Hello Dear Reader,
Thanks so much for all the comments, tweets, re tweets and emails, it’s always great to hear from you. I love a new week and always feel the most energised on a Monday. This is the day when I plan the week and make sure I’m ready for the week ahead.
To start, I’ve shopped my stores and cupboards and made my list, shopped for a few vegetables and made my menu plan for the week.
I’ve read the meters and submitted the readings on line. I’ve checked all my bills and made sure anything that needs paying has been paid such as my water bill that I pay monthly according to my usage.
I’ve checked my clothing for the week and have ironed anything I need.
I’ve also put a menu plan together to use what I have and give some variety to the week.
I would encourage anyone to menu plan. It can simply be fish fingers and peas on Monday, Tin of tuna, baked potato and mayo on Tuesday and so on. If you can plan the main meals of the week then you can make sure you use everything in the house. That way, nothing goes off, nothing gets wasted and you don’t shop for food you don’t need. It also gives you some variety? Do you eat pasta for almost every meal? Are you eating the same food day in day out? My lunches look the same but salad varies itself as does the protein, sometimes it’s a boiled egg, sometimes goat’s cheese other times some quinoa with dressing but I differ every day. As does our breakfast, sometimes we have a tin of broken mandarin segments, sometimes frozen (obviously defrosted) blueberries or raspberries. Sometimes I don’t bother with breakfast at all and just make myself a milky de-caff coffee…………..sometimes I don’t bother eating all day as I’m just not in the mood for food.
Plans don’t have to be ultra efficient, or followed to the letter but they give some structure in a chaotic world. It means I can control my spending, know when I have to carry money and when I have to leave my wallet at home. Having a day a week to get the household in order means you’ll have time the rest of the week without worrying about the bills or who is going to eat what?
Planning could take the place of a household schedule on a piece of paper and stuck to the fridge door with a magnet. I remember well the days for Boy’s brigade, Brownies, tennis, swimming, the museum art club and library days for the children. Most mothers can plan the children with military precision and running an organised home is no different. A cheap calendar will do. I always buy one late about mid January and have one in the kitchen and one in the office.
Now it’s your turn. How do you organise your home to save time and money? If you are disorganised, what are you going to do differently from this day onwards to save money and get your budget in order?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
Another GREAT read. Many thanks for all your inspiration Froogs xx
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Very organised!
Meal planning is one of the best things I started doing….Saves money and time and there is less waste too
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I do try and loosely plan what we are going to eat for the week, in that I know we have enough for meals all week and what they are but we don't always have them on specific days unless the meat is out say and we have to use it up. I do always try and get stuff for the week ironed on Sunday for the family but my stuff I put most of it in the wardrobe without ironing it and just do a few days ahead at a time as I may change my mind ( or the weather might) and it would just get crumpled in the wardrobe. I know some people will think clear some space in the wardrobe then, but I do wear my stuff, all of it at some point so why throw out good stuff I may need in future. You are right about being organised though, the days I am more organised go much more smoothly. I'm working on it. x
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I'm a list maker. On my desk is a large ringed note pad, where I list daily things that need accomplished. Procrastination is easy for me, so a list puts things that should be done right in front of me. I love checking off tasks as they get done.
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I am quite organised with meal planning i am going to do a list tomorrow of everything i have in my freezer and cupboards and see how long i can make it last like i did in january as money is really tight this month so the least i can spend on food the better , i just wished i could be more organised with my stock room for my on line business , i will have to start.xxx
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Sunday is my 'get ready for the week day'; batch cooking and freezing main meal and packed lunch food, get all the ironing done for the week ahead including school uniform and PE kits, polish shoes, clean the car etc. I can't do without my diary - it keeps me right. Shopping is usually done on a Friday night as we pick up our son near Aldi. I try to only wash clothes when I know it's going to be dry enough to line dry the laundry so that involves checking the weather forecast (think I'm going to have to give in and use the tumble drier this week as rain and snow are forecast every day! I really hate giving in and using the tumble drier but in our climate, sometimes I have no choice or we'd have nothing clean to wear by the end of the week).
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Sundays are my planning and cooking day. When I do the Sunday dinner I also bake and prepare all the food I can for the whole week. I check my diary and make quite an exact plan including the three main goal for the week. I make sure we have all the clothes for Monday. I wash and iron as needed during the week and my ironing is planned for evenings when I want to watch something on the TV. At the moment I am sort of experimenting by trying to get all our food from Aldi, so I do not have to go anywhere else. The reason is to save money and time, as I can do my weekly shop in Aldi in 20min.
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I do try & menu plan & have it on the fridge, however I find it easier in the winter as in the summer it depends on the weather. Last week I had some hot meals from the freezer, but this week is going to be a scorcher so it will be salads. At the moment I am going to try & sun dry some tomatoes! Never done it before but why waste our 37deg (today) & 39 to 41 from tomorrow! I love sun dried tomatoes so hope it works.
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Being organised really helps my state of mind, I feel much better when I've planned my menus, got food in the cupboard, sorted the house, organised my week, it's especially pleasing if I've done it within budget. My problem is consistency!! I read back through some of Froogs older posts last night which has renewed my enthusiasm to live more frugally and simply, the penny dropped….. I'm an emotional spender..gulp, didn't really make the connection. Ever thought of writing a book Froogs?
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We have a white board on the kitchen wall, marked into days of the week. Each family member has a different colour marker. At the beginning of the week we each mark our activities, and negotiate clashes. Then we know who is home for meals, check the pantry and freezer, and add the menu plan for each night to the board. (The first person home also knows what to start preparing)
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Hi Froogs! I am just realizing how important menu planning is. I have never really done it properly but I am giving it my best this time 'round ~ Pru
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Meal planning rocks! It saves us a lot of money, and even more, it helps to avoid food waste.
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Oh yes! Staying on top of the week from the beginning keeps the week smooth.
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Planning anything saves time money and stress. My menu plan gets put ip in the kitchen at the beginning of the month with spaces for changes, life happens sometimes and I have to move things around. We have another list with the shopping we need and one as a 'to do list' for the week ie appointments. We also have a double sided card which reminds us which bin to put out on a friday. May seem sad to some but it definitely works for us. I cant stand chaos!
Have a lovely day
Karen x
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Right now we're working on eating the pantry and freezer down in preparation for a move in April. This makes the menu a little odd looking, but we're eating warm meals that are relatively nutritious. I'm hoping to put up a white board in the new kitchen to keep things written out and flowing.
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I have meal planned for years and it will save you a bundle, especially if you plan intentional leftovers. I like to take my leftovers and repurpose them into a new and different dish to break the monotony. For instance, I made Froog's gluten -free meatballs in tomato sauce last week and took the leftovers and made a gluten-free spaghetti and meatball soup chock full of leftover frozen veggies for the weekend. We will be repurposing into a lot of soups this week too as it extremely cold here in Western NC { 11 degrees F right now } and 4 inches of snow on the ground. Soups are the best on a cold day!.
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