Using Time Wisely

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Giveaway: Celebrating Earth Day – April 18-22, 2012

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Giveaway: Celebrating Earth Day – April 18-22, 2012With new updates to Using Time Wisely, both on the blog and on Facebook, and Earth Day coming on Sunday, April 22, I think it’s time for another giveaway. 🙂

The Giveaway

In honor of Earth Day, I purchased 4 CVS green bag tags. These green bag tags went on sale for $.99 and triggered a $.99 Extra Buck.

When I bought the tags, I used Extra Bucks from a previous visit and then received $3.96 in Extra Bucks for this purchase. Basically, I got these items for free.

The Prize

The CVS green bag tag has rewards of its own. In stretching your dollars, you can earn a $1 Extra Buck (store credit) for using your green bag tag. Here’s how:

1. Win a CVS green bag tag from Using Time Wisely.

2. Attach your green bag tag to your favorite reusable bag.

3. Take this bag to CVS when you shop.

4. Present your CVS green bag tag during checkout, and allow the cashier to scan it.

5. Watch your receipt because on the 4th visit, you will get a $1 Extra Buck that prints at the bottom.

NOTE: You can only get credit for your bag tag once a day – even if you shop at multiple locations.

The Winners

  • Four lucky Using Time Wisely readers will receive a CVS green bag tag.
  • This giveaway ends on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Selected via randomorg.com, all winners will receive e-mail notification. (My privacy policy explains how I will never share your e-mail address.)

The Entry Form

All entries must be submitted using the Rafflecopter form below. There’s no mandatory entry, so do either or both options to increase your chances of winning.

Please wait for the form to load. If you don’t see the form, try refreshing the page or using a different browser. If you have problems, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for entering, and good luck! 🙂

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Goals for April 2012: The Bare-Bones Budget

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

The first quarter of 2012 is behind us. Whew . . . that went fast! Though I am not where I want to be, I am not where I started. Though I have setbacks, these goals focus my attention on my priorities.

I have based my goals on Crystal Paine’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, where Crystal breaks down the steps to reach your financial goals.

By documenting my financial and other goals, I seek to change and improve. Though I do not meet every goal, I am plugging along. Progress, no matter how small, is still moving closer to my goals.

Physical

Drink 2 glasses of water per day.  Much better, but I’m keeping this goal for one more month before adding another glass.

Eat breakfast each morning. Good, but I still need more work.

Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Keeping this goal though I have not succeeded yet. 🙁

Family

Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished! I love this goal! Our family enjoyed lunch during a field trip, hosted a dinner party, surprised Daddy at work with strawberry lemonades, planted our garden, and shopped together. Keeping our family relationships close remains a top priority.

Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Need a little more work on this one. I get into project-mode, because I am task-oriented, and spend lots of time with them one day. Then I get busy and forget that one-on-one time. My girls naturally get more Mommy-time, but I get that special time with my son during homework. However, he needs more time than just work time.

Allow children to help with a household task each week. Our home has stayed relatively picked up this month. My helpers are hard at work, and I really appreciate their efforts to keep our home tidy. Allowing them to work beside me and teaching them is already paying off. Keeping this goal – for sure!

Financial

Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. On track. I have documented our household, grocery, and restaurant receipts for the year in this spreadsheet. Because I have added the household items, including diapers, to our food budget, I am averaging $85 per week for our family of 5.

I have not raised the budget amount from $80 to $85 yet. Simply put, we had extra expenses in January and February, and March was on budget. For April, I plan to check our bare-bones budget that we have in place and adjust our system to Crystal’s recommendation.

Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. No progress made on this goal for March.

Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. Instead of purchasing new, Paul found a laptop for parts that is the same make and model as mine. Per the tracking information, the laptop should arrive tomorrow. This cost was $30 (the exact amount we had saved). I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Business

Write posts one week in advance. Making progress! I am still writing hours before publishing the post, but I have a plan. Having decided and recorded on my blogging calendar, I know in advance the topics for my posts throughout April. Though I have not made progress in writing the posts early, my blogging time has increased in productivity because I don’t have to brainstorm for a topic each day. This one change has made a huge difference in using time wisely.

Make one improvement to the blog this month. For March, I hosted my first guest post. Yeah! Though I did not see a spike in activity, I enjoyed Jim Wang’s article. I also created images for guest post, register review, and my garden. Now to get my Facebook page updated. 🙂

Read two chapters of a book each month. Accomplished! I read more than two chapters because the e-book I read did not have chapters, just sections, and I listened to Crystal’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget audio book. 🙂

My goals are working for me. With some easy and others challenging, the goals keep me focused. By plugging along slowly and steadily, I am making progress. If you are struggling with your goals, then adjust. Small steps are still steps in the right direction. Keep going!

Question: How are your goals coming along? 

