What piece of machinery or equipment has made life as a shopper easier?

Be specific, what model, what type, etc.

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I use a Palm Life Drive for all my scheduling, I also use MicroSoft Excell for book keeping and to back up my scheduling. I find it easy to keep all my information on both these and have only missed 2 shops in the past year.

Mike

Mike,

My fuzzy logic brain rejects Excel; is there hope for me?

My most important shopping "thing" is my fax/scanner/copier/ pillow. Need to send a receipt. Push three button and poof.

I have a Brother 210c, and I paid $60 for it on a Black Friday a while back. It is $200 at Costco, with bells and whistles mine doesn't have. It is much smaller than the old VCR's,weighs nothing should you have to move it, and jams less than my considerably more expensive HP Color printer. Once a year I take it to Fry's and have them lube it, so it lasts (make that twice, considering all the printing I have done this year.)

The companies love me for it, and what I save in wear and tear on both me and my car is well worth the price.

Don't leave home without it.

Wannabe scheduler/editor

Hi Beth,

I don't know all the ins and out of Excell I just use it to keep track of the following;
Shop Date, Shop Location, Shopping company, Milage, Amount spent, Reimbursment, Pay amount and date paid. I also use a color coded system, Black for completed jobs, blue for pending jobs, green for applied for jobs not yet assigned, I also use red in the pay columns that once paid get changed to black. It takes a few minutes to do this but it keeps me organized.

Mike

I also am not well-versed in Excel, but I do use it in much the same way as the op. My bf says it is very colorful! (I also use different colors for different companies. That way I can tell at a glance where my work is coming from.

The categories I have are; date due, where to shop, who I'm working for, what I'm getting paid, date I should expect payment, paypal, check or direct deposit, if there is cash paid out and how much it is, and who should be reimbursed (the bf or me)

I would like to get a digital recorder. Does anyone have any suggestions? The shoppers at Volition have been recommending the Olympus Digital Voice Recorder WS 300-M or, the Olympus VN-4100PC DVR. The reviews are pretty good on the first one at Amazon. I haven't had time to look up the other one yet. I think this would really help to take my shops to the next level. I hate when I submit a report and think...uh oh...I should have mentioned that she said...I think the recorder would be a real Godsend to me.

~Christina

We should all make our lists for Santie Claus; that sounds good, Christina, let us know. I would also like something like a palm pilot. I write like a doctor. Any info?

Wannabe scheduler/editor

Hi Beth,

The Palm Pilots are not that expensive on Overstock.com, thats where I got the one I use. Also if you opt for the palm life drive, thats the one I have it comes with a built in digital voice recorder built in. I have used the recorder a few times on various shops, mostly banks and investment shops it really makes it easier to get all the details for the reports.

Mike

My favourite item is my GPS. Saves me money and time!!

Mike,

I need one with relatively large keys (and I realize that that is relatively) because my hands shake. Would you recommend yours, in that regard?

Oh, Jack, that is definitely on my wish list. Though I don't need it in Phoenix proper, in the burbs I get lost frequently, and it really aggravates me. I think I shop west side more because it maintains the regular grid that Phoenix has; Scottsdale has to be different!

A mile saved is gas money earned (smile)!

Wannabe scheduler/editor

Hi Beth,
The Palm Pilot Lifedrive might work for you, it is a touch screen entery, and the digital recorder is a push button. If you get an electronics shop look into it, I'm sure that my Lifedrive can do more that I know, but it does what I need it to do.
Mike

My big desk calendar. It was free. I sit it right next to my computer and in almost two years, I have never missed a shop, over booked myself or been late with a report. It has plenty of room for my bookkeeping so I don't have to spend hours transferring my records to the computer. It also works when my computer doesn't and I never lose any information. The jar of pens, pencils and highlighters are also a nice way to accessorize.

Making the world a better place to shop, one assignment at a time!

Bonnie,

Hats off to you! Honestly, I have great respect for that accomplishment!

Wannabe scheduler/editor

While doing a banking assignment, The report asked how many people were in the bank when I arrived. While I was in line waiting to be served, I used my cell phone and sent a text message to myself telling me how many people were in line and how many people were being helped, so that I could concentrate more on the folks names and other information. Most cell phones have all the stuff I need, text capability, google, calculator and things of that nature.

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