# snippet...
open(TIMELOG,">timelog.txt") || die $!;
print TIMELOG time;
close(TIMELOG);

##</code><code>##

open(TIMELOG,"<timelog.txt") || die $!;
my $stored_time = <TIMELOG>;
close(TIMELOG);

if (time < $stored_time) {
  ... do something because time now is earlier than stored
}