Happy Holidays from Coastal

How to Save Money

How to Save Money on Printer Ink

In this time and age, aren't we all trying to save money here and there. There are some very interesting tips below on how to save money on printer ink and surprise, its not finding the lowest price on a printer or ink.

Fun Fact. Printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet. Ink is sold by the milliliter, but if you do the math, you'll find it costs thousands of dollars per gallon. My goal is to use as little of that
precious liquid as possible.

First, consider the cost per page when you're buying a new printer. Most printer makers will give you an estimate either of the price per page or the number of prints you'll get from a cartridge or set of cartridges, so you can check the price of cartridges and do your own math. The cost varies greatly - from as little as 2 cents per page to as much as 20 cents. These estimates are usually based on 4 percent to 5 percent coverage of the printable area. But like those EPA gas economy claims, "your mileage may vary."

Beware - cheaper printers are often more costly to operate than more expensive ones. For example, at $39.99, HP's DeskJet D1660 printer seems like a great deal. But the ink cartridge combo pack used on that model costs $31.99 and yields approximately 200 black pages or 165 color pages. That comes to 16 cents a page for black ink and nearly 20 cents for color.

But the extended black cartridge used on HP's $179.99 HP Officejet Pro 8000 Wireless Printer, costs $35.99 and yields 2,220 pages for a cost of under 1.7 cents a page, a 90 percent savings on ink. Color printing on that model is also a lot less expensive than on the cheaper printer.

The more expensive printer is not only faster and more durable, but it's also cheaper in the long run if you do a lot of printing. Plus, you won't need to change cartridges as often and it's better for the environment because it won't use as many cartridges. The Web site Printer.com has a handy interactive tool that estimates the total cost of printer ownership over 5 years.

Another tip: Just as there are ways to drive economically, there are ways to operate your printer to use less ink per page.

The drivers for all ink jet printers give you choices for the speed and quality of your prints. Economy or draft mode uses less ink and usually prints a lot faster. Since a great deal of printing is for internal consumption - proofing documents or sharing them with co-workers or family members - it might make sense to set the default for economy or draft and use "normal" or high-quality mode only when printing glossy photos or documents that need to make a good impression.

One easy way to save ink, paper and time is to only print the section of the document you need. This is especially true with Web pages, which can sometimes take up many pages when printed. When printing in Internet Explorer or Firefox, select the section you want to print and, on the print range section of the print dialogue box, click selection. This works with Microsoft Word and some other programs, too.

And another way to save is to reduce the size of your print job. Microsoft Word, for example, allows you to print up to 16 pages per sheet. Unless you plan to read with a strong magnifying glass, I wouldn't go that far, but two or four pages per sheet might be OK for proofing a document.

And finally, you can make a big impact by not printing documents unless it's necessary. If your goal is to preserve them, you can store them on disk and back them up on the Internet. One trick is to e-mail them to a Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail account.

At Coastal you are always a neighbor and never a number

www.coastalofficeproducts.com ~ Shop Now

Productivity at Work: There's an App for That

 Attention all Ipad fanatic's, there is a flash sale going on for the next 24 hours on Twitter https://twitter.com/CoastalOp Follow us and find more deals you can't resist!

Top Ten Apps you need to help stay productive at work

You’ve taken the plunge and bought yourself a new iPad. Whether this is your first (or your third, like some of us), it can’t hurt to use your new tablet to find a little extra productivity. In an effort to get you started, we’ve compiled a list of 10 apps that will get you working smarter, not harder. Check out the top 10 apps for the workplace. Wouldn't we all like to be more productive at times


1. Feeddler RSS Reader Pro ($4.99) – I’ve recommended this one before and for good reason: it’s fantastic! Feeddler is a full-featured RSS reader that lets you keep up to date on all of your favorite news from a single source with syncing between your devices so you can stay informed without having to worry about duplication or needing to visit dozens of websites every day in order to keep up. Manage your feeds with Google Reader, making it very easy to add new sites to your blog roll now that you have the extra time to follow them!

