Feel like there’s never enough hours in your day? Give these easy time saving tips for moms a try! They’re the perfect way for busy moms to save time and work more efficiently.
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I haven’t met a mom yet that feels like she couldn’t use a few extra hours in her day. I mean, we all have endless to-do lists and things that are calling for our attention, right?
And while I can’t add hours to your day (I wish!), I do have some tried and true ideas for simple things that you can easily do to save time. And who knows? If you do them all you just might end up with a couple of extra hours in your week! 🙂
Time Saving Tips for Moms
Keep Extra Trash Bags in the Bottom of Your Trash Cans
Instead of needing to go get a clean bag every time you empty the trash can, just put several in the bottom of your trash can and suddenly an annoying job becomes a little bit easier! Yay for time saved!
Turn Clothes Right Side Out When Changing
Maybe it’s just me, but I really dislike when I’m doing the laundry and need to stop and fix a shirt that is inside out. Or pull out a sleeve or pant leg that was stuffed inside the clothing.
Get in the habit of quickly doing those things when you remove your clothing and teach your family members to do the same. Not only does it make laundry time so much faster, you can even take care of fixing it as you are walking it to the clothes hamper, so there’s no time wasted!
Keep an Ongoing Shopping List
My mom taught me well on this one. She always had a shopping list attached to the fridge and as soon as someone opened the last bar of soap or emptied the ketchup, they were responsible to write it down on the shopping list.
It’s such an effective way to eliminate that last minute grocery trip to the store because you ran out of something that you need. And it will save you time when you are ready to grocery shop too because your list is already mostly made up for you.
Create a Donation Box
Grab an empty box and anytime you find something you no longer need, toss it in the donation box. Then, whenever you know you are going to be near a thrift store that accepts donations, just toss the items into a bag and just like that you are able to declutter your space and help someone else out!
RELATED: 4 Helpful Questions that Make Decluttering Your Home Easy
Designate a Space for Everyone’s “In Use” Cups
Ain’t nobody got time to wash 20 cups a day…even if you have a dishwasher! And if you have a family our size and everyone grabs a fresh glass each time they want a drink, you soon really do have that many dirty cups by the sink!
We solved the problem by having a designated spot that each person puts their in-use cup. Simple, but effective! You could even take it a step farther and have a separate color cup for each person if you wanted.
Cook Once, Eat Twice
Double your favorite recipes and either eat the same dish a couple of times in one week or put the extra batch in the freezer for an easy meal another week. I also like to do this with meat too.
When I cook chicken for one recipe, I’ll cook extra and then dice it and freeze it to use in soups. Frying a pound of hamburger for your tacos? Add a second pound and once browned, freeze it to have on hand to speed up prep on another meal that calls for ground beef.
This is one of my favorite ways to save time in the kitchen because it’s so easy but can give you so much extra time!
RELATED: 36 Quick and Easy Chicken Recipes (all 30 minutes or less)
Set Bills to Auto Pay
We used to dutifully log into each account for every bill when it was time to pay it each month. Eventually, we got smart and realized how much time we were wasting, not to mention that it’s rather annoying to go through all the hoops that you need to go through just to log into your account anymore.
Now we have all of our bills on auto-pay and use those extra minutes for more useful things!
RELATED: 4 Simple Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget
Have a “Home” for Everything
The old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” is a good one to live by! I feel like I’m still growing in this area, but my husband is king of having a home for everything and he has proved to me time and again that it is a huge time saver.
No more searching the house for the car keys. They go into the side table drawer as soon as we walk in the door. Need a safety pin? Everyone knows that they’ll find some in my little sewing box.
RELATED: 4 Everyday Items that Will Help You Organize Your Home on the Cheap
Shop Online When Possible
I think with each child that we had, I became more of an online shopping fan! It’s just 100 times easier than loading everyone up and taking them with me to the store. And I love that I can earn money on my online purchases by using Rakuten.
That alone sometimes makes it a smarter choice. Not only can I save time and shop from the convenience of my home, but I’ll earn cashback as well. It’s like having your cake and eating it too! 🙂
Interested in earning money with Rakuten too? You’ll get a $10 bonus when you spend $25 at Rakuten. How cool is that?