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Audio Release and Giveaway

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Photograph Credit: Litfuse Publicity Group

As you know, I have set goals for this year based on Crystal Paine’s book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. After publishing my book review, I received a request to listen to Crystal’s audio book to which I accepted.

My Review

At first I was leery about listening because I am not an auditory learner. To grasp the concepts, I need to read the book, not just hear it. With that said, I enjoyed the conversational tone of the audio book.

At times I got lost because my thoughts wandered. But during the examples and illustrations, she drew me back via her storytelling. Other times, I felt like Crystal was sitting next to me on the couch sharing how she saves money.  Though I gain more from seeing the words on a page, I really enjoyed hearing the steps directly from Crystal.

Audio books are not for everyone. In using time wisely, you might enjoy listening on your way to and from work, while cleaning your house, or just relaxing for an evening. If you want a budget resource with steps to financial success, then come learn more about Crystal’s audio book release.

Audio Book Release and Giveaway

On Thursday, April 5, 2012, Crystal is hosting a live chat where she will share tips and advice on keeping a budget. During Crystal’s Live Webcast Event, she will be giving away gift certificates, books, and more. Gearing up for this event, Crystal is hosting a giveaway where one grand prize winner will receive:

  • A brand new iPad2
  • The Money Saving Mom’s Budget Audio Book by Crystal Paine

Crystal will announce the winner during the Live Webcast Event which begins at 5:00 p.m. PST (8:00 p.m. EST) on Thursday, April 5, 2012. To RSVP to the Live Webcast Event, click here and enter the giveaway which ends today, April 4, 2012. Remember, you definitely will not win if you don’t enter. 😉

Disclosure Policy: I received The Money Saving Mom’s Budget Audio book for free in exchange for writing my honest review. Thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group and Crystal Paine!

Guest Post: Reducing your Junk Mail

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Today, I welcome Jim Wang of Bargaineering.com as he shares how we can reduce the amount of junk mail coming to our mailboxes. Less stuff coming into our homes equals using time wisely doing necessary tasks apart from sorting unsolicited mail. Enjoy!

There’s one thing that most families will do each day, besides eat and sleep, and that’s check their mail. There’s something fun about opening up the mail box and seeing what has arrived, unless it’s a fistful of bills or unsolicited mailings. If you want to save yourself some time, I can share some strategies to cut down on the junk mail you get (the bills are up to you!).

The easiest way to reduce the amount of mail you get, and thus have to open or shred, is to cut down on the junk mail you receive. OptOutPrescreen.com is a site set up as a result of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and it keeps a registry of names that creditors and insurers cannot contact with offers of credit or insurance, unless you initiate it. By signing up, you can opt out permanently or for five years, after which you’ll need to renew again. Signing up for this site has cut down my junk mail significantly because this effectively stops almost all of the unsolicited mailings I would receive.

What OptOutPrescreen.com does not do is prevent mailings from companies with which you have an existing relationship. If you have a Citi credit card, Citibank can still send you offers because that’s an existing relationship. In order to opt out of those mailings, you have to contact the marketing department of each company and ask to be removed from the marketing lists. This will take some time because you will need to call each company individually but it is well worth it.

You can also use a free service like Catalog Choice to opt out of catalogs, coupon mailers, and other large volume mailers. The service will help you find the proper forms to fill out to stop getting useless mailings like your local phone book (who uses these anymore?) and ValuPaks (if you never use those coupon books). In some cases, you can opt out of a service from within Catalog Choice and in other cases you’ll be redirected to the services’ website. I’ve used Catalog Choice to opt out of at least half a dozen mailings.

Finally, if you are still getting a lot of junk mail despite these efforts, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a fantastic fact sheet on junk mail that walks you through specific steps you can take to cut down on your junk mail. They discuss everything from the Direct Marketer’s Association Preference Service to opting out of mailings from your supermarket loyalty card. It’s a fantastic resource.

There’s an extra side benefit of reducing the amount of junk mail you get – you reduce the opportunity for identity theft. Your credit and your identity are two of your most valuable assets in the modern world and keeping both in sterling condition is important, especially if you want to get a loan with a reasonable rate. Maintaining a good credit score and preventing identity theft is much easier when someone can’t just open your mailbox and steal a credit card application you never asked for.

For more financial tips, visit Jim on his personal finance blog, Bargaineering.com.

Question: How bothersome is your junk mail?

Social Media Platforms: Which ones are your favorites?

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Simmi Behal)

Currently, Using Time Wisely is only available on Facebook. With Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social media platforms, I would like to branch out of my comfort zone.

However, I’m not sure where to go. Which social media platforms are your favorites?

Other than Facebook, what added social media platforms would you recommend for Using Time Wisely? I’m looking for platforms that you find beneficial. Any tips you have to offer are greatly appreciated!