TIME = MONEY: Collection of FWF strategies to **SAVE TIME** (even if it costs $)
06-09-2009, 05:02 PM
#1
TIME = MONEY: Collection of FWF strategies to **SAVE TIME** (even if it costs $)
I thought this was a GREAT list with awesome ideas to help you save time (and $).
Just sharing it with you all.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/890849/
Just sharing it with you all.
* Autopay/direct debit credit cards: only have credit cards that can be set up to automatically withdraw full balance from bank acct on the payment due date. For me this means Citi (AA miles, and PP elite) and now, finally AMEX allows direct debit (Starwood card). I still review the statements (easiest on Yodlee.com) to see if any charges are inappropriate, but otherwise don't bother with paying credit card bills.
* Autopay all utilities, other recurring charges: I try to have them charged to a credit card, rather than withdrawn from checking (to maximize cc points, minimize revealing bank account info, and to be able to dispute the cc charge if there is a problem).
* Pay all remaining bills by checkfree/bank online type programs. Sometimes these can be automated as well to automatically write and send the check (or wire equivalent). Citibank works well for this. BOA is simply awesome
* Direct deposit of paycheck.
* Use Vonage text voicemail. I pay $0.25/msg to have Vonage transcribe my voicemails and email them to me so that I read/skim them in an instant rather than tediously play them back and try to remember all the codes to skip and delete msgs.
* Buy a car with bluetooth phone: I can make calls and get telephone chores and sometimes
work accomplished during my commute -- most of the time you are on hold anyway.
* Use Jott.com or idictate.com: for a reasonable fee, I can call a number, enter my code, and then dictate a letter or list or any other text, and someone (perhaps in India? who knows) transcribes it and emails it back to me within a few hours. They can even do a good job with formatting and tables etc. if you explain it to them.
* Use TiVo or other DVR: I refuse to watch live tv now b/c the inability to skip the commercials are a huge and painful waste of time.
* Use Amazon to buy nearly everything. If Amazon doesn't have the cheapest price, they are rarely much above the cheapest price, and they ship everything 2nd day for free, and they make it easy to keep things that you think you want in a holding area in your shopping cart and you can move it in and out of your cart to purchase. (reduces impulse buying.) When you are ready to buy, it takes about three clicks and 10 seconds to finalize the transaction.
* Use light bulbs that have a very long life, such as compact fluorescent bulbs. This saves time changing the bulbs (especially beneficial for hard to reach locations.)
* Get a car with a very long range on a full tank of fuel. Example: A VW Golf, Jetta, Beetle TDI Diesel with an 800 mile range per tank of Diesel (compare to 300-400 mile range for an "average" car.) This saves time by not requiring stopping at the filling station as often.
EDIT: I would be careful buying a VW, time you gained by not filling up as often may be wasted taking it to the shop for electrical problems.
* Use Yodlee.com (see Fatwallet Thread and Yodlee Forums for strategies on this great free service.)
* Use Roboform.com or Keepass (I use Roboform.com all the time for basically all of my online logins. It also auto-fills many online forms. So when I sign up for that new online retailers site (or apply for a credit card) it takes a second to review the auto-populated fields, fill in any missing information, and then submit. It is a huge time saver. Keepass is one of the safest password protectors available, and it's free!
* Use ActiveWords (activewords.com) to automate several tasks on your computer without even having to program a single macro....the most common ones are pre-programmed.
* Use Anagram (getanagram.com) to automatically fill-in contact info from websites or emails into Outlook simply by highlighting the contact info and press Ctrl F8.
* Drop laundry off with laundry service: they do wash and fold for $1 per pound. My usual load was about 15 lbs, so about $15 - or $5 more than it cost when I did it myself. For that extra $5, I got three hours of my life back - less than $2 per hour to get some free time to do whatever I wanted. No matter what you do - I'm guessing your time is worth more than $2 per hour
* Buy cars with high reliability ratings
* Get caller ID and answer the phone less
* Use click and pull service from Sams Club. Order online and just pickup the cart! Saves me 30 min or so every time i do it.