Deal with Mail Right Away
Instead of looking at the mail and then putting it on the kitchen table to deal with later, take care of it immediately. Toss any junk mail in the trash, open any bills and file them right away and put magazines where they belong. There’s no need to waste time by handling your mail several times!
Rinse and Soak Your Dishes
Who has time to scrub dishes with stuck on food? Definitely not me if I can at all avoid it! When you finish using a bowl, spatula or measuring cup, get in the habit of giving it a quick rinse before you put it with your stack of dirty dishes.
Or simply put it in your kitchen sink, so that whenever you wash your hands or use water for something else, the excess will collect in your dirty dishes and allow them to soak, which means they’ll wash up easily.
Keep an Easy Snack in Your Purse
I can’t tell you how many times having a simple granola bar in my purse has saved me from needing to swing through the drive-thru to get me or the kids a bite to eat.
Even if it’s not enough to fill us up if we’re really hungry, it’s typically enough to hold us over until we get home. And it obviously is a whole lot cheaper than a drive-thru run too!
Never Leave a Room Empty Handed
It’s rare that I leave a room without grabbing something that is out of place that needs to go to the room I’m heading to.
Shoes lying by the front door? I’ll take them to my bedroom closet on my next trip upstairs. One of the kid’s toys on the bathroom floor? I’ll grab it on my way out and put it away downstairs. Folded towels on the kitchen table? They’ll go with me upstairs to be put away.
This is such a simple thing, but it helps save time and makes a big difference in keeping your house tidy and in order.
RELATED: How to Clean Your House When It’s Messy
Establish Routines
It took me a while to value routines and realize how much of a time saver they are. But think about it. Anything that you can do on autopilot usually ends up saving you time, right? Because you don’t need to stop and think about how to do it or what to do, you just do it.
My morning routine is one of those things that makes my whole day more productive! I do that routine without even thinking twice- it’s just habit and helps me cruise through my morning.
I also have food related routines. For example, we enjoy Easy Homemade Yogurt and fruit every day at lunch. And if you read my frugal menu plans, you know that our Sunday evening dinners pretty much always are Grilled Tuna Sandwiches and Easy Fruit Smoothies. Again, not needing to even think about what we are going eat saves me so much time and mental energy too!
I learned so much about the importance of routines, especially morning routines, from the Make Over Your Mornings online course by Crystal Paine. I highly recommend it if you feel like you are constantly behind or overwhelmed with your daily life. Her tips will help you take control of your day and stop the overwhelm!
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Dorothy
Hi – I have created a comprehensive planner/journal toolkit – has planning tools, inspiration, self care checklists, templates for meal plans to name a few. It’s a passion project I completed that I am making available for free. As a working mom juggling multiple priorities I had worked myself to the point of complete exhaustion. After I had back to back panic attack I decided to take conscious action. This toolkit is a summary of months of research and a stack full of books. My goal is to get it out to as many moms as I can. Are you open to a guest post? Again it’s free and I want to reach people who could use the help.
Lydia Beiler
Thanks for the offer, Dorothy. I haven’t accepted guest posts in years as I just found they never seemed to perform well at all. Good luck on the planner though!
Sage
Thank you so much for sharing! I love your tips about establishing routines. Something I’ve found to be really helpful is scheduling carpet cleaning appointments twice a year. My home feels so much cleaner, and it takes one thing off my plate. Can’t wait to try out your other tips.
Lydia Beiler
Glad the tips were helpful, Sage! And great idea to schedule the carpet cleaning appointments. Honestly, anything that can be automated like that is always just a huge help.
Melsmommychronicles
I am definitely going to start keeping a donation box. I usually have a hard time sorting stuff out whenever I decide to donate things. Thanks for the tip! ?
ThriftyFrugalMom
You’re welcome! It’s amazing how much easier and less overwhelming a donation box makes things! Instead of handling an item multiple times, you only need to handle it once and you’re done!
Maria
For the grocery list, my husband and I have the app “Wunderlist” on our phones. We love it because it is always with us so things can be added to it anytime. At the grocery store, all you need to do is check the little box when you buy it and the item gets “crossed off”. We also use this for other lists too, so we can both always see the same list and have it with us. BTW, the app is free 🙂
ThriftyFrugalMom
That sounds like a great app, Maria! I especially love the convenience of updating the list at any time. Thanks for the tip. 🙂
JenL Nicole
These are awesome tips!! Thanks for sