Archive for Organization

More on Time Management

// July 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Organization, Time Management, Work at Home

When my All You magazine came this month, I was pleased to see that, in addition to a bunch of coupons, it had reader tips called “Organize Your Life for Free (or Close to It!).”  Here are some of the tips that I liked:

  • Maintain a family schedule online: “We use cozi.com, a free site, to keep our schedule in order.  It also has a shopping list tool, which is great because I can jot down products as I think of them.  It links directly to my husband’s work calendar, so we can be sure our appointments don’t conflict.” — Kristin Strobe, 35, Avon Lake, OH (I haven’t checked out this site yet, but since I spend so much time on the computer, it seems like it might be a good way to keep up.) (more…)

WAHM Tip #3, continued: Organization

// July 26th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Life in General, Organization, Time Management, Work at Home

About a month ago, I asked for your suggestions on getting organized and effectively managing time–things that I have definitely been struggling with as I make the transition from working mom to work at home mom.  I got two responses, which lets me know that one of the following is true:

  1. You are struggling just as much as I am.
  2. You know enough about time management to list “Don’t Waste Time Commenting on Blogs and Piddling around on the Internet” as one of your top time management strategies. (Note to self:  Stop piddling around on the internet.)

I’m just going to hope it is #1 so that I don’t feel so lonely as I fumble along trying to make this work (plus, if you aren’t wasting time on the internet, then you aren’t reading Nix9to5).  Since I’m working on the assumption that balancing it all is hard for you, too, I’m going to give you the two bits of advice that came from Nix9to5 readers.  Tomorrow, I’ll follow it up with some tips from the August issue of All You magazine.  (If you don’t subscribe to All You magazine already, consider it.  It has great ideas for saving money and time and comes loaded with coupons.) (more…)

The Coupon Monster

// April 2nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Couponing, Organization, Time Management

I’ve been trying to organize my coupons so I won’t be missing out on any fantastic deals. On more than one occasion, I’ve gone to the store, seen something on clearance, and thought, “Hey, I have a coupon that will make that free!” before realizing that the coupon, in fact, is in a big ol’ pile on my dresser, and not in my purse, where it would do me some good.

I have a tip for you when organizing your coupons: Do not wait until 3 months worth of coupon inserts pile up before trying to organize them. You will lose your ever-lovin’ mind. I have actually gotten to the point where I am excited to find out a coupon has expired, because I can get rid of it (and send it to military families who can use expired coupons on base).

I’ve decided I’m just going to take the organization in baby steps. Maybe by the time the Bear is in college, I will have my coupons clipped and filed.

At least I managed to begin the process, which will make the shuffling less time consuming in the meantime.  I’ve also gone through my Homeland ad, and pulled coupons that will make for lots and lots of cheap stuff and freebies.  I am kind of excited about posting pictures of tomorrow’s shopping trip.

I still need to make a grocery list for things I know we need . . . like stuff to make dinner.  I’ve burned through my freezer meals, and it’s time to build the stash back up again.

If you’ve got a good freezer meal, feel free to post it here or shoot me an email through the contact form.  I’m kind of getting tired of the same ol’ things.

Wait. What?

// March 7th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Balance, Life in General, Organization, Time Management, Work at Home

I find it very difficult to organize my time to complete even a fraction of the bazillion things I need to get done each day.  In an effort to get some ideas for how to get my act together, I decided to peruse the internet to find some organization and time-saving tips (Tip #1:  Get off the computer and clean the bathrooms already).

Luckily, I came across some really handy tips, like this one, which explains how to streamline your morning routine with kids.

Ah, yes.  I can see that tips such as these will really improve my household management skills.  Thank goodness for the interwebs.