Many trade jobs: If I can pay someone $X/hour to do that work, and I make $X Y/hour at my job or I otherwise value my leisure time at that much, and Y > any extra time/cost in dealing with the outsourcing, then it is simple math that it makes economic sense to outsource/delegate/hire out certain tasks.
- House cleaning - would take me 4-5 hours, get it done for $80.00
- Oil changes - would take me about an hour in my garage and get it changed for $12.00 in labor.
- Snow Removal
- Painting
- Car washing (I drop it off with the guy in the parking garage)
- Handyman jobs
- Lawn mowing
- Gutter cleaning (let someone else be at risk to fall off the ladder)
* When outsourcing many trade jobs, the trick is finding a good person. That usually means not using a professional service that advertises and instead finding an individual who works on their own -- usually recommended by a friend.
* Lay overs on flights vs direct - when traveling with my wife the layover has to be $50.00/ additional hour cheaper for both of us
* Grocery Delivey: when i was in NYC I used Urbanfetch/kozmo (I think they are closed now) and Freshdirect for grocery and other stuff delivery. Now I use Peapod.com and that is also a big time saver.
* Using a hybrid car to drive in the HOV lanes in Virginia or California (anywhere else?) is a big time saver.
* Use Audible.com to download books and read/listen to them in the car, or travel with many books on an ipod nano instead of lugging the real ones around.
* Order gifts online, pay for gift wrapping, and have it sent directly to recipient. And this sounds cheap, but by having it sent I don't have to include a Hallmark card, which I would feel I have to do if I sent/brought it myself. So the wrapping charge cancels out what the cost of the card would be. (And of course some places don't even charge for wrapping.)
* When doing manual work such as housework, car detailing, chopping wood and construction, you are also getting a workout. I value that more than the money saved by not paying others. If I didn't do these things I wouldn't get any exercise at all.
* Live and work in the downtown area of a BIG city. It's more fun and does wonders for your social life. And cuts way down (even possibly eliminates) that annoying commute. Don't be fooled into thinking that big-city life is "too expensive".
* Car Navigation: either built-in (less worry about theft, easier to use) or add on (e.g., Garmin Nuvi, usually has better features) can be a huge time saver and valuable convenience.
* Use laser for permanent hair removal; never bother shaving again.
* Use USPS package pickup. I used to always take my packages to the post office, but it's a lot easier to have them picked up with my regular mail for free.
* Internet on my smartphone allows me to watch my stocks, news, email with a touch of a button. also I don't have to pay for hotel internet with my phone...Makes me more productive.
* Reading FWF on Rating = Good or better. No green, no lookie. Sure you'll miss some of the finer points, but the threads sure are shorter!
* If you have the space, get your own gym equipment. The time saved commuting and waiting at the gym is inefficient. I love the instant availability of my machines... and shower! If you live in an apartment without any equipment, speak to the other tenants and the manager about getting some. Maybe it can be placed in the laundry room area or some other spare space.
* Have at least two computer monitors side-by-side when using the computer. It is amazing how much more efficient surfing the net, reviewing documents, working on spreadsheets, monitoring and trading stocks, etc. can be with more than one monitor. (I have three on one computer. Now that I mention it, computers and harddrives are so cheap now I back up computers with harddrive "mirror" software so that if one crashes I have minimal down time.)
* Don't do your own taxes unless it is as simple as entering some data in one of those tax prep softwares. A good tax prep person will not only save you time, but a lot of money as they guide you to the best way to reduce taxes in subsequent years.
* Dry cleaning instead of hunching over the ironing board for hours.
* Amazon kindle book reader makes it very quick and easy to read newspapers and books and save your clippings from them to a file.
