Back to School Series #5- Save Time on a Dime

Saving Time on a Dime

One thing that was a struggle was being able to accomplish so many things at once. I realized I needed to break down big jobs into smaller jobs. This allowed me to meet my family needs for the week. So I have some pretty straight forward ways to save money and time to help you with this journey based on my personal experience.

Set Up a Food Schedule

You can go to your local grocer and pick up all of your food for the whole week and do a “food prep” for my lunch (and with my husband’s lunch and all three of my kids lunches) while I was working. Leftovers also served as my lunch. I did this every Sunday. Make it a habit. It does not need to be Sunday for you. Use a day that works for you! If you live with another adult that likes to cook, schedule those days in on your family calendar when they can prepare and cook a meal during the week. This saves you time AND money. Going out daily to spend a minimum of 7.00 a day for lunch for a full work week…that is 35 dollars a week…70 every two weeks….140 a month…whoa. That is money you can use to put towards a bill, the interest on your school loan or for saving up for a day trip for yourself! Still don’t have time to cook? Cash in that favor! Ask a family member or a friend if they can cook a meal for you so you can have it for the next day.

ü  Eat leftovers

ü  Pack your lunch

ü  Save your money

ü  Cash in that favor from friend or family member for a meal

Making healthy meals for the family

Okay, the local fast food place is simply not healthy to have daily. Yes, there are salads and wraps. On occasion this is fine. But there is SO many temptations with those fries, or a shake! I did this too often and ended up gaining a TON of weight. I was also wasting up to an hour of time, which could have been applied to completing a research paper.  You can really maximize your time and dollar if you own….a crockpot! If you have a crockpot, now is the time to pull it out. I used this at least twice a week. I would roast a whole chicken in it, make stews and even make pulled taco chicken.

Here are some great places I found one pot / crockpot recipes:

Past Crockpot Favorite Websites:

·         All Recipes.com – I have been using this website since 2004. LOVE the recipes here since there is such a variety available for different occasions. www.allrecipes.com/

·      Southern Living - Here are some serious mouthwatering recipes I have made:

http://www.southernliving.com/food/whats-for-supper/easy-one-dish-dinner-recipes

·         Kraft Recipes - Have found many a meal saver here in the past with my kids 

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/dinner/top-10/one-pot-wonder-recipes.aspx

**For me, I modified many of these recipes to be Paleo for my personal health. I have labeled the Paleo websites below**

Paleo Style Links

**These are links that I currently use since our family follows the Paleo way of life. Yes, you too can do it on a budget 😊**

·         Nom Nom Paleo – Ooh, there are some yummy dishes here. There are also a few Asian inspired dishes that you will love!

http://nomnompaleo.com/

·         Fat Burning Man – A wonderful couple, Able James and Alyson Rose have a bond here, unlike any other—They both value health and they love food. A great resource to read about Abel’s journey to become healthier and to get some AMAZING recipes! I cannot tell you how this website helped my family and I survive Paleo. I subscribed to this and it is worth it. So now I have great recipes and I can talk to others that are on the same program.

http://fatburningman.com/

·         Real Healthy Recipes – I just found this website yesterday and I am going to make the BBQ pizza on their website next weekend!

How I prepped for crock pot meals:

·         I went to my dollar store and got two boxes large freezer bags.

·         I purchased quartered chicken legs or ground turkey (Burgers), seasoned them and lay them flat on a surface in the freezer (easier to thaw out).

·         Next day - take out one freezer meal bag, thaw it out with water (about 10 mins),

·         Line the crockpot with a crockpot liner (Yes! You won’t have to leave that crockpot dish soaking! Boom! Another time saver!)

·         Place crockpot on low. I leave the crock pot on until I get home from work. By the time I get home, Dinner is done! Got two crockpots one holiday from family? Okay that is even better! You can prepare a side (like baked potatoes) in the other crock pot!

ü  Look for quick meals.

ü  Prep your meals

ü  Use a crockpot

ü  Use that crockpot liner

ü  Dinner is done!

Other ways to save time:

Okay, you have been studying all weekend. It is 5:00pm. Your kids say, I am hungry. You look in the fridge and realize that you have nothing. Uh, You have been shopping for 1 ½ hours and now it is 7pm, SUNDAY, and you have to wake up to go to work…. Ugh… I wish there was an easier way…  Well there is! Order your groceries online! Some grocers allow you to create a list and purchase your groceries online (Kroger can do this for you!). Walmart even offers this to new customers ordering food online. Great thing about this service, you don’t even have to go in Walmart. You park in a special parking spot and the associates come out with your groceries. Major time saver! (**FYI – Make sure you click on the link that says: “Free Walmart Grocery Pickup” when you are ready to go shopping. 😊

Order your personal supplies online. You can do this with Amazon.com (sometimes Amazon does same day delivery with some items too!) and even some local pharmacies offer this option to order online (Such as CVS), have it picked up and delivered to your car.

BOOM. Another time saver! Many times, if you just sign up with these places, they will send you coupons for free items if you use their service or they will minimize the amount of the minimum purchase required to try the service. I have one for Walmart that I am using this week!!

ü  Schedule your grocery pick up.

ü  Schedule your personal item pick up.

ü  This will maximize your time.

Landscaping

I used to do the grass myself but at some point, It was too much for me to keep up with it.  I simply did not have time to do it. If you are not particular about how your grass is cut, you can also ask neighborhood kids (with an agreed amount) to cut your grass for you. Right now, I pay my oldest son to cut the grass. We both have an agreed amount, gives him responsibility (and kids like that sense of responsibility) and I am happy that the grass is cut.

ü  Pay neighborhood kid (or your kid) to cut grass.

ü  Maximize your time.

Don’t miss next week! with the Back to School Series with “Taking Care of Yourself”. This is one series with a really eye opening story you will not want to miss!! Be sure to follow me on Google Plus for notifications!