 
2. Priority Matrix ($3.99) – Are you a visual person? Use the Priority Matrix app to pull together your day by deciding which tasks are low priority and which are of escalating importance right up to critical, making this a to-do list on steroids. With progress tracking, reminders and a variety of sorting options available (all with an easy to use drag-n-drop interface), this app will help you to be more organized and a lot less panicked. If it suits your needs this app can also help you to build pro/con lists and perform simple project management tasks.

 
3. Dropbox (Free) – Dropbox is the kind of free service that will blow your mind. Giving you the ability to share your docs, photos and videos between virtually any and all of your computers and devices (regardless of platform), this app makes it easy to pull together the materials you need for your work and personal life. Whether you want to flip through your favorite photos or keep reference materials within reach, Dropbox is the perfect tool to help.

 
4. GoodReader ($4.99) – Often described as the Swiss Army Knife of iOS apps, GoodReader is one app that you will soon learn that you can’t live without. Use GoodReader to read a variety of file types including PDF, Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), iWork, HTML and more! The really special features are the PDF annotation that allows for the use of typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings right on top of the document you are reviewing and the ability for GoodReader to handle really large files that often crash lesser programs.

5. Evernote (Free) – Everybody takes notes. Whether you are trying to remind yourself of some little detail you are bound to forget just in the nick of time or you attend a lot of meetings and need to keep a record, Evernote can help. Sync your notes across all of your computers and devices so you always have access to your most important thoughts and share them out to friends, colleagues and family using handy in-app tools. My favorite feature satisfies my crazy need to organize by letting me create new notebooks and add tags.

 
6. Penultimate ($0.99) – There are entirely too many of us who have left meetings with sketches on napkins or spare pieces of paper that really weren’t spare. Now we have Penultimate, a sketching app that lets us make a note, visually think through a workflow or scribble together a design idea so we don’t lose the inspiration when it hits. Using ink and paper tools that feel as close to the real thing as digitally possible, Penultimate will become a trusted companion.

 
7. 2X Client RDP/Remote Desktop (Free) – If you use remote desktop to connect to servers you need to do your work, the 2X Client RDP app gives you the chance to use your iPad to get online from anywhere you need to be. Seamlessly run any Windows applications through Windows Terminal Server and virtual desktops with high level security and built in support for the requisite right mouse button clicking that you need in order to to properly navigate around Microsoft machines.

8. 1Password Pro ($14.99) – Our digital lives contain an awful lot of passwords. Even if the various security policies requiring us to have alphanumeric passwords with special characters that we chose while hopping on one foot, chewing gum and rubbing our tummies allowed us to use the same password everywhere, it’s not a good idea. But how do we remember which secret access code goes where? Using this app you can store all of your important information (and even log you in to the websites directly).

 
9. Blogsy ($4.99) – Are you a blogger? Should you be embracing social media more than you already are? Using Blogsy you can post your thoughts on the fly from wherever you happen to be with support for nearly any blogging platform your site is based on. Easily add photos and videos to your posts, schedule them for later, leave them as drafts for later review or even just use it to do those quick edits when you realize you need to update with a quick new link or to fix a typo that will drive you crazy.

 
10. 2Do ($0.99) – Everybody can use a little reminder now and then and 2Do on the iPad is a great way to get just that. Whether you like to use a simple checklist for all of your to-do list tasks or you want to organize them, tag them, share them or export them to your calendar, you can accomplish it easily with this app. For those with a lot on their plates, built-in scheduling and search capabilities will keep you from falling behind.

Betsy Says "Order Your 2013 Calendars"

BETSY SAYS:    

 "ORDER YOUR 2013 CALENDARS AND PLANNERS TODAY"

Why?  The selection is the absolute best right now. Order soon either online or call into the office and ask Betsy herself. You can choose the pretty mountain view or cute puppy dog calendars now. In a month or so, the selection will diminish to a plain solid maroon border. Check out the selection here or better yet call (757) 366 5502 or login to  CoastalOp.net

 No-one matches Betsy Poe's knowledge of office supplies so you should listen when...Betsy Says!