* Google Reader - I use this RSS feed recommended to me by another FW'er to scan Craigslist ads in 3 cities for things I am interested in buying. All of the items that match my criteria get sent to my reader and I only scan the posts.
* Use the closer lot or the valet lot for parking at the airport. saves at least 15 minutes coming and going. costs double economy parking, but always seems so worth it for the convenience and missing your flight while waiting for the bus from the economy lot can be a disaster.
* Buy the tank of gas when you rent a car so you don't have to bother looking to fill the tank close to the airport on the return and potentially miss yr flight if you are running late.
* Use an airline credit card that gives you miles that count toward elite qualification so that you can qualify to skip the longer lines at the airport. More generally see Flyertalk.com
* Roomba is a great automatic robot vacuum.
* Join AAA and do most of your DMV business at the AAA office. (AAA members also get free Experian credit watch & alerts link)
* Get rid of stuff. Throw away or sell redundant/busted/useless items that are getting in your way. I just sold my old high school class ring to a pawnshop for $95. The money was nice, but not eternally running across it in my drawer while looking for something else has been priceless to me.
* Keep a large cardboard box in a closet in your home. Any time you run across an item in your house you never use but haven't thrown away because it seems to have some value or potential use, put the item in the box. Once or twice per year, make a spreadsheet estimating the value of the items and then donate it to a non-profit thrift store. Keep this simple: 10 men's shirts @ $5 each. I got a tax writeoff of $2,000 last year doing this. Some charities will come pick up your items. Just get their tax ID number and have them sign a printout of your list as received. If you don't think itemizing is worth your time, just give the items away and feel good about helping someone and having superfluous stuff out of your way/life.
* Buy everyday items in bulk when they go on sale, and save time and money by not having to remember to buy each item every three weeks. Also, run out less often. (Please add to this list) Items such as:
Toiletries
- toothpaste/toothbrush
- shampoo/conditioner
- shaving cream
- bar soap/body wash
- earbuds
- deodorants
- toilet paper
- feminine pads
- Q Tips
- Disposable contact lenses, saline, etc.
Kitchen
- paper towels, napkins, etc.
- frozen food
- canned food, Staples such as pasta
- cleaning supplies
* For men: Choose one to three styles of socks and buy 6-10 identical pairs of each style all at one time. Throw all your other socks away or donate usable pairs to charity. Then, when it's time to do laundry, no need to pair up socks. Just grab any two of the same style, and they will match. Also, if you get a hole in one sock or lose one sock, it's no big deal. Eventually the number will even back out. When the socks begin looking worn, replace all of the same style simultaneously.
* Fill up your tank as soon as it is "convenient" when the fuel light comes on. I used to wait until it was nearly empty so that I could reduce the stops by filling up 18gal each time instead of 16gal...but it's not worth the "headache" of having to remember and worry in the back of my mind. Plus I never care about gas price, just fill up when the light is on and on average you might end up paying $3/mo more for gas depending on how many miles you drive per month.
* Buy a ShamWow! You're going to spend $20 on paper towels every month anyways.
* Buy keyless door locks with a remote. Morning Industry is one manufacturer. Alternatively, Turner Deadbolts work just like regular deadbolts, but you can lock them from the outside by twisting the lock with your hand (no key needed to lock). Saves a little time everyday.
* Install two dishwashers. One is the "clean" one and one is the "dirty" one (use those little magnet signs). Use dishes directly out of the clean one, and put the dirty dishes in the other one. By the time the dirty one is full, the clean one is just about empty and you run the dirty one and switch the signs so that the dirty one is the clean one, and vice versa. Effectively your dishwashers replace the purpose of your dish cabinets, saving a lot of time.
* Autopay all utilities, other recurring charges: I try to have them charged to a credit card, rather than withdrawn from checking (to maximize cc points, minimize revealing bank account info, and to be able to dispute the cc charge if there is a problem).
