Nickels & Dimes: Saving on Gas

So today in Northern Virginia gas was $4.05/gallon for regular. It's sad to think that in a few weeks or months I'd be WISHING that gas was $4.05/gallon again. But nonetheless that is today's gas price so we deal with it the best way we can.   Today despite the price being $4.05/gallon I actually spent about $3.70/gallon.  How did I do it?

Recently, I started to pay attention to Shell's promotion with Giant Food, a grocery store chain found in Maryland, DC, Virginia and Delaware.  If you shop at Giant and use your rewards card you get points.  For every dollar you spend, you get a point, for every 100 points you save $0.10/gallon on gas at Shell.  Don't laugh but it took me a while to understand this system and not let my precious points go unused.  Sometimes Giant even offers double or triple points on certain items and brands in the store or they feature "point boosts" coupons that give you up to 300 points just for spending a certain amount at one time (say $50) during a certain time frame. Using this system alone, I've gotten over 500 points and yes, I saved $0.50/gallon on my gas that day. This is huge!

Studies show that the average family of four spends $244 a week on groceries. If this is true most families can potentially save $0.20/gallon on gas each week.  Perhaps the strategist can wait until the end of the month (especially if the family uses public transportation to get to and from work and school) and save $0.90/gallon on gas...this is awesome right?  I even know of a family friend who pays attention to all the double point items and has saved $1.00/gallon.  My caution with this is: ONLY BUY THINGS YOU NEED. If you can perhaps stock up on paper towels and toilet paper that you store in the garage but if you don't drink coffee and you suddenly have a cabinet full of Folgers, than you aren't really saving money you are just reallocating money.  This program works great if you just paid attention and purchase things you'd buy anyway, you start to waste money if you purchase groceries that you don't use or let spoil for the save of "saving".

In my household of four, two of us have four legs so my husband and I don't spend $244 a week on groceries, that's more of a monthly budget for us. So I've found another way to boost my savings at Shell (sorry Exxon, Chevron and Liberty).  If you are on the social networking site FourSquare where you check-in using your smartphone to tell your friends where you are, give tips about the service or the surroundings, and get points for the amount and type of check-ins, you can also save money.  FourSquare has teamed up with American Express.  You can link or sync your AMEX card with your FourSquare account.  Some venues (and Shell is one of them) offer savings when you check in at their store and spend a certain amount and use your AMEX card.  Shell's offer is spend $25 and get $3. Cha-Ching!  And all I did was tell my peeps I was pumping gas, use my AMEX card and I gained another $3 in my pocket.

So today I used my Giant gas rewards and saved $0.10/gallon then I checked in at FourSquare and used my American Express card and I should have a credit of $3 on my bill at month end. So ultimately I saved ($4.05 - $0.10) x 11.66 gallons - $3.00 = about a $0.36/gallon savings!

Let's face it, gas is expensive we'll probably never see $2.00 gas again (remember when you gasped at $1.96/gallon HA!) BUT with a little forethought, FourSquare, and points planning you can smile a little knowing that you didn't pay $4.05/gallon...at least not today!

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Copyright 2012. Andrea Hancock is a Professional Organizer, Speaker and Owner of B Dexterous, LLC based in the Washington DC Metro Area. B Dexterous publishes “Use Your Hands”, a monthly e-zine used to stay in touch with clients and prospective clients but also to enlighten the world with tips of staying dexterous, organized and efficient in a world that demands much on our time and resources. Contact Andrea at (571) 232-8116 or via e-mail at andrea_hancock@bdexterous.com if you’d like to learn more about how you can put the pieces of your life together with organization!

Honored Memories

Memories Honored

 

My Great-Grandmother loved to knit. She knitted several outfits for me as a baby and for many of our family.  My mom was saving several outfits as keepsakes.  These are even more special as my great grandmother passed away April 2011.  Before she died, I was able to make this shadow box for my mom, (who loves butterflies) to honor the thoughtfulness of our Grandmother in a beautiful way.

If you can't let go of an item because of sentimental value, make sure you honor the item instead of saving it in obscure places where the item can deteriorate and not be appreciated.

B Dexterous Tips & Tricks: Archiving Personal Photos

Archiving Personal Photos

Organize your photos with consistent & descriptive file names

Challenge:Does it seem like your photos are all over the place your computer for digital photos?

Solution: Instead of thinking that people would LOVE to sit through all 450 pictures from your vacation in Cabo in 2009, decide which photos tell the story best and delete the rest.  Next give individual photos descriptive files names like Janeonbeach_Cabo2009.jpg.  Then create a folder for all the Cabo pictures like CABO 2009 which goes in your VACATIONS folder under MY PICTURES.  Make copies of the files "in the cloud" on a website, on your hard drive and on a thumb other larger portable hard drive.  For extreme measures send your drive to a friend living in a different location as physically far apart from you as practical.  This will keep photos safe if disaster strikes in one location.