Scheduling Warranties and Important Documents

May 4, 2020December 7, 2020 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

05.04.2020

0600

Materials:

Warranties
Receipts
Important Documents

Tools:

Calendar (preferably digital)

I like to organize important due dates in my life. This includes scheduling warranties, scheduling retail items that I purchase and might want to return, even scheduling the expiration date for my drivers license and passport. I tend to date a lot of my purchased items, because I just want to remember when I purchased the products. Also, most warranties will ask for the Date Of Purchase. But if there’s a warranty attached or some type of expiration date attached to the product, I will schedule it in my calendar. It’s basically a reminder for me to make a decision to take action or not. I actually keep a digital file on my hard drive, that has a folder assigned to every product that I’ve bought that came with an owners manual. Within each file, I save whatever information I need per product.

With balancing my work life and my home life, I utilize my digital calendar all of the time. Since I don’t buy too many products, scheduling warranties and items to return doesn’t really clutter up my calendar. However, if I don’t schedule those dates out, I will forget them.

WARRANTIES

When I buy any electronic retail product, or any product that I have to assemble, I will jot down the date of purchase on the warranty document that comes with the product (usually in pencil in case I don’t decide to keep it), and then take a photo of it. This photo will be filed away in the digital folder assigned to the product, along with all of the other photos of this specific product.

I’ll then take a picture of the UPC number, the serial number (there’s usually a plaque or label on the product that describes all of the products details), and the receipt\invoice of the product. Once I decide that I’m going to keep the product, I’ll sign up for the warranty. I then set up the expiration date of the warranty in my digital calendar. I use a Google calendar to organize my life, but most digital calendars will help you do this as well.

I’ll usually gather the following pieces of information, and save it in a digital folder for my own record. I might also record all of this information on the expiration date in my digital calendar.

Date of purchase
UPC number
Serial Number
Brand and Model number
Receipt/Invoice

RECEIPTS AND INVOICES

For the non electronic products that I purchase, I will keep the receipt, and I will schedule the maximum date possible to return the product. Sometimes, if I don’t have an immediate time slot to return the product, I will find a time in my busy schedule to return the item. I will keep the receipt with the products, and then schedule the maximum return date on the receipt in my digital calendar.

For retail products receipts, I will write down in my calendar:

Time frame to return product
Date of purchase
Receipt/Invoice

BILLS

When it comes to bills, I always schedule those out as well. For each bill I assume that the amount will be similar to the month of the previous year, give or take $50 based on the current year’s circumstances. If you can guesstimate how much money you’ll need every month for bills, you’ll likely know how much money you’ll have available to spend on other stuff.

If you’re looking to switch service companies, or maybe switching a service provider, I would definitely schedule out a date to do that. This way, you as a consumer, can search for and receive the best deals. For instance if your cell phone bill is due on the fourth of every month, and you know that the best deals show up on the first of every month, schedule about two weeks prior to the first of the month to search for deals. That way by the time you decide to either upgrade your phone, or switch carriers, you’ll have all your information ready by the due date of the bill.

For bills, I’ll keep an eye out for monthly promotions or deals. I’ll schedule time out to talk to a representative (on my calendar), and then switch carriers.

Utilities: Look into switching carriers and look for deals
Mortgage: Save enough money by the due date

CREDIT CARDS

For credit card bills, my rule is to be able to pay off your credit card in a timely manner. Always have the amount in your checking account that you need to pay off your credit card each month. If you have to make payments, that’s fine too, but as long as you know that you have the money set, and ready to pay off the credit card.

Credit Cards:
- Update all accounts tied to each credit card
- Make sure you’re able to pay off the credit cards

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

When it comes to more important documents in our lives such as a drivers license or passports, I will always schedule these expiration dates.

To renew most drivers licenses, there’s always a process to go through. If you can schedule out this process ahead of time, you save yourself from wasted time and a headache.

For passports, it’s the same process. I will schedule out my expiration date for my passport, but I set a reminder about four months prior to the expiration date. I do this because, to renew your passport takes a bit of time. Sending the passport off to be renewed, and then receiving it again takes 6-8 weeks.

Drivers license: Make an appointment, gather all necessary documents, study, pay fees
Passport: Gather all documents together, pay fees, allocate enough time to send off and receive before traveling

MEMBERSHIPS

I’ve also scheduled out my membership dues and fees for my life. Some memberships I decide to decline continuing, and some I decide to renew. It’s really dependent on what my goals are, and how much extra time I have to dedicate to those memberships. I just don’t want my memberships to expire unexpectedly.

Memberships: renew annually as necessary

I like to keep track of my warranties in case my products break down or a product problem arises. Each time I buy a new product, I will always go through all of the paperwork and pamphlets to find PDF versions of them online. I will create a digital file of each product and jot down the Date OF Purchase. This does take a little bit of extra work, but I prefer to keep digital copies of everything. I organize all of my digital files by purchase date in the form of “year-month-date”. I’ll still download digital PDF pamphlets of the products I’m not sure I’ll keep. I do this because I’d rather get the work done initially, right when I purchase the product, than waiting to do it later.