* Pay all remaining bills by checkfree/bank online type programs. Sometimes these can be automated as well to automatically write and send the check (or wire equivalent). Citibank works well for this. BOA is simply awesome
* Direct deposit of paycheck.
* Use Vonage text voicemail. I pay $0.25/msg to have Vonage transcribe my voicemails and email them to me so that I read/skim them in an instant rather than tediously play them back and try to remember all the codes to skip and delete msgs.
* Buy a car with bluetooth phone: I can make calls and get telephone chores and sometimes
work accomplished during my commute -- most of the time you are on hold anyway.
* Use Jott.com or idictate.com: for a reasonable fee, I can call a number, enter my code, and then dictate a letter or list or any other text, and someone (perhaps in India? who knows) transcribes it and emails it back to me within a few hours. They can even do a good job with formatting and tables etc. if you explain it to them.
* Use TiVo or other DVR: I refuse to watch live tv now b/c the inability to skip the commercials are a huge and painful waste of time.
* Use Amazon to buy nearly everything. If Amazon doesn't have the cheapest price, they are rarely much above the cheapest price, and they ship everything 2nd day for free, and they make it easy to keep things that you think you want in a holding area in your shopping cart and you can move it in and out of your cart to purchase. (reduces impulse buying.) When you are ready to buy, it takes about three clicks and 10 seconds to finalize the transaction.
* Use light bulbs that have a very long life, such as compact fluorescent bulbs. This saves time changing the bulbs (especially beneficial for hard to reach locations.)
* Get a car with a very long range on a full tank of fuel. Example: A VW Golf, Jetta, Beetle TDI Diesel with an 800 mile range per tank of Diesel (compare to 300-400 mile range for an "average" car.) This saves time by not requiring stopping at the filling station as often.
EDIT: I would be careful buying a VW, time you gained by not filling up as often may be wasted taking it to the shop for electrical problems.
* Use Yodlee.com (see Fatwallet Thread and Yodlee Forums for strategies on this great free service.)
* Use Roboform.com or Keepass (I use Roboform.com all the time for basically all of my online logins. It also auto-fills many online forms. So when I sign up for that new online retailers site (or apply for a credit card) it takes a second to review the auto-populated fields, fill in any missing information, and then submit. It is a huge time saver. Keepass is one of the safest password protectors available, and it's free!
* Use ActiveWords (activewords.com) to automate several tasks on your computer without even having to program a single macro....the most common ones are pre-programmed.
* Use Anagram (getanagram.com) to automatically fill-in contact info from websites or emails into Outlook simply by highlighting the contact info and press Ctrl F8.
* Drop laundry off with laundry service: they do wash and fold for $1 per pound. My usual load was about 15 lbs, so about $15 - or $5 more than it cost when I did it myself. For that extra $5, I got three hours of my life back - less than $2 per hour to get some free time to do whatever I wanted. No matter what you do - I'm guessing your time is worth more than $2 per hour
* Buy cars with high reliability ratings
* Get caller ID and answer the phone less
* Use click and pull service from Sams Club. Order online and just pickup the cart! Saves me 30 min or so every time i do it.
Many trade jobs: If I can pay someone $X/hour to do that work, and I make $X Y/hour at my job or I otherwise value my leisure time at that much, and Y > any extra time/cost in dealing with the outsourcing, then it is simple math that it makes economic sense to outsource/delegate/hire out certain tasks.
- House cleaning - would take me 4-5 hours, get it done for $80.00
- Oil changes - would take me about an hour in my garage and get it changed for $12.00 in labor.
- Snow Removal
- Painting
- Car washing (I drop it off with the guy in the parking garage)
- Handyman jobs
- Lawn mowing
- Gutter cleaning (let someone else be at risk to fall off the ladder)
* When outsourcing many trade jobs, the trick is finding a good person. That usually means not using a professional service that advertises and instead finding an individual who works on their own -- usually recommended by a friend.
