Using Time Wisely

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Choosing to By-Pass a Great Sale

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Do you ever by-pass a great sale? I do. The best way for me to stretch our dollars is to NOT spend them. Do I love a great sale? Absolutely! When CVS had a great moneymaker on makeup, I chose not to shop.

Why? Here are my reasons:

1. Did not need any of the sale or “free” items that week.

2. Decided not to take time to scan the sales ads. The weather that week was beautiful. I spent lots of time outside at the playground and taking walks with my children. For me, this was time wisely spent.

3. My Extra Bucks did not expire during that week. I did not lose out by not shopping the sales.

4. Enjoyed taking a week off from matching up coupons and searching for items in stock.

5. Kept some extra money in the budget for when a great deal on diapers comes around.

Do you give yourself a week off? I’m thankful for all the sales I have been able to claim which has kept our cabinets stocked with personal items and cleaning supplies. When the week passes me by and I choose not to shop, I can relax and spend time with family without regret.

Lowering my Electric Bill

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Photograph Credit: MorgueFile (Earl53)

Our power company continues to increase pricing on the electricity. With the upward trend of gas prices and the increase in the electricity, our family is making choices to keep our out-of-pocket expenses as low as possible. To get low gas prices, we use fuelperks!, gasbuddy.com, and coupons. Since we do not have any programs, other competitors, or coupons for our electric bill, the only way we know to keep our power bill low is to use less electricity.

We accomplished this by keeping our ceiling fans running, spending time at the pool, and leaving the air conditioner turned off for the entire month of May. Some days were nice and breezy, but other days were extremely warm. Now that June has arrived, our air conditioner has been activated. The thermostat is set to 80 degrees with the fans still running. Hopefully, we will be able to stretch our dollars and keep our electricity bills reasonable for the summer.

What about you? How are you using your time wisely to stretch your hard earned dollars during the summer with hot temperatures, high gas prices, and increasing electricity bills? I welcome your input.

Tip: Combining Sales with Promotional Codes

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Though I may not be grocery shopping, I have been stretching our dollars through promotional codes, sales, and cash back rewards. When I shop on-line, I always search my favorite search engine, Swagbuck.com, for a promotional code for that business. For example, if purchasing through J. C. Penney, I will

  1. Go to www.swagbucks.com.
  2. Type in “promotional code for J C Penney.”
  3. Scan the hits for a valid code to save money on my purchase.

Some promotional codes are for percentages off, free shipping, or dollars off a specified amount. Taking this extra step to find promotional codes uses time, but time wisely spent.

Restaurant.com Deal

When taking advantage of the sale and promotional code for the restaurant.com deal, I was able to purchase 22 gift certificates valuing $455 for $39. These gift certificates make great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas. By using my time wisely, I was able to maximize my savings to the tune of $416. If you would like to get in on this deal, check out Becentsable.com’s detailed instructions. This offer is valid through June 13.

J.C. Penney Deal

Another great sale and promotional code combination can be had through J. C. Penney. As one of the official suppliers of school uniforms for my son’s school, J. C. Penney notifications have been added to my e-mail list. When I find a sale with a promotional code, I do the happy dance.

With this current sale, valid through today, June 11, I was able to purchase 3 IZOD pique polo shirts for a total of $26.46. These shirts are regularly priced at $19.99 each. Adding to the sale and promotional code, I was able to lower my out-of-pocket amount by using the “2 or more price” for the shirts which saved me another $3-6. Instead of paying $66.46 (regular price), by using my time wisely and waiting for the sale, I only paid $26.46.

You too can save $40 by stretching your dollars. To snag this deal, check out MoneySavingMom.com’s post for the promotional code, but go through Shop at Home from Becentsable’s post to earn the cash back rewards for your purchase.

In stretching our dollars, I was able to spend a total of $65.46 while saving $495. How are you stretching your dollars?

Switching Utility Services

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Photograph Credit: Ben Dodson

When our contract with our Internet and phone provider ended, we attempted to negotiate a better price. When our efforts were in vain, we decided to move our business to another provider. By doing so, we have been able to save around $50 a month off our monthly utility bill. 🙂

Though I do not use my time researching these services often, I am always looking to stretch our dollars. If we can find service for the same price or less expensively, then I will be researching those options. In making our switch, we opted for the following changes:

Moved all 3 services to 1 provider. Instead of having to pay a bill for the Internet and phone and then another payment for the satellite, we chose to bundle all 3 services with one company. This decision resulted in one payment which saves me time and energy!

Downgraded to basic cable. We had the expanded programming with our satellite and did not watch three-quarters of the available channels. Though we miss some of them, we are less distracted and are better able to use our time wisely.

Added Netflix. For some variety, we currently are subscribed to Netflix’s streaming and movie exchange. With the new pricing taking effect in September, when Netflix separates the two services, we will be evaluating our usage and options. At this time, this arrangement is working out great.

In stretching our dollars for our utility services, our family was able to adjust to these changes while saving around $50 per month. Spending some time researching these options to meet our family’s needs was using time wisely. The $50 a month savings will add up quickly toward our next financial goal!

Question: In stretching your dollars, how often do you negotiate your utility options?

Our $23.98 Camera Replacement – valued at $249

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Photograph Credit: Amazon.com

Oh, the value of our $43 personal articles insurance policy! Paul and I have insured my wedding rings and our 2 cameras on this insurance policy. Our cost is $43 per year to fully insure these items and worth every penny.

The Incident

When the girls and I attended a Valentine’s Day party, I was taking pictures of the exchange of cards. One of the attendees backed into my insured point-and-shoot camera and jammed the lens.

At first, I was upset. Not because of the accident, but because here was a fantastic photo opportunity, and my camera would not work. Realizing that I would need a new camera, I did not panic at the cost because the accident was a covered incident. By using time wisely and insuring our expensive property, we hold a personal articles policy to protect our budget when accidents occur.

Replacing our Camera

Since the camera would not take pictures, I put it away. Later, I called our insurance agent and explained the situation. Our agent looked at our policy and determined that he could reimburse us up to $160 for a replacement camera.

With a $160 budget, my husband went looking and found a great camera, retailing for $249, on sale for $183.98 with a case and memory card. Realizing that this camera was a great product, on sale, and we would receive reimbursement of $160, we purchased the camera.

Making a Claim

Upon receipt, we worked with the camera to make sure it worked properly. When it did, we took our broken camera and receipt for the new camera to our insurance agent.

The agent confirmed that the old camera was the insured camera model and wrote us a check for $160 (the retail value of our old, broken camera). He then deleted the old camera from our policy and added our new camera with a replacement value of $249 (listed on the receipt).

Though we paid $183.98 for our new camera, we received a $160 check bringing our camera replacement cost down to $23.98 which included a camera case and memory card. Our personal articles policy covered the accident and allowed us to upgrade to a new model without breaking our budget.

If you have valuable cameras, electronics, jewelry, or collections (i.e., coins, stamps, etc.), you might consider a personal articles policy. A little research and protection now can save you money, energy, and time in the future. In using time wisely, a personal articles policy can help in stretching your dollars. I know, because it saved us $160. Happy savings!

Question:  What items do you or would you add to your personal articles policy?