But then I do schedule all of my warranties and items I plan to return.

Scheduling those dates as well as bills, credit cards, legal documents and membership expiration dates, helps keep my life more organized. I love utilizing my digital calendar and honestly, it makes my life so much easier to maintain.

Food Waste And Composting

August 26, 2019August 25, 2019 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

08.26.2019

0600

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted. Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion in developing countries.

Some facts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations:

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.
Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion in developing countries.
Industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food — respectively 670 and 630 million tonnes.
Fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food.
Global quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops, fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat and dairy plus 35% for fish.
Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).
The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world’s annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).
Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia, each throw away only 6-11 kg a year.

Food waste is an issue I pay very much attention to. I don’t like wasting food or my money. Before my city decided to implement a city wide composting program, I used a Lifetime 65 Gallon Tumbler compost. It was really helpful since I always wanted to create my own compost and not add it to my trash.

I also tried a trench compost as well, and honestly, I really enjoyed the trench compost method. I settled on the tumbler compost method because it was easier to roll and turn the compost every other day.

A successful compost will have a ratio of 20 parts brown : 1 part green. The compost pile will need at least 4-12 weeks to create a good batch. I’ll rotate the Lifetime 65 Gallon Tumbler several revolutions weekly and if the composter is mostly filled with grass, it may need to be rotated more frequently to keep the grass from matting together. The compost is done when it becomes dark brown and has an earthy smell. It can be added directly to plants as mulch or worked into soil.

WHAT TO COMPOST:

KITCHEN SCRAPS like fruit and vegetable peelings, cores, egg shells, and coffee grounds.
LAWN CLIPPINGS can be returned directly to the lawn with a mulching blade or composted
as desired, especially if the grass clippings are too long to be left on the lawn.
LEAVES can be mowed to reduce their size which will speed up decomposition and
increase the amount which will ft in the composter.
WOOD such as branches must be chipped or shredded in pieces smaller than1 inch.
Saw dust must be resin free i.e. no particle board.
PLANTS discarded from the garden, straw and hay.
MANURES from herbivores e.g. cows, rabbits, or chickens. Excessive amounts will also increase the salt content of the compost.

WHAT NOT TO COMPOST:

Meat, bones, greases, dairy products, or bread which attract pests. Anything treated with pesticides or herbicides.
Black Walnut leaves which inhibit plant growth.
Oak leaves and pine needles which decompose slowly.
Diseased plants or weeds with seeds.
Pet or human waste.
Plastic, foil, etc.

I usually meal prep throughout the week, so I know how much I want to buy and consume. I rarely buy snacks anymore since I’ve noticed that I tend not to snack. If I’m really hungry, I might have a few nuts, to satisfy my hunger. I prefer to simply eat whole meals, when the time is right.

My weekday meals don’t vary too much, but I’ve also reduced the amount I eat, so I don’t create any extra food waste. There’s usually a day during the week, where I’ll go through my fridge and eat up all the foods that may be expiring soon as well. Most of those foods are perishable, so it’ll end up to be some sort of salad, with a bunch of different vegetables. For the fresh produce that does expire, they go into the compost bucket.

Americans waste about a pound of food per person each day, with people who have healthier diets rich in fruit and vegetables the most wasteful, research has found. The healthiest Americans are the most wasteful, because of their high consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are frequently thrown out. Fruit and vegetables require less land to grow than than other foods, such as meat, but require a large amount of water and pesticides. Because of this sad fact, I pay more attention to what I buy and the quantity I buy. This waste has an environmental toll, with the volume of discarded food equivalent to the yearly use of 30m acres of land, 780m pounds of pesticide and 4.2tn gallons of irrigated water. Rotting food also clogs up landfills and releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Composting is a great way to dump the compostable items, and if you don’t have a yard, there are smaller composts, that are also designed for apartment living as well. Composting is a more sustainable way to discard your foods scraps and it’ll will alleviate the amount of trash, taken to the landfill. If your city, or county hasn’t implemented a city wide composting system, maybe it could be an idea that could be brought to your city.

What’s My Carbon Footprint?

October 10, 2017August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

10.10.2017

0600

I wanted to calculate my carbon footprint because I haven’t ever done so. I know that I watch what I buy and how much energy I use so I was hoping it would be low. There are aspects of my life I could probably change to reduce my carbon footprint, but I wanted a base number to start with. There are a few different carbon print calculators available, but this is the one I used. Also, I’m located in the United States of America, so I used the Nature Conservancy Carbon Calculator, from the Nature Conservancy.

