

As you seek to see the deep savings each week, learning how to decide a good deal from a great deal will get you on your way. Just take it slowly and take a step back to learn from each shopping trip. In using time wisely, spending 5 minutes to check your progress is worth seeing those deep savings as you improve. Happy savings!

Question: How often do you buy only what is on your shopping list? Please add your answer to the comments.

Time Management: 7 Ways to Recharge your Energy

by

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Ligia Santos Rodrigues)

After dealing with car issues all last week on top of congested children, I found myself worn out and exhausted by the end of the weekend. In preparing for house guests and continuing to purge, clean, and organize our home, my energy has slowly been depleted.

Since my energy battery needed to recharge fully before taking on another project, I took a little break yesterday. When you need to replenish your energy, try one or more of these seven options:

1. Complete a maintenance task

I chose to complete two loads of laundry. In taking my time folding and putting away, I maintained the laundry pile without overworking or over-thinking. By finishing one task, you will not feel that your day was in vain. Choose an easy, but necessary, household task to keep you on track.

2. Play with your children

My girls overflow with energy, and I am either rejuvenated or exhausted while playing with them. To stay relaxed, I held items my toddler brought to me and watch my preschooler play an X-Box game. Both enjoyed the time with Mom while Mommy replenished.

3. Exercise

Take your kids for a walk. The weather was nasty yesterday, so we stayed indoors. But just getting up and moving around will improve your energy level.

4. Fix simple meals

In keeping to the basics yesterday, I fed my family without exhausting myself in the kitchen.

5. Take a warm bath

After each day, I enjoy soaking in a warm bath. A few moments of quiet and relaxation prepares me for a great night’s sleep.

6. Read a book

After putting my children to bed and checking e-mail, I turned off the computer, took a warm bath, and crawled into bed with a blogging book. In the quiet, I can read, think, and exercise my brain.

7. Get your rest

Oh, bedtime . . . what a nice time of day to rest and recharge for the next day. Choosing to retire an hour earlier than usual, I fell right to sleep. With my energy replenished, I awoke this morning ready to take on the day.

Mommies give and give and give. Remember you need to recharge your energy for yourself and your family. Taking a little break may restore your energy for the next round of activity. My little break was worth using time wisely to recharge. Now off to wake up my little sleepy heads. Happy relaxing!

Question: How do you recharge your energy? Please add your answer to the comments.