Newsletter Archive

Organizing Tip

On the Record is partnering with the Solutions Training Group to offer the records organizing seminar. Attend this engaging and inspiring seminar to:
     * Learn what critical documents you need
     * Discover the most frequently neglected areas
     * Receive tips on how to address gaps in your recordkeeping

Previous participants commented that the seminar was "Very useful, well-organized, and motivating!" and "This was extremely useful--the jump-start I needed to get my records organized." 

Organizing Tip

C.L.U.E.^® is the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, a database created by ChoicePoint and purchased by LexisNexis. The database combines personal insurance history with property history. There are two types of C.L.U.E.^® reports: Personal Property for homes and possessions and Auto reports.

Just as your credit report can affect your ability to get credit and the interest rate you pay, your C.L.U.E.^® report can affect your ability to get coverage and the premiums you pay for home and auto insurance.     

You are entitled to one free report a year. Order your C.L.U.E.® report.

Gather your documents in case of evacuation 

Ready America^® is a national public service advertising

campaign to educate Americans to prepare for natural  

and man-made disasters. Ready America^® recommends  

you follow these steps:

1.    Get a Kit of emergency supplies

2.    Make a Plan for what you will do in an emergency

3.    Be Informed about what might happen

Your kit should include important family documents in a  

waterproof container.

• Family records
• Medical records
• Wills
• Deeds
• Social Security Number
• Credit Card and Bank account information
• Tax records
• Cash or travelers checks

"Very useful, well-organized, and motivating."  

"This was extremely useful--the jump-start I needed to get my records organized." 

You can register online beginning in October.    

On the Record

Organizing Tip

After signing up for your free account, you select the company or companies you do not want to send mail to you. Catalog Choice delivers the opt-out request and tracks the company's confirmation. This allows you to be selective about getting the mail you want, but not the mail you don't want.

Dispose of Phone Books 

Recycling responsibly  

On the Record

Organizing Tip

Red Plum or ADVO, Inc. (missing children pictures)

List Service Dept.,

239 West Service Rd.

Hartford, CT 06120
opt out online.  

Val-Pak Coupons (blue envelope) maintains regional lists, not a national list.  

Send your request to the address printed on the envelope you receive or 

Coupons Enjoy Resurgence 

Technology makes coupon clipping obsolete 

Coupons are enjoying a resurgence during the Great Recession similar to their popularity during the Great Depression. Coupon clipping is a hot hobby across all ages and incomes, reports I♥CouponMonth.com, with moms roughly twice as likely to search for coupons online as other categories of women.

While coupons have been around for a long time, the form is changing rapidly. Asa Chandler, marketer for CocaCola™, coined the word coupon from the French word "couper" meaning "to cut" back in 1887. The coupon industry needs a new word because "clipping" increasingly no longer applies.

With the advent of the internet, it has become possible to download printable coupons and coupon codes. Then there's the explosion of social daily-deal coupons from companies like Groupon and LivingSocial. paper and digital combine for consumer savings.

However, the coupon is already evolving to all digital. You can download a coupon to your retailer's loyalty card to be applied at checkout. It's still up to you to plan download, and remember what's on the card.

The next iteration will build on the GPS and WiFi capabilities of smartphones to send coupons to your phone for products you are viewing on the shelf in front of you. All you need to do is put the item in your shopping cart.

Information from I♥CouponMonth.com and articles in the New York Times Business section on 2010-12-26 and 2011-04-20.

• Average savings per coupon used: $1.44
• Average time until expiration: 10.1 weeks
• Coupons redeemed for nonfood purchases: One-third
• Consumers reporting using coupons: 78.3 percent
• Growth of coupon redemption from 2009: 3.1 percent
• Coupons distributed: $485 billion
• Consumer savings: $3.7 billion
  
  Statistics for 2010 were cited on I♥CouponMonth.com.