Because these calculators consist of a lot of smaller chunks of information, I thought I would at least list out the information needed for this calculator. I had to go searching for a large chunk of information to input, when I filled out my survey. So here is the the many pieces of information I needed, that you might need as well if you choose to use this carbon footprint calculator:

Get Started: A QUICK CARBON FOOTPRINT ESTIMATE
1. Zip Code
2. City
3. County
4. State Country
5. How many people live in your household?
6. What is your approximate gross annual household income?
Travel: HOW DO YOU GET AROUND?
1. Car(s): (Miles per gallon)
2. Public Transit: (Miles per year)
3. Air Travel: (Miles per year)
Home: HOW MUCH DO YOU USE IN YOUR HOME?
1. Electricity ($/year)
2. Natural Gas ($/year)
3. Heating oil & Other Fuels ($/year)
4. Square ft. of living space
5. Water useage ($/year)
Food: HOW MUCH DO YOU CONSUME OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING?
1. Simple Menu: (Daily calories per person)
  1. Meat, fish, eggs
  2. Grains & baked goods
  3. Dairy
  4. Fruits & vegetables
  5. Snacks, drinks, etc…
2. Advanced Menu: (Daily calories per person)
  1. Beef, pork, lamb, veal
  2. Fish & seafood
  3. Other meat (processed, nuts, etc…)
  4. Poultry & eggs
  5. Grains & baked goods
  6. Dairy
  7. Fruits & Vegetables
  8. Snacks, drinks, etc…
3. Shopping: HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING?
  1. Simple Menu
    1. Goods ($/month)
    2. Services ($/month)
  2. Advanced Menu
    1. Goods ($/month)
      1. Furniture & appliances
      2. Clothing
      3. Entertainment
      4. Paper, office & reading
      5. Personal care & cleaning
      6. Auto Parts
      7. Medical
    2. Services ($/month)
      1. Health Care
      2. Information & Comunication
      3. Medical
      4. Vehicle Services
      5. Personal business & Finance
      6. Household Maintenance & Repair
      7. Organizations & Charity
      8. Other Services

So my results stated that my Total Footprint is 20 tons CO2/year, which is 59% better than average person. This is a good standing to start from. I’m actually quite happy with it. I could try to adjust my daily decisions to see if I can reduce my footprint a re-take the survey, but it’s a good starting point.

The last section in the calculator allows you to sign a pledge to stand with Climate Action. There are a few different carbon footprint calculators. I encourage you all to take a look at how large or small your carbon footprint is. It’s amazing when you see it written down in a calculated measure of your daily decisions. Here are a few other websites that also have carbon footprint calculators that might be of god use as well:

Ethylene Producing Fruits And Vegetables

April 4, 2017August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / 3 Comments

04.04.2017

0700

Storing fruits and vegetables can be tricky if you have too much and if they’re stored incorrectly, the speed of ripening can speed up unnecessarily. It’s one lesson I had to take time out to understand when I lived on my own.

As some fruits and vegetables ripen, they release ethylene, a gas that can cause other produce to become spotted, soft, or mealy. To prevent this, keep ethylene-sensitive fruits and vegetables separate from varieties that emit the gas.

A Few General Guidelines

Do Not Store Fruits and Vegetables Together. Fruits that give off high levels of ethylene (the ripening agent) can prematurely ripen and spoil surrounding vegetables. (Think of the “one bad apple” adage.)
For Vegetables: Before storing, remove ties and rubber bands and trim any leafy ends. Leave an inch to keep the vegetable from drying out. Make sure the bag you store the veggies in has some holes punctured to allow for good air flow. Pack vegetables loosely in the refrigerator. The closer they are, the quicker they will rot. Leafy greens can be washed before storing by soaking them in a sink full of water, while soft herbs and mushrooms should not be washed until right before they are used.
For Fruits: Non-cherry stone fruits, avocados, tomatoes, mangoes, melons, apples, and pears will continue to ripen if left sitting out on a countertop, while items like bell peppers, grapes, all citrus, and berries will only deteriorate and should be refrigerated. Bananas in particular ripen very quickly, and will also speed the ripening of any nearby fruits.

Ethylene Producing Fruits

•Apricots
•Avocados
•Bananas
•Cantaloupes
•Honeydew melons
•Kiwis
•Mangoes
•Nectarines
•Papayas
•Peaches
•Pears
•Plums
•Tomatoes

Ethylene Sensitive Fruits:

•Apples
•Asparagus
•Broccoli
•Carrots
•Cucumbers
•Eggplants
•Green beans
•Lettuce and other greens
•Potatoes
•Summer squash
•Watermelons

Try to keep the ethylene producing fruits separated from one another and make sure the ethylene sensitive fruits are kept in a separate section too. You can find storage tips and a more extensive list of how to store vegetables and fruits without plastic from Washington’s Green Grocer. The list originated from the Berkley Farmer’s Market, and you can download their PDF of How To: Store Fruits and Vegetables and keep it for reference. There are still many different methods of storing fruits and vegetables, depending on how and if you prepare them before storing. I think this is a very helpful reference for those wondering how to go about eliminating it from fruit and vegetable storage.