5 Scientifically Proven Ways on How To Be Happier at Work

American workers are increasingly miserable on the job. No wonder: Those who survived mass layoffs during the recent recession often were rewarded with more work for the same or less pay.
A survey released last fall found that nearly a third (32 percent) of U.S. workers considered quitting their jobs, up 9 percentage points from the last time the same survey was taken in 2005. Another found that only 45 percent of American workers were satisfied with their jobs, the lowest level since record-keeping began 22 years earlier.
For many workers, though, quitting just isn't an option. So what else can you do to make yourself happier in the job you have? 

• Get organized: Yes, organization requires work, but you'll find it pays off. Knowing which tasks need doing first not only means you'll have to spend less time working, it can also improve your productivity -- and ultimately how your boss views your contributions. When performing any task, ask yourself: Is this the best use of my time?
• Now that you have more time, work less. Because of the extra effort you put into getting organized, you'll accomplish the same tasks in less time. So stop working overtime. Working more hours isn't the best way to get ahead at work. A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (via The Washington Times) also shows that those who regularly worked overtime had increased levels of anxiety and depression -- regardless of gender or vocation.
• Balance where you spend your mental time. Maintaining happiness requires that you not spend too much time walking down Memory Lane or focused on planning for the future. And while "living in the moment" is promoted by many personal-happiness gurus, workers also shouldn't focus too much on "the now," according to a new study from researchers at San Francisco State University (via LiveScience). "If you are too extreme or rely too much on any one of these perspectives, it becomes detrimental, and you can get into very destructive types of behaviors," says lead researcher Ryan Howell. "It is best to be balanced in your time perspectives."
• Strive to work autonomously. Research shows that most workers are happiest and most creative when they are the masters of their own destinies, and that can be hard to achieve if you have a micro-manager for a boss. So, it may be time to sit down with your supervisor and ask to be given a longer leash and more say in the work you do. That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't ask for help when you need it.
• Stop thinking about your job when you're at home. It can be hard to shut that off just because you've left the office (and perhaps even harder if you work from home). But it's important that work not bleed into your personal life, especially when you already spend a third of your day toiling away. Say, "Adios!" to work the moment you start for home.

Hope this helps with your workday. I will follow this blog with a Get Organized one to help you get started! 

Beach Bash was a Blast

The other day the Coastal Gang packed up one of our vans and headed down to the beach for the Chamber of Commerce's annual event Beach Bash. The Beach Bash was held on June 13 at Neptune Park at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. More than 1,000 attendees network and visited more than 70 business exhibitors who shared their products and services. The Janitors provided live music and comedians from the Funny Bone Comedy Club entertained the crowd. The event was free and open to the public.

 We decided since it was a party at the beach we invented a game called Promo Pong, very similar to the well known college game.  Except when you threw a ping pong ball into the cup, you won a promotional item with Coastal's name on it. There were 5 different prizes including drink tickets, you could win anything from a custom designed Rick Romano mouse pad to key chains, sharpies, tote bags, cups and a designer Lilly Pullitzer Pen. We had a great time, saw some old friends, met some new friends, business contacts and most of all had a fun time with the Coastal Gang! Follow us on Facebook for more event updates and whats going on.

Meet part of the Coastal Team from left to right; Tim Owens, Furniture Expert; Sandy English, Office Product Expert; Rachel Kemp, Marketing Expert; Debbie Owens, Servmart Manager- Government Specialist; Richard Blovad, Promotional Products Expert.  Photograph taken by Owner, John Willcox

Cheers from the team at Coastal Office & Promo. Hope you have a wonderful summer and Buy Local. Let us know if we can help find innovative ideas of how your company can stand apart at your next event or trade show. We will be happy to help!