Organizing Tip

Contact the Direct Marketing Association to opt out of direct mailings. DMA recommends you register on their site as the fastest way to express your preference. However, you do have the option to print the form and mail with a check.

Contact the credit bureaus to opt out of pre-approved credit card offers. You can make one contact for several major credit bureaus. You must provide your name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number. There are two methods: Call 888-567-8688 or go online to register your preference.

Results used for this month's organizing tip

Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's survey. We appreciate that you took the time. We are using your responses and comments to guide research for future tips and news articles to help you track, correct, and manage records about you. You are always welcome to write with your recordkeeping questions and concerns.

Effects of Junk Mail Are Far-Ranging

There are social and personal costs incurred by junk mail. Here are a few statistics.

Resources used annually to produce and deliver junk mail:

• 100 million trees,
• 28 billion gallons of water, and
• 9 million cars worth of gas emissions.

Junk mail and your life:

• 41 pounds of junk mail a year,
• 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail, and
• 3 to 20¢ every time your name is sold
  

• 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other junk mail go to landfills
• 44 percent goes to the landfill unopened
• 22 percent is recycled

• Conserve trees and water
• Decrease global warming
• Cut your risk of identity theft

Organizing Tip

Make it a habit to:

• Think before you print.
• Print double-sided or re-use paper.
• Use scrap paper for phone messages.
• Recycle used paper.
• Buy recycled paper.

Clarification of previous organizing tip: Get rid of duplicate documents. For example, you can shred pay stubs after you receive your W-2 form. Keep your W-2 form with your tax return. Back-up your files frequently if you go paperless. Thanks to perspicacious reader Ed M. for writing. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

On the Record Named One of Constant Contact's 2010 All Stars

Second-time Award Winner

                                                                                                         
On the Record has received the 2010 All Star Award from Constant Contact^®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than 400,000 small organizations worldwide.  On the Record is one of Constant Contact's 2010 top performers and most prolific user of its tools, whether within Constant Contact's email marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, or survey products - or a combination of all four.

"I'm pleased On the Record has been recognized again by Constant Contact for exemplary e-mail results. I'm especially pleased our readers find our tips  & announcements worthwhile and want to thank them for their loyal following," said owner Amy Praskac.

Saturday April 16th from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm

Come see Amy Praskac and Mary Koffend of Accountable Aging Care Management  present Having "The Conversation." No it's not about discussing sex with your teenager. It's about discussing aging and end-of-life concerns with your parents. Praskac and Koffend take the lighthearted approach of putting on a play. They share advice on who to involve (casting), what topic (plotting), as well as when and where to hold the discussion (setting the scene).

Organizing Tip

As you gather your financial documents to prepare to file your tax return, you may realize that things have gotten out of hand. You opened a checking account at a credit union when you started a new job. You left your 401(k) at your previous job. You got an automatic coffee pot when you began a savings account at a local bank. Years ago, you found a screaming deal on a certificate of deposit and never moved the money when interest rates went through the floor. Now you have to track all these accounts and the paperwork that goes with it. Take these steps to simplify:

• Close or combine bank accounts
• Roll over 401(k) accounts from former jobs
• Get combined statements
• Go paperless

Remember there's no need to save monthly or quarterly statements after you review or balance your account. Shred at least once a year after you verify that your 1099 is correct. Similarly, you do not need to retain paycheck stubs or statements after you verify that your W-2 is correct. You will reap your reward down the road when you have fewer accounts to track and fewer papers to gather to prepare your tax return.

Learn How to Organize Your Records  

Tele-Seminar on Saturday March 26th from 9 to 11 am CT

Are you interested in getting your records organized? Do you find you need a little help getting started? Does the idea of an electronic notebook that you can easily update and share with close family members appeal to you? Can you picture yourself in front of your computer as someone talks you through the electronic notebook section-by-section while you sip coffee? Then the tele-seminar is for you.