* Lay overs on flights vs direct - when traveling with my wife the layover has to be $50.00/ additional hour cheaper for both of us
* Grocery Delivey: when i was in NYC I used Urbanfetch/kozmo (I think they are closed now) and Freshdirect for grocery and other stuff delivery. Now I use Peapod.com and that is also a big time saver.
* Using a hybrid car to drive in the HOV lanes in Virginia or California (anywhere else?) is a big time saver.
* Use Audible.com to download books and read/listen to them in the car, or travel with many books on an ipod nano instead of lugging the real ones around.
* Order gifts online, pay for gift wrapping, and have it sent directly to recipient. And this sounds cheap, but by having it sent I don't have to include a Hallmark card, which I would feel I have to do if I sent/brought it myself. So the wrapping charge cancels out what the cost of the card would be. (And of course some places don't even charge for wrapping.)
* When doing manual work such as housework, car detailing, chopping wood and construction, you are also getting a workout. I value that more than the money saved by not paying others. If I didn't do these things I wouldn't get any exercise at all.
* Live and work in the downtown area of a BIG city. It's more fun and does wonders for your social life. And cuts way down (even possibly eliminates) that annoying commute. Don't be fooled into thinking that big-city life is "too expensive".
* Car Navigation: either built-in (less worry about theft, easier to use) or add on (e.g., Garmin Nuvi, usually has better features) can be a huge time saver and valuable convenience.
* Use laser for permanent hair removal; never bother shaving again.
* Use USPS package pickup. I used to always take my packages to the post office, but it's a lot easier to have them picked up with my regular mail for free.
* Internet on my smartphone allows me to watch my stocks, news, email with a touch of a button. also I don't have to pay for hotel internet with my phone...Makes me more productive.
* Reading FWF on Rating = Good or better. No green, no lookie. Sure you'll miss some of the finer points, but the threads sure are shorter!
* If you have the space, get your own gym equipment. The time saved commuting and waiting at the gym is inefficient. I love the instant availability of my machines... and shower! If you live in an apartment without any equipment, speak to the other tenants and the manager about getting some. Maybe it can be placed in the laundry room area or some other spare space.
* Have at least two computer monitors side-by-side when using the computer. It is amazing how much more efficient surfing the net, reviewing documents, working on spreadsheets, monitoring and trading stocks, etc. can be with more than one monitor. (I have three on one computer. Now that I mention it, computers and harddrives are so cheap now I back up computers with harddrive "mirror" software so that if one crashes I have minimal down time.)
* Don't do your own taxes unless it is as simple as entering some data in one of those tax prep softwares. A good tax prep person will not only save you time, but a lot of money as they guide you to the best way to reduce taxes in subsequent years.
* Dry cleaning instead of hunching over the ironing board for hours.
* Amazon kindle book reader makes it very quick and easy to read newspapers and books and save your clippings from them to a file.
* Google Reader - I use this RSS feed recommended to me by another FW'er to scan Craigslist ads in 3 cities for things I am interested in buying. All of the items that match my criteria get sent to my reader and I only scan the posts.
* Use the closer lot or the valet lot for parking at the airport. saves at least 15 minutes coming and going. costs double economy parking, but always seems so worth it for the convenience and missing your flight while waiting for the bus from the economy lot can be a disaster.
* Buy the tank of gas when you rent a car so you don't have to bother looking to fill the tank close to the airport on the return and potentially miss yr flight if you are running late.
* Use an airline credit card that gives you miles that count toward elite qualification so that you can qualify to skip the longer lines at the airport. More generally see Flyertalk.com
* Roomba is a great automatic robot vacuum.
* Join AAA and do most of your DMV business at the AAA office. (AAA members also get free Experian credit watch & alerts link)
* Get rid of stuff. Throw away or sell redundant/busted/useless items that are getting in your way. I just sold my old high school class ring to a pawnshop for $95. The money was nice, but not eternally running across it in my drawer while looking for something else has been priceless to me.
