Free Tombow Correction Tape & Other Back to School Supplies!

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Messy cross outs were fine for Beethoven, but messy school work is just not going to fly with your kid’s teacher! Correction fluids do a good job of covering mistakes, but can be almost as messy and unsightly as scratch outs in kid’s hands. Plus, correction fluid can take too long to dry. How many kids have the patience to wait for Wite Out, Liquid Paper and other correction fluids to dry before writing over mistakes? That’s why every student needs Tombow correction tape.  just works better for kids. Tombow correction tape dries instantly, so your kid can quickly and neatly correct errors. Even better, Tombow correction tape comes in break proof cases, so they won’t get destroyed in your kid’s backpack. Continue reading

Free Back To School Supplies!

Update: The Back to School Giveaway is now closed. Winner will be announced Friday, August 6th.
On Time Supplies is giving away more than $100 in back to school supplies to one lucky winner! You’ve got a few ways to enter the drawing.

  • Follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or subscribe to Smart Office via email or RSS.
  • Let us know that you really want those free school supplies! Tweet @OnTimeSupplies or post this comment to our Facebook page or in the comments of this blog post:
    “I want to win free school supplies from www.OnTimeSupplies.com! /” (you have to include the link!)
    Get three chances to win by posting at Twitter, Facebook and the blog!

It’s that easy! No purchase necessary and open to US residents only. I’ll randomly choose one lucky winner on Friday, August 6th, 2010.  I’m leaning towards the tried and true method of picking a name out of a hat. The winner will be contacted through the medium the entered, so if you entered through Facebook, we’ll let you know you won through Facebook, and so on.

The Back to School Give-Away package includes Crayola markers, Swingline mini staplers, Pentel #2 pencils, Avery binders, Mead note books and filler paper, and so much more!

Happy Memorial Day! Smart Office Talks About Memorial Day History and Meaning

Happy Memorial Day everybody! I am so looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend and my mama’s barbeque! It’s been almost a whole year since I chowed down on some ribs! I hope you get to spend the holiday with your family. If you’re one of the millions who have to work, well I hope someone saves you a plate! Is it obvious from allthis talk about BBQ that I am ready for lunch!

So right after I got through thanking God that it’s not only Friday, but the Friday that begins the long holiday weekend, I realized that I didn’t know exactly what Memorial Day commemorates. I thought it had something to do with our veterans, but then what about Veterans Day? I felt a little guilty about my ignorance. Luckily, I am a master at of the Google-fu, so now I have that information and can share it with you!

Memorial Day is the day we set aside to remember the men and women who’ve died in our wars and thank them for their sacrifice. It began after the Civil War, and was originally called Decoration Day because mourners would visit and decorate the graves of the war dead. Decoration Day events sprung up in communities across the country, so it’s hard to know for sure where it was first observed. My favorite Decoration Day origin story comes from Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper. The paper credibly claims that the first Decoration Day events happened there, May 1, 1865. Around 10,000 former Charleston slaves marched to the city’s Washington Race Course, the site of a prison camp, to bury the Union soldiers who died there. It took the former slaves two weeks to bury the Union dead. After completing the somber and arduous task, it was time for a proper funeral. A procession 2800 black school children sang “John Browns Body” as they made their way to the new graveyard. After sermons and prayers of the funeral service,  the former slaves held a picnic. The mix of celebration and solemn remembrance became Charleston’s first Decoration Day. The day grew to recognize the soldiers who died in all of America’s wars after World War I, and became known as Memorial Day. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Today, we celebrate Memorial Day by remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and by taking much needed time away from the hectic work world to spend time with our families and loved ones. At OnTimeSupplies.com, we like to take the opportunity to thank our customers with free and discount shipping. Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of the summer, ushering in the season of Popsicles, freshly cut grass and Saturdays at the beach. I hope you have a great Memorial Day and a great summer!

It’s Easy to Buy Office Supplies Online at OnTimeSupplies.com

In this economic climate, nothing is more important to a business than customer loyalty. On Time Supplies is no different. They want to be the only place you order office supplies and furniture. Competitive pricing and stellar customer service goes a long way towards accomplishing that goal, as does the new, more user friendly OnTimeSupplies.com. The response to the new site has been amazing, and overwhelmingly positive. However, smart businesses like On Time Supplies knows that there’s always room for improvement! Continue reading

The New Old Way to Save Money on Office Supplies

The newspapers tell us that the economic climate is better than it was this time last year. However, I know I’m still in a cost-saving mode, and polls show that most of you are too. We here at Smart Office are always on the look out for new and creative ways to save money. The internet yields helpful tips, such as new uses for vinegar (is there anything that liquid can’t do?) as well as impractical tips. After all, are time so tough that I really have to join the Amish in making my own office furniture? While looking for new ways to cut expenses, it’s easy to overlook one method that makes great sense in any economic climate: buying in bulk.

Bulk buying isn’t just for stocking up on enormous bottles of ketchup, or in my case, coffee in bags the size of newborn child.  No, bulk buying is often the most economical way to stock up on the supplies you use the most, including a wide variety of office supplies. For example, every office needs a good supply of pens. BIC Clic Stic pens are among the most popular pens sold at OnTimeSupplies.com. A 12-pack of BIC Clic Stic pens sets you back $6.49 at OnTimeSupplies.com, unless you buy in bulk. You only spend $4.57 when you order BIC Clic Stic pens in bulk, a savings of 30%. Why wouldn’t you wouldn’t you cut your recurring expenses by 30%? It’s not just pens. You reap significant savings on a wide variety of office supplies when you buy in bulk. At OnTimeSupplies.com, you’ll pay between six and 31% less when you order clipboards in bulk, and on bulk orders of virtually every other office supply.

