inbox

New Year

You Could Save Money Just by Cleaning Up Your Email Inbox

Trying to get back on track with your budget?

Trying to get back on track with your budget? OnSugar blogger Beauty and the Budget shares some great suggestions.

It's 2012, and for most of us, our top New Year's resolution is to create a budget. It's a healthy resolution, of course, and if you're looking for tips on creating a budget, you can always check this site! However, you might be overlooking a few things, and it could be costing you hundreds of dollars over time.

There are more ways to adjusting your finances than just sitting down with a ledger, pay stubs, and a calculator. You should really look at every aspect of your financial lifestyle, but there are a few supereasy tips you should take into consideration first.

  • Unsubscribe to mailing lists. Are you a member of discount designer shopping sites? Online shops? Your favorite stores? Budget savvy beauties are always sourcing for an amazing deal, but email alerts about sales and special discounts could make you more susceptible to spending when you don't need to. (I don't know about you, but when I'm offered a special discount or a certain dollar amount off via email, I always click on the link — even if only to see if I like the items enough to buy them.) Go through your mailbox and get rid of those mailing lists! You don't necessarily have to get rid of all of them, but it's a really good idea to unsubscribe from most mailing lists. That way when you have a little extra spending money on hand, you can check your favorite sites to see what deals they have going on at that time.
  • Cancel all monthly memberships to "personalized" boutiques. Although sites like JewelMint and ShoeDazzle offer an amazing service, it's not financially savvy to subscribe to memberships like these. Why not? It takes away your spending power. Sure, you get a great product every month, but instead of spending when you want to, you're spending when they want you to. And those monthly memberships really add up over time. It's much wiser to buy on your own time, at your own convenience. This way you have the power, and that's what truly makes you in control of your finances. If you are truly pinching pennies right now (like me), I highly advise cancelling all online shopping memberships.

For more budgeting inspiration, follow the Beauty and the Budget blog. You can start your own OnSugar blog for a chance to be featured on the PopSugar Network.

Organization

Turn Your Inbox Into a To-Do List in 5 Easy Steps

Start the new year off right by getting organized — beginning with your inbox.


Start the new year off right by getting organized — beginning with your inbox. From daily deals to digital receipts to holiday sale announcements, emails are especially frequent this time of year. Clear the clutter and manage your tasks by following these five simple steps.

  1. Create categories. It's important to categorize your messages so that you can find them quickly. Start by establishing general folders like personal, work, finance, travel, and shopping. Then decide how you can divide each of those labels into smaller subcategories. For instance, your personal folder may include photos and letters, while your shopping folder contains coupons and receipts. Determine the types of messages that you receive most often and add more as you see fit.
  2. Color-code. For one thing, colored labels will make your inbox look better. Plus, keeping things color-coordinated allows you to carry the label system throughout your office. Buy folders, sticky notes, and highlighters in each shade so that, for example, blue always means banking. In Gmail, colors can be added to each label by letting your mouse hover just to the right of the label name.
  3. Read on for the rest of the steps.