Lilly Pullitzer Pens are new to Coastal

Whats HOT at Coastal this Summer

We are ready to sizzle this summer not including the flames on the sides of the delivery trucks. We are happy to announce our newest teammate Tim Owens. Tim will lead Coastal's office furniture division bringing a depth of experience in furniture application and installation previously unavailable to small and mid-sized businesses. "Tim can advise customers on Furniture that works for it 's users, the space and the budget. He knows how to get the best bang for a customers buck from first proposal to final installation" according to company president, John Willcox. While Tim is not assisting Coastal's clients with their furniture solutions, he enjoys to be on the golf course or spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Mark your calendars to join us on June 13th from 4-8pm at the Beach Bash hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. It will feature business exhibits, adult beverages, and live entertainment. It is a free event at the Neptune Park on 31st at VB Oceanfront. You are cordially invited to stop by Coastal's table and win some prizes. Rumor has it that there will be a game that you don't want to miss, you might have played it in college.

Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you    for everyone who donated old computers and monitors for our E-Cycling event. We successfully collected 10 truckloads from 17 different companies in Hampton Roads. We would like to give a shout out to a local company WHRO who donated 3 working 32" televisions. Goodwill strives to make our community a better place to live and we would like to thank you for helping Goodwill with their mission



Stay cool this summer and let us know if we can help you with the Products you want. Prices you need. Service you deserve.   Relax..........We got it!
Visit www.coastalofficeproducts.com to browse our catalog.

Employees that Play Together, Work More Together

            I came across this article posted by a colleague on LinkedIn and thought hmmm how does this relate to Coastal and how it can affect your office as well. I feel that our camaraderie in the office helps our productivity level perform at a higher level. Now we are much smaller company than iGate but we have a lot of similar comparisons in our workplaces. We chit chat on Monday mornings about what we did over the weekend, gossip about whats going on in the celebrity world, brag about their NFL football team beating one another team, discuss our favorite show Revenge (that is if everyone watched it, we don't like to spoil the surprise), celebrate birthdays with cake or breakfast (because we ALL love Suzy's cheese grits). It is impressive to hear this happens in a large 27,000 employee company as iGate. Below is the article from Business Review, its worth the short read.

It’s actually true – a workforce that has fun together builds trust, engagement – and increased productivity.
Everyone needs a circle of friends – and when employees feel they have compatible peers at the workplace, the workplace is a more comfortable, pleasant, peaceful place to be.  At iGATE, we’ve confirmed this through research, and developed several structured employee engagement programs in response.  These include peer groups where our employees interact, around favorite sports, favorite teams, favorite TV shows – whatever their interest; and structured employee engagement programs.
For example, we celebrate ‘Thank God it’s Monday’ to kick off the week in a high energy way. Every Monday, lunch is accompanied by our own in-house, all-employee band, which has grown from seven to over 30 employee members. This has been going on over five years, and just keeps getting stronger.
It’s a fun way to get people involved and engaged. We also build camaraderie by eliminating a lot of those irritating aspects of work – we strive to reduce meetings and meaningless paperwork; and many of our peer groups help employees learn new skills and pursue new interests. Our aim is to create a high happiness index and add meaning to our employees’ lives – all 27,000 of them.
At iGATE, we take a comprehensive, integrated approach to people management. We’ve worked to understand what truly motivates the workforce, through numerous surveys and studies, and we’ve developed a best practices approach from leaders around the globe.  This approach has inspired outstanding employee engagement, and helped us consistently deliver quality service and solutions to our clients in Canada and worldwide. We’ve received the ‘Practice of Excellence’ award from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), for its Competency based Career Planning and Management System; and we are one of only two companies globally who have been assessed at People CMM® Maturity Level 5 – a framework from the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), USA that comprises state-of-the-art, best practices for Human Capital Management.


Now I would like to give a congratulatory high five for everyone at Coastal. It does make a difference when we are all getting along and working as a team. Every employee here is an important part of day to day functionality and making Coastal a success. Let us know what you do in your office to keep the team playing together and happy. 

