We could all use a little more free time in our crazy, hectic lives. And maximizing your use of online services is one way to get it.
Start by paying your bills online, and you'll spare yourself unnecessary hours of drudgery. "I know from personal experience that paying all your bills online can save you about one day a month, or almost two weeks a year," says financial expert David L. Bach, author of Smart Couples Finish Rich (Broadway, 2001).
No more writing checks, licking stamps or trudging off to the post office. "Think what you could do with all that extra time -- and you'll also save money on postage and gas," says Bach.
Additionally, these services allow you the convenience of paying all your bills in one place and accessing your bills from anywhere, while ensuring that you won't lose paper bills or get hit with late fees.
Yahoo! Bill Pay and PayMyBills.com are two of the best-known online bill payment consolidators. Most major banks also provide online bill-paying services.
There are a host of other available online financial services, running the gamut from managing your bank accounts to investing to planning for retirement. Some sites, such as E*Trade, have even consolidated these services in one place.
Of course, not all time-saving sites are in the realm of finances. Just consider the time you'd save if you never had to go to the supermarket again. Webvan's service delivers your groceries to your door for about the same cost.
"Our research has shown that our regular customers can save up to four full days a year by avoiding the brick-and-mortar stores. Maybe that's why approximately 80 percent of our registered users are repeat buyers," says Webvan spokesperson Amy Nobile.
According to Nobile, common customer praises include "I can spend more time with my kids," "I can spend more time exercising" and "I can spend more time doing what I want to do."
Sound good? Log on to figure out which online services will help you eliminate some of the drudgery from your life. After all, the time you save will be your own.
