Stephanie 5 Time Saving Tips from a mom of 7
-quick & easy household tips and tricks to save time
As a busy mom of seven kids, our home is full and busy! Like all parents whether you have one or ten it can be a struggle to get all the things done. The lists can be endless from the household chores, scheduling, meal/menu planning, sports or extra curricular activities, birthdays, work, and etc to make sure everything is planned out. Currently I am not working a typical 9-5 so that is one less thing I need to plan around!
Today I’m sharing 5 time saving tips that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. These are things that I routinely that have helped me save time.
Read below to find out what my 5 time saving tips are and how you can easily add them into your daily or weekly schedule!
Tip #1
If you have school aged children then you most likely have to pack their lunches. School lunches are great and if you have that then skip this one! The school my children attend do not have that option so packing school lunches is something that needs to be done.
Pack lunches the night before. I’ve got four children in school so waiting until the morning to make and pack them takes time, creates stress, and inevitably someone is unhappy with what they got. Packing lunches or planning out the night before gives my kids the chance to help and checks off a to do list item!
Tip #2
Turn on the washing machine before going to sleep and transfer to the dryer when waking up. There is no waiting on the washer or dryer to finish! It’s doing the work while you sleep or as you get up in the morning. After school drop off the dryer is done so I can fold the clothes and Separate them into clean baskets or put away at nap time.
When I was working I would do this when I got home. Showered and ate dinner while the clothes washed. Switched to the dryer as we cleaned up and did bedtime routines. Then folded and sorted then put away before I went to sleep.
My older three children each have a clean’ basket so they put away their own clothes which has helped a lot!
I also run my washer daily to stay on top of my never ending dirty laundry pile!
Tip #3
Similar idea to tip #2 – turn on the dishwasher before going to sleep this way you wake up to clean dishes or make sure all the dirty dishes are cleared from the sink. I don’t know about you but waking up to a pile of dirty dishes is not the way I want to start my day! I run mine about every other day. I typically hand wash their breakfast dishes to avoid having to run it daily.
My older kids alternate setting the table for dinner and if the dishwasher is clean they pull out the clean dishes then put away the remaining ones.
Before they were able to help I would put them away when I got home from school drop off or from work.
Tip #4
Meal plan! It saves times and money if you have an idea of what you are buying, making and cooking for the week! It doesn’t have to be elaborate but simply writing down what you want to eat helps you figure out if you have the ingredients and what day you are making that meal.
I typically cook larger portions every other day with the intention of us eating leftovers or remake it into a slightly different dish the days in between. For example, chicken and veggie soup. I use a whole chicken and veggies to make soup then we have bread or add noodles to the chicken soup. The next day we have it for lunches. For our next dinner, I shred the leftover chicken and make chicken enchiladas or kids build their own chicken tacos. Then if there is any remaining chicken we add it to a noodle bowl and add in some veggies.
My husband isn’t much of a cook but once a week or every other week I plan for him to BBQ a large batch of meat and veggies for us to eat. This gives me a break from cooking since my whole family loves to eat BBQ and we make enough for a few meals!
Eating out or ordering a subscription food box for the night or week that I know will be busy saves me time too. In the end this has saved us money because I didn’t overstock the fridge, waste food, buy extra ingredients we already had nor stress over not having something nutritious for my family to eat.
Tip #5
Centralized command center. I can’t tell you how many times I get asked what we have going on each afternoon or weekend! Putting up a central monthly calendar has saved me from repeating myself. The kids know to check the calendar and if they come home from school or practice to let me know or tape their memo to the board so I can add it in whenever I get a chance.
This may seem repetitive to have both a physical calendar and digital but it’s been helpful for my children to visually see what is going on in our family schedule and for my husband and I to be on the same page!
My husband and I also share an ical. I understand this may not work for everyone but this is what works for us. This has saved us from numerous scheduling conflicts because we can view what is going on that day before confirming an appointment, schedule maintenance or booking a social event.
For more #momlife tips check out these blogs:
Kristen – Mom outfit ideas for family photos
Alex – 5 ways to help toddlers bond with pets
Kimberly – Mothering multiple ages
Yes,I have started making to have the dishwasher run when I had to bed.
Great tips! Starting the laundry and dishwasher before bed makes so much sense! Definitely adding to my routine.
Great tips ..Meal planing is an important part too
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