* Keep a large cardboard box in a closet in your home. Any time you run across an item in your house you never use but haven't thrown away because it seems to have some value or potential use, put the item in the box. Once or twice per year, make a spreadsheet estimating the value of the items and then donate it to a non-profit thrift store. Keep this simple: 10 men's shirts @ $5 each. I got a tax writeoff of $2,000 last year doing this. Some charities will come pick up your items. Just get their tax ID number and have them sign a printout of your list as received. If you don't think itemizing is worth your time, just give the items away and feel good about helping someone and having superfluous stuff out of your way/life.
* Buy everyday items in bulk when they go on sale, and save time and money by not having to remember to buy each item every three weeks. Also, run out less often. (Please add to this list) Items such as:
Toiletries
- toothpaste/toothbrush
- shampoo/conditioner
- shaving cream
- bar soap/body wash
- earbuds
- deodorants
- toilet paper
- feminine pads
- Q Tips
- Disposable contact lenses, saline, etc.
Kitchen
- paper towels, napkins, etc.
- frozen food
- canned food, Staples such as pasta
- cleaning supplies
* For men: Choose one to three styles of socks and buy 6-10 identical pairs of each style all at one time. Throw all your other socks away or donate usable pairs to charity. Then, when it's time to do laundry, no need to pair up socks. Just grab any two of the same style, and they will match. Also, if you get a hole in one sock or lose one sock, it's no big deal. Eventually the number will even back out. When the socks begin looking worn, replace all of the same style simultaneously.
* Fill up your tank as soon as it is "convenient" when the fuel light comes on. I used to wait until it was nearly empty so that I could reduce the stops by filling up 18gal each time instead of 16gal...but it's not worth the "headache" of having to remember and worry in the back of my mind. Plus I never care about gas price, just fill up when the light is on and on average you might end up paying $3/mo more for gas depending on how many miles you drive per month.
* Buy a ShamWow! You're going to spend $20 on paper towels every month anyways.
* Buy keyless door locks with a remote. Morning Industry is one manufacturer. Alternatively, Turner Deadbolts work just like regular deadbolts, but you can lock them from the outside by twisting the lock with your hand (no key needed to lock). Saves a little time everyday.
* Install two dishwashers. One is the "clean" one and one is the "dirty" one (use those little magnet signs). Use dishes directly out of the clean one, and put the dirty dishes in the other one. By the time the dirty one is full, the clean one is just about empty and you run the dirty one and switch the signs so that the dirty one is the clean one, and vice versa. Effectively your dishwashers replace the purpose of your dish cabinets, saving a lot of time.
06-09-2009, 05:23 PM
#2
Alot of the stuff makes sense but some of it is applicable only to people who are super busy. Like no matter how much money I have I'd still like to mow my own lawn and wash my own cars
06-09-2009, 05:31 PM
#3
The sizzle in the Steak
I bet the author is fat.
06-09-2009, 06:19 PM
#4
is learning to moonwalk i
Some interesting items, but I like all the contradictions.
Hire someone to do manual labor around the house - If I didn't do anything around the house I would get no exercise.
Buy paper towels in bulk - buy a shamwow instead of paper towels.
Plus, you can't just drive any hybrid in the carpool lane in CA.
Hire someone to do manual labor around the house - If I didn't do anything around the house I would get no exercise.
Buy paper towels in bulk - buy a shamwow instead of paper towels.
Plus, you can't just drive any hybrid in the carpool lane in CA.
06-09-2009, 07:42 PM
#5
* Install two dishwashers. One is the "clean" one and one is the "dirty" one (use those little magnet signs). Use dishes directly out of the clean one, and put the dirty dishes in the other one. By the time the dirty one is full, the clean one is just about empty and you run the dirty one and switch the signs so that the dirty one is the clean one, and vice versa. Effectively your dishwashers replace the purpose of your dish cabinets, saving a lot of time.
06-09-2009, 08:39 PM
#7
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