Buying in bulk is an even bigger money saver when you target the supplies you use at home and in the office, or the supplies that both you and your school-age children need. For example, sheet protectors in bulk, pocket folders in bulk and other school and office supplies all cost significantly less than purchasing those items individually. Since you go through those supplies like water anyway, do your self a favor and stock up.

After all, you don’t just save money when you buy office supplies in bulk — you save time and frustration too. The office supplies you use every day are always on hand when you need them when you buy in bulk.  So look out for bulk order discounts when you’re shopping for office supplies. It’s not just your wallet that will thank you.

Use Office Politics to Help Your Career!

If you thought your left the cliques and drama behind when you graduated from high school, the reality of the work world must have come as a surprise. Anytime you take the same group of people and lock them into a building together eight hours a day, five days a week, things will get a little hairy, especially when you add the competition and hierarchies of the work place. Failing to successfully navigate the social scene in high school just means you don’t get to sit at the cool kids lunch table. If you don’t get a handle on the politics in your workplace it can cost you your career in the form of lost promotions and poor working relationships.

Officepolitics.com, a great site that features an advice column offering solutions to workplace dilemmas, recently featured a reader letter in which a woman said she felt psychologically scarred by the backbiting and gossip in her office. The phrase “office politics” leaves a poor taste in everyone’s mouth, but the reality is, most of us have to participate to get ahead and get noticed at work. Successful office politicians aren’t rumor-mongers or back stabbers; they’re people who understand that actively pursuing power and prestige is just one of the steps to a successful career.

So how do you become a successful office politician? Louellen Essex, co-author of “Manager’s Desktop Consultant: Just-in-Time Solutions to the Top People Problems That Keep You Up at Night,” says one the first things you have to do is  emulate the movers and shakers. “Think of playing office politics as a game of strategy through which you are able to get the resources and influence you need to accomplish your goals. Most often those who are diplomatic, respectful and build coalitions with effective people win,” she says at CNN.com. Essex offers more great advice, including: don’t get sucked into one faction or another and don’t hesitate to talk about your own successes in the work place. A word of caution — tooting your own horn as Essex recommends is great. Bashing your co-workers is not. Office politics is for advancing your own career, not hindering someone else. If you are constantly running down you colleagues, you look unprofessional and you create a miserable work environment. Don’t be that person! Office politics also turns nasty when it turns personal. For that reason, the folks over at Suite101.com recommend drawing a bright red line between your work life and your private life. In the modern office, that includes not friending your co-workers on Facebook. That’s what the relatively staid LinkedIn is for.

The best way to be an office politics winner? Be a good employee. Take initiative, do your work well and talk about your successes. Those are the best ways to separate yourself from the pack.

Claim ALL the Deductions You Can This Year!

With the April 15 IRS tax deadline looming, its time to start thinking about deductions.  Tax deductions are expenses you incur that lower your income in the eyes of the IRS. The lower your income, the less the government expects you to pay in taxes. Most of you know you can deduct mortgage and student loan interest, but there are a ton of other totally legit ways to lower your tax bill.

In “The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions” Kiplinger lists 19 tax breaks you may have forgotten about or didn’t know existed in the first place, including state sales tax, moving expenses for your first job, refinancing points, charitable donations and more. In addition, property taxes, vehicle registration fees, the annual cost of your safe deposit box and child care are all tax deductible expenses. You can even deduct tax preparation fees. If you work from, you can deduct a percentage of you housing costs. For example, if your home is 2,000 square feet, and you use 200 sq.ft. for business purposes, you can deduct 10% as business operating expenses. For more deductions, check out this informative article from Helium, an awesome personal finance site.

A word of caution: be sensible when combing over your expenses while looking for deductions. You do not want to get on the wrong side of the IRS! Entrepreneur offers some expert advice on how to properly claim your deductions.  Approach the whole enterprise with the right attitude–you just don’t want to pay more taxes than you owe, not put one over on the government!

How to Clear Clutter from Your PC and Improve Its Performance

I’m one of those people who thinks my PC runs on magic and wishful thinking, but even I know that too many files and unused applications suck up loads of RAM and slow down my machine. I try to delete old and temporary files from time to time, but sometimes, you’ve just got to snap on the rubber gloves and do some serious deep cleaning. Knowing what is safe to delete can be hard, but that’s what patient and generous computer nerds are for — explaining PC maintenance to the rest of us.

Stephanie Vaughn Hapke is practically the queen of the computer nerds. She’s the President and CEO of GeekGirl Consulting LLC, a computer consulting company. In an article in the Huffington Post, Hapke shares some startling statistics on just how much time workers waste wading through the digital files clogging up their computers. Thankfully she also shares some tips on how to better manage your files.

PC World is another great resource for us overwhelmed Luddites. They feature a series of articles with step by step instructions on clearing unwanted files from your machine. In “Reduce Windows Clutter, Improve Performance,” Steve Bass explains how to cleanup your desktop. Matt Lake’s “PC Workout” offers a few easy steps that will have your computer running as smooth and as fast as it did when you bought it.  Lincoln Spector uses his Answer Line column to identify the mysterious running applications listed when you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del, and tells you which you can close and which should always be running.

I get nervous futzing around with anything on my PC. That’s why I’m glad people like Hapke and publications like PC World exist. Nothing soothes an anxious technophobe like easy to understand advice from a certified computer nerd.

2/8 Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com

I hope you’ve been following the Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com. If not, you’ve already missed some great bargains on office furniture and office supplies! It’s not too late to get in on the money saving action though — On Time Supplies offers bargains every day. Today’s Deals are all about comfort in the workplace — they’re featuring steep discounts on workstations, task chairs and monitor filters. Check them out now because the Deal disappear at midnight!