Organizing Tip

In honor of Presidents' Day, this month's organizing tip is about savings bonds. Franklin Roosevelt purchased the first defense savings bond and stamps and asked the nation to follow his example. Thomas Jefferson's image was featured on the the bonds.

The United States Treasury offers tools to manage and calculate the value of your savings bonds. Treasury Hunt® tells you about savings bonds no longer earning interest so that you can cash or reinvest these bonds. With the Savings Bond Wizard®, you can: manage your savings bonds, print your savings and inventory, find the redemption value of your bonds, and find the interest your bonds have earned.

The Treasury offers three estimation calculators. The Growth Calculator demonstrates how your savings bonds' earnings will grow. The Savings Planner works in reverse of the Growth Calculator. You begin with your savings goal and enter investment amounts, frequency of investments, and expected interest to calculate the expected value of your investment. Use the Tax Advantage Calculator to figure the total expected return on your investment compared to investments subject to current federal, state, and local taxes. Learn more about these tools at TreasuryDirect®.

Since you asked

About oiling your shredder

Use only oil specifically designed for shredders. Shredder oil comes in liquid and aerosol varieties and is available at office supply stores. You can oil the cutting heads directly or spread oil on a sheet of paper before feeding it into the shredder. If you opt to oil the cutting heads directly, move from one side of the opening to the other in one to two seconds. If you use a paper sheet, apply the oil back and forth on the page for even coverage. You do not need to soak the page.

After you oil the shredder, operate the machine in reverse for a few seconds to make sure the oil is dispersed throughout the cutting cylinders. Shred a few sheets to remove excess oil.

Cross-cut shredders need to be oiled more frequently than strip-cut shredders. You should oil your shredder for every 30 minutes of accumulative shredding or once a month for most home users. Alternatively, you may find it easier to remember to oil your shredder every time you change the bag.

Tele-Seminar 

Saturday March 26th from 9 to 11 am CT

Does the idea of an electronic notebook that you can easily update and share with close family members appeal to you? Can you picture yourself comfortably at home in front of your computer as someone talks you through the electronic notebook section-by-section while you sip coffee? Then the tele-seminar is for you. 

A Red Bench to Interview Amy Praskac

Wednesday March 9th
 

"File people better than pile people.
But throw-away people best of all."

Organizing Tip

For those of you cleaning out your files and getting ready to file your tax return for 2010, here are some reminders about shredding. You should shred anything with your name, address, or account numbers, and, especially, anything with your social security number. A cross-cut shredder is better than one that merely slices sheets into strips. If you get a shredder that can handle twelve sheets at a time, you can shred much of your junk mail without opening it. A shredder that can handle staples, credit cards, and CDs is handy. Remember to oil your shredder once a month so it does not burn out. 

The Austin Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers is hosting its fifth annual Clear Your Clutter Day as a community service event. The event will be held on Saturday January 29th from 10 am to 2 pm. Bring one carload of your junk, computers, papers (to be shredded at off-site facility), flattened moving boxes, used cell phones, and any mobility assistance devices (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, etc.).

Organizing Tip

Your family is far flung, but you always make it home for the holidays. You notice Mom and Dad are not doing quite as well this year as last. You realize you don't know as much about their affairs as you should. How do you start the conversation?

Pick a quiet time and a comfortable location. Be sure your parents can hear without distractions. Choose one topic--health, safety in the home, finances, legal matters, or end-of-life planning. Try a gentle sideways approach. Perhaps begin by sharing your experience. "Mom, Doug and I just updated our wills. When did you and Dad last update your wills?"

Your conversation may go well or it may be a little bumpy. You will need to persist. Remember, it's not just one conversation. It's the start of many conversations. 

Do you need a certified copy of an important document? Do you want to go paperless, but lack confidence about what to shred? Do you know the safest place to file important papers? Do you have fantasies about getting off junk mailing lists?

Reply with your record keeping questions and watch for answers in future e-mails.