Come Run Walk on June 16th for CHKD

Join Coastal Office & Promo Products for the fun filled family event this year in Norfolk on Saturday June 16th.We are excited to wear our custom made t-shirts designed specifically for this event and printed on the "new" DTG machine. The technology behind the DTG has helped us print smaller Tshirt orders at an affordable price. It used to be that you would have to order 50+ shirts to get a good price. Not anymore!


Because fitness runs in the family, the RunWalk for the Kids is a community-wide project designed to encourage exercise and healthy lifestyles in families and children. The event is a project of The King's Daughters to benefit Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.

CHKD's experts are concerned with the alarming rates of childhood obesity in this community. Lack of exercise plays a big role in childhood obesity, but the RunWalk for the Kids can help in two ways. First, all the funds raised by the event will go to support CHKD and its special programs for children. Secondly, children and families are encouraged to participate in the RunWalk together. We even have a special family rate along with +children's marathon training program to help young athletes prepare for the big day and incorporate daily exercise into their lives.

Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters
CHKD is the only facility of its kind in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit hospital never turns any child away.  Last year, children' made more than 500,000 visits to CHKD caregivers as inpatients and outpatients, for routine and complex illnesses, injuries and chronic conditions.


Let Rachel Kemp know if you would like to join our fun, dynamic team in the 8k event for CHKD. rachelkemp@coastalop.net or 366-5502. Follow us on Facebook for updates on events. www.facebook.com/coastalop

Customer Service: Does it still exist?

John Willcox, owner of Coastal Office Products & Promo

How to Really Show Your Customers You Care

Two companies were interviewed by Inc Magazine and we found their customer service initiatives very powerful and unique to a locally owned company. Below are the key lessons that Tara Hunt of Buyosphere and Lauren Thom of Fleurty Girl shared, It's not all about you; its all about them. At Coastal, you are always a neighbor and never a number.

1. Go far, far out of your way for the customer (it will pay off!).

Thom recounts a family who recently came in to buy the same shirt for 10 people. The store only had nine in the correct sizes. "I drove 30 minutes to another store and back downtown to deliver the last shirt to their hotel. That's the southern hospitality I was raised on," she says.

2. Put your self in the shoes of your customers. Do what they do.

"Be your customer. We are active on our own site. We 'eat our own dogfood,'" Hunt says, using a software industry expression for using a product to see how it works. "We regularly invite people to test the site, look over their shoulder, ask them why they went to certain areas. We use software to capture their clicks and analyze how they use the site. We don't try to capture the customer, or get their information solely for marketing purposes."

Thom adds: "We have friends go in and shop, and recount their experiences. We analyze the checkout process in the store—we have very seasonal variations, but we need to maintain consistency. Sometimes we have a line to the door so we look at past busy influx times to see where we can improve."
3. Make sure your online interactions are just as good as the in-person ones.
Fleurty Girl's friendly and helpful in-person service is replicated online. "We don't just sell, we share socially to be ambassadors of the city. We promote other's events." Thom's employees are all Facebook and Twitter administrators, and they all share the responsibility for answering questions on social media, just as if they were picking up a phone ringing in the store. She hires people who are passionate about the store, the brand, and New Orleans.

4. We all know a great customer experience when we feel it

Hunt recalled an instance of great service: a New Orleans waiter who insisted on sharing other locations in town they had to see, including other restaurants. "I still have the piece of scrap paper in my bag, and it has a list of places to go for everything from a good dinner to bread pudding," she said. Thom added "If you want your customers treated well, love your employees. We regularly do 'rock and bowl' nights or dinner as a team to build camaraderie. I've been in business for more than two years and we have almost no turnover."

5. Let your customers promote you.

What do you do about difficult or cranky Yelp reviews? Is it OK to ask your customers to review you in a positive way? The journalistic answer: Yelp's Terms of Service state you may not "…otherwise attempt to manipulate the Site's search results." So, it's probably not advisable, but you can certainly create experiences good enough to make people want to share.

