It doesn’t matter if you have one child, or ten, we all know that once you become a mom it seems like there’s never enough time. I’ve been struggling myself with trying to get back on track now that I have 2 little ones.
There are always things you can do to help make the most of your time and I’m going to share 10 of my tips with you now (while my kids are napping!)
- Invest In A Crockpot – Crockpots are your best friend. Throw your dinner in the crockpot the night before or even before you head out the door to work. When dinner time comes all you have to do is set the table and you’re ready to go. There are tons of sites online devoted to recipes specifically for the crockpot.
- Freeze Leftovers – So you’re considering the above suggestion, well double those recipes you find and freeze the leftovers. You’ll have a ready-made meal on a day when you’re short of time or just don’t feel like cooking.
- Keep A Grocery List On The Fridge – Take an hour or so to type up a list of all the things you regularly buy at the store, print it out and put it on your fridge each week. This way when someone uses the last of something they can quickly check it off the list and when you get ready to go to the store you’ll already be partially prepared.
- Clean As You Go – Moving out on my own at a very early age I discovered that most people make really big messes! and they don’t clean them up right away either. When I make dinner, if I’m not using a crockpot of course and I have things cooking on the stove, I’m busy at the sink washing the cutting board, wiping off the counter, putting the dishes away. When I drain spaghetti noodles in the strainer and put them back in a pot, I’m back at the sink immediately washing the strainer. If you clean as you go you’ll stay more organized and you won’t get overwhelmed with the feeling that you don’t have enough time. It can be hard to learn how to do this but as a Mom it’s something you need to do. Best of all you’ll be teaching your kids good habits as well!
- Put Bills On The Budget Plan – If your electrical and gas services have it available, put your bills on the budget plan. Each month your bill will be the same amount. You’ll never be shocked. Even in the summertime when you’ve used your air conditioning or fans for hours on end, you’ll still pay the same that you paid in the winter. This will help you budget and manage your money easier and you’ll have less to worry about.. less to worry about means more time!
- Go Green – Receive Electronic Bills – Sign up to stop receiving your bills on paper each month. All that paper? It just drives you insane and takes up room on your desk, table, kitchen counter.. wherever it happens to land. We’re always online these days anyway. Get email alerts when bills are due. If you need a paper bill you’re always able to download them.
- Stop Writing Checks – You’re probably not able to completely stop writing checks because unfortunately there are still some companies living in the dark ages but when it comes to bills you are able to sign up for automatic payments each month. A lot of people get scared to do this because they’re afraid they won’t have enough money when bill time rolls around but what I’ve found is, on the auto pay plans I am less apt to run up my bills. Ie: cellphone. Once your bills are coming out automatically you just have to keep track of your bank statement. You never have to remember to pay another bill on time! I had a real problem with that after I had both my babies and it really saved me.
- Buy Birthday and Holiday Cards Ahead of Time – This may sound cheesy to some people but if you have a big family or a lot of cards you need to send, whenever you see a sale on cards or even a store closing, stock up on them!! Pick one up for every holiday, every person you can think of that you know you’re going to send a card to. You can still take the time to pick out all the ones that are meaningful. When that holiday or birthday comes around and you’ve been rushing all over and totally forgot, all you have to do is grab that box of cards and find the appropriate one. No running to the store and making yourself crazy with stress.
- Go Shopping Online For The Kids – Need new school or even summer clothes? Shop online and save yourself time. It used to be fun to me to shop in the stores but now that I have 2 kids you won’t find me standing around the store for hours on end, for obvious reasons! Old Navy is one of the stores I love to shop at online. They’re always having sales, on kid’s clothes especially. I wait until I see a sale that I know is good and I stock up on things like shorts, t-shirts and sleepers for the boys. Things I know they will outgrow within months. I make sure there is free shipping as well. Then within 2 or 3 days my package arrives and I don’t have to worry about finding time to clothes shop.
- Grocery Shop In The Mornings – We have several stores here that are open 24/7 and I used to love shopping at night around 10pm, then I found that things weren’t as fresh, the deli wasn’t open and the stock boys were always in my way. With 2 kids it’s also pretty hard to shop at night. If I shop first thing in the morning, like 7am you wouldn’t believe the difference in the kids attitudes. No meltdowns. I know a lot of moms don’t get to be choosey as to when they shop but even if you shop early on Saturday morning, it’s still better than going in the afternoon or dinnertime and you’ll get out of the store much quicker!
If you commit to little changes like this you’ll find that over time you’ll be less stressed out and have more time for yourself and for your kids.
This post is inspired by SocialMoms and Starbucks, who are celebrating the launch of the Starbucks for Android app. You can find more information about their time saving apps here: http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/mobile-apps
Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Starbucks blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
