Introducing: The Ultimate Time Saver!

I found a really excellent, time and sanity saving organizational tool last week. While trying to salvage my grocery budget, I looked in my fridge to figure out what I had to prepare for dinner over the next two weeks and made a meal plan. A meal plan! Can you believe that? A meal plan! I had thought about it before, but had never taken the 7 minutes to actually do a meal plan. The last 6 days have been pure bliss when it comes to dinner time. I keep catching myself thinking "Ugh. What do I have to make for dinner tonight?" But I don't have to worry because it's already decided for me. And I picked it out.

Here's mine:

Update: My schedule

Remember I told you all that I created a schedule over the weekend in my GMail calendar? Well, this calendar is also linked to my calendar on my phone. I get reminders and emails to keep me on track all day. I'm so excited to tell you all that the schedule is working out beautifully! I still have some tweaking to do, but it's really keeping me on track and motivated. All I can think about all day is "If I get all this done, I get rewarded with relaxation this evening". And most days, I don't even remember what I've scheduled for when... I just look at the calendar and  it's all right there. No more deciding which is more important, which to get done first, or which I can do in this small amount of time and being late to things. Everything has it's own allotted time.

It's really a beautiful thing and I think, if you're always frazzled running from place to place like me, you should give it a try! All my minutes in a day are accounted for until after dinner - then it's MY time. This week has been a lot less stressful and I am so grateful for this simple way to organize myself. :)

Happy scheduling!

Don't forget...

Don't forget that every six months, you (and hubby and kids, if you got 'em) should see the dentist for a cleaning. Usually once a year, they will do some x-rays to make sure everything is okay with your teefies.

I got multiple reminders for the kids' appointments today and still forgot!! So, that's why I'm reminding you all. See... this blog isn't just about deals and coupons.

Up next... testing the smoke detector batteries... your kids will love it!

Some ways we stay organized

A couple of the ways we stay organized at our house:

1.) We have a dry erase board on our fridge to keep up with our grocery list. We write down things that we have run out of or are close to running out of. This helps prevent too many trips to the grocery store, which saves on gas.

2.) We also have a dry erase calendar in our kitchen to help keep track of everyone's schedules. We list football games, track meets, karate classes, doctor and dentist appointments, my school exams, major testing for the kids, and sometimes we list our bill due dates when money is tight and we need to decide which to pay first.

3.) I also list these items in my smart phone with reminders. This helps remind me of items even when I'm not at home staring at the dry erase calendar.

4.) When I get bills, I post them to my bulletin board in my home office - right behind the computer so I can see it while I'm surfing Facebook.

These items are just to help get your started. Start with one thing at a time and see how it works for you. If you like it, keep it. If not, tweak it!

Melissa