Both panelists talked about the need to be very responsive to customers in social media. Buyosphere has a private Facebook group where they solicit feedback from some of their top users. Thom's "customer army" was introduced by another New Orleans native who asked about it from the audience. She was selling shirts with the "Who Dat?" phrase popular with fans of the New Orleans Saints football franchise. At one point she pulled them off the shelves and a fan tweeted to ask about it. She tweeted back that the store had received a cease-and-desist from the NFL about their use of the phrase. Within two hours she had national media outside the store. The fans of the store and the city rose up to help her, demanded her shirts and she went back to selling. (While the NFL has backed off, there are still pending legal issues that Thom can't discuss.)

Keeping the customers first is a great strategy, and these two savvy businesswomen have provided some great tips. What are your suggestions? Please share them with us

When You Know you are Post-It Crazy

       Post-its come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors by a few different manufacturers 3M, Avery and Universal to name a few. Now they come in electronic form on your Iphone or Android by an  App from 3M Post-it PopNotes found here. If you are anything like me, I have post its all over my office and at home and on the fridge to jog my memory that it needs to get done but not a specific time. I love the different colors and functions of a post it. I even decorated my office before and have thought of making a Post-it dress. Click here to Learn How to make a Post it Dress

    After following my addiction for Post-it notes, I have found some really neat artists that create images out of Post-it notes and I wanted to share a few with you.  A conceptual/installation artist, Rebecca Murtaugh, chose to turn her bedroom into a room full of post-it notes!  Would you be able to live in a room made out of post it notes. I am not sure the bed would be that comfortable.

 

How would you react to your JAGUAR covered with post it notes (not mention all the adhesive glue)? This practical prank was viewed all over the world including a documentary on ABC News.These pictures show amazing contrast in color, time, and dedication. Watch the story from ABC News, its quite hilarious why and how they covered this car.

 Then there are pranks pulled all the time covering cubicles in post its and office's. This short 1 minute video catches a girl returning back to work and finding her office covered in 7,425 pink post-its. Now that's a lot of post-its! 


Even with the new apps for your Iphone or Android Smart phone, I will always have my post its around. They also keep coming out with new post-its, Super Sticky ones, See thru ones, perforated at the top where the sticky side is, so that you can easily tear off and take the note home. I couldn't live with out my post-it dispenser that provides a home for my wonderful post its. 


Let us know if you would like a sample of the all the new, cool post-ts. I will be happy to share my post-it frenzy with you. Post a picture of post it art or decorations, doesn't have to be as elaborate as these, to our Facebook page and you can receive a gift from Coastal Office Products & Promo. Call or email us buylocal@coastalop.net or 366-5502.

Clean Out your Office for Earth Day

Is your old monitor or computer collecting dust in the closet or in the corner at your office? If so, Coastal has the solution for you! Join our E-Cycle event with Goodwill throughout the month of April.

Collect your obsolete technology and Coastal Office & Promo Products will come pick it up and deliver it to Goodwill. Goodwill will refurbish or safely recycle the electronics. This in return will fund Goodwill's critical mission of creating opportunities for people in need. 

Did you know...... Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste problems in the word. Each year over 220 million tons of old computers make their way into US landfills and 250 million computers will become obsolete with in 5 years

It's FREE, fast and all it takes is scheduling a pickup. Your e-cycling will truly turn your office e-poison into potential for your neighbors in Hampton Roads. Contact Rachel at (757) 366-5502 or BuyLocal@coastalop.net or Fill out the web form at www.coastalofficeproducts.com/ecycle

 

 E-Waste that will be accepted

• Personal Computers and laptops
• Printers
• Monitors & Flatscreens
• Fax Machines
• TV's Smaller than 32"
• Telephone, Cell Phones & PDA's
• Keyboards and Computer Accesories

*Sorry but we cannot accept anything over 50lbs

Goodwill wipes all data, refurbishes saleable machines and recycles the rest. A link to the security wipe is available upon request. Your e-waste provides job training, employment and the tools to achieve individual success to people with disabilities and other barriers

GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY......GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT......GOOD FOR YOU!

