Last week I was paying bills when I noticed the electric bill was $25 higher than last month’s. I didn’t think our usage changed that much so I called the power company to find out what changed. I was right, our usage didn’t change that much. But one thing did change: the discount electric plan I had subscribed to had expired. I’m usually pretty good about keeping track of such things so I asked why wasn’t I notified? Well, it turns out I was notified– the company rep said they sent me an email 45 days before expiration to remind me to renew. I just didn’t pay attention.
I have separate emails for this blog (which a check a couple of times a day), another one for personal emails (checked once every night) and a third one for a “junk emails.” I looked through my personal emails- I had 51 unread emails, mostly from online stores announcing sales and such, and sure enough, buried in there was the email from the energy company. Arrggg! I wasted $25 from a cluttered email box! I could’ve used that cash to buy some more preps. Mr Apt Prepper was appalled I had 400 old emails just sitting there dating back a year. His email box only has about five items at a time.
I realized the same principle applies to physical clutter as electronic clutter- if you see it you need to:
- act on it
- file it
- trash it
I sat there and cleaned out the entire email box by filing the important ones in various email folders and left only 20 outstanding emails that needed attention.
I tell everyone to de-clutter their apartment or home to avoid wasting supplies, but now I found I have to follow my one advice in regards to electronic clutter.
Here’s the one tip to avoid wasting money:
Clean out your email box and you may be surprised to find:
– deals and coupons on items you’ve been waiting for
– announcements of pricing changes
– expiring discount memberships
It’s a chore, just like organizing your home. but you’re better off doing it now before something gets missed.
Look into forwarding services. I like to use Google’s email and utilize the forwarding ability to check an assortment of e-mail accounts I own. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tip milleniumfly!