Contributing businesses do NOT have to be customers of Coastal Office & Promo Products. Contributions to Goodwill are tax-deductible. Contact us today! 

For more information go to www.coastalofficeproducts.com/ecycle

The Coupon Craze! Is it worth your time?

Save Time. Save Money. No Hassles. 
At Coastal we can help your business concentrate on what is important to your line of work and not the supplies it takes to run your business. As a coupon clipper, i found this article interesting, Enjoy!

Ever wonder if coupon clipping is worth your time? While it can save extra dollars and cents, it can also cost you time and effort. So, is it worth it? Some say we should just wait for sales and buy in bulk and we can fore go coupon clipping altogether.

Here's a quick guide on how to assess if it's worth your time

How Much Do You Make Per Hour?
If you only know your gross salary per year, here's a quick way to figure out how much you make (gross) per hour. Take your salary, $40,000 as an example, and divide it by 2,000 hours to get $20/hour.

Many people argue that time is money. With that in mind, if you spend an hour clipping coupons, you should expect at least a savings of $21 to make it worth your time ($20 for your "wage" and $1 to make a "profit".) However, if you've only saved $5, then you've just "lost" $15 in earnings you otherwise could have made.This time-is-money philosophy can be dangerous, though, because it starts to account for every hour of your day, even the ones where you sleep and can't make any money!

Many people don't necessarily charge overtime either, so whether you work 40 hours or 60, it makes no difference in your hourly wage, in fact it lessens it. Besides, if you already have a full-time job that you work 40 hours a week at, the rest of your time is free time for you to do whatever you please without any economic productivity.

Therefore, if you clip coupons on your free time, you would actually be "earning" extra dollars for each coupon you clip.

Would You Buy It Anyway?
Many people see a coupon for an item and decide to buy it because it'd be cheaper than at full retail cost, but in reality, you should look at whether you were going to buy the item to begin with.

Let's say it was a coupon for a pair of nail clippers. You could get $1 off a $4 pair, for a savings of 25%. This is a great deal, but do you really need another pair of nail clippers? If you don't need to replace what you have, then you've just wasted $3 on an unnecessary purchase.

Also, watch out for impulse purchases that are made just because there's a coupon. Savings on an impulse item doesn't necessarily justify the purchase. However, if you were going to buy white vinegar this week, then clipping the coupon only takes a few seconds for quick savings.

Do You Need to Travel Farther to Use the Coupon?
If the coupon is for a 50-cent savings on an item but has to be used at a store 20 minutes out of your way, it may not be worth your time, or even the gas to get there!

Or even if you need to go to multiple stores to reap all of these savings - it may not be worth the hassle and the traffic, depending on how far apart these stores are, and if the savings are big enough to be worth it.

Watch out for in-store coupons, rebates or sales. Know what staples you need each week so you can scan the list of coupons and quickly pick out what you'd buy and what you wouldn't. You can also keep a coupon binder and clip any coupon you find interesting but don't have a use for right away, but you may use in the future. When it comes time to buy the item, then you can bring out your coupons to score some great deals.

The Bottom LineClipping coupons doesn't have to be a chore and if you already have idle time (such as when you're in front of the TV), why not clip coupons and save a little cash? It may not yield big savings all at once, but if you saved $5 a week, you're still $260 richer at the end of the year. After all, any money saved is still money that stays in your pocket and saving may become second nature before you know it. (For additional reading, also check out 4 Coupon Sites Worth Checking Out.)

Read more: http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0311/Is-Coupon-Clipping-A-Waste-Of-Time.aspx#ixzz1n2SBgbf6

10 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy at the Office

There are a number of steps you can implement with very little effort that can help you stay healthy at the office. A little bit of planning and a few small additions to your daily office routine can help you live a healthier lifestyle.

1. Stay Hydrated

Water helps your body with physical and mental performance, detoxification and digestion. Keep a water bottle at your desk and you’ll find it much easier to drink the recommend 8 glasses of water each day. Adding some ionic trace minerals can help ease stress due to dehydration and result in sustained energy throughout the day.

2.Clean Your Work Area

Is your desk making you sick? Your keyboard, mouse, telephone and even your desk itself harbor germs, microorganisms, viruses and bacteria. Use disinfecting wipes, a UV light or a natural micro-fiber cloth with a disinfecting solution to help keep your workspace clean and free of contaminants.

TIP: Don't forget about your cell phone, it's a breeding ground for bacteria and one of the filthiest items you come in contact with each day.

3.Wash Your Hands

In addition to your immediate workspace, anything you touch at work could potentially be harboring contaminants, so it’s a good idea to wash your hands regularly. Ordinary soap and hot water is sufficient for washing your hands and face. If you’re in contact with a lot of people during the day, keep a small bottle of a natural hand sanitizer nearby in your desk or car. Remember, even if you maintain good hygiene and a clean workspace, others you work with may not.

4. Use Full Spectrum Lighting

Poor lighting in your office? No windows in your workplace? Regular office lighting can leave you feeling drained. Get a small full spectrum lamp for your work area, you may notice a big difference. Simulating daylight inside, full spectrum lighting is not only brighter, it saves energy and is easier on your eyes.

5.Take it Easy on Your Eyes

Poor lighting may not be the only problem for your eyes at the office. If you're working at a computer all day, be sure to look away from your monitor periodically and focus on other targets at varying distances to give your eyes a rest every 15-30 minutes.

6. Get a Good Chair

If you're spending 8+ hours in a chair almost every day, investing in a high quality chair can have great health benefits. No seat can enforce all the proper posture habits at work, but switching to a good chair may provide you with an immediate benefit and make a difference in the way you feel at the end of the work day.

7. Get Up. Walk Around. Stretch.

Take a break, stand up, and move around every 30 minutes or so. Simply getting up and moving around for a few moments combined with some light stretching can help keep you focused, less fatigued, and feeling better.

8. Eat Healthy

Good nutrition is the foundation for any healthy lifestyle and it's not difficult to incorporate some of that into the work day. Try to make better decisions about your eating at work and be sure to take a quality multi-vitamin with each meal. Proper dietary supplementation with super green foods, probiotics and omega-3 essential fatty acids can often have a huge impact on your overall health.

Snacking on seeds and nuts at work can provide sustained energy with many health benefits. Supply your body with essential fats, protein, minerals, and immune system boosting plant sterols just by eating a small handful of nuts and seeds including pistachios, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds.

9.Use an Air Purifier

Place a small, portable air filter near your desk to keep the air in your environment clean. This can be especially valuable if you suffer from any allergies, are sensitive to air pollutants, or if you work in an office environment with poor air ventilation.

10.Get a Good Night's Sleep

Sleep is vital for your body's healing and regeneration. Getting enough quality sleep boosts your immune system and energy levels while improving memory, concentration and reaction time. Getting a good night's sleep is a surefire way to look better, feel better and work better each day.


Stay productive, happy and healthy!

WOW! The Tallest File Cabinet in the World

WORLDS TALLEST FILE CABINET - 7 Stories High!

An office worker’s dream or actually worst nightmare was created by Samuel Yates in California, USA. It is now recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as ‘The Tallest File Cabinet on Earth’. Seven stories high this, in actual fact, is not one filing cabinet, but a total of some 60 individual drawers stacked and welded together – and all in the name of art. Check out more of Samuel Yates art here.

You think its really tall, but wait it gets better......        It contains a 1974 MG Midget sports car that was donated, shredded, steamrolled, photographed, bagged, labeled, numbered and filled away. The parts are filled from heaviest to lightest in order not to create the leaning tower of files.

This Months Featured Sale Item
It's not 7 stories high but this
Four-Drawer Economy Vertical
has a great sale price till 3/31/2012             Reg Price:  $299
                                                                 Sale Price: $189

Scroll Down to see the the entirety of this structure, that most of us know as four drawers high.
Call or visit our website for more specials. 366-5502
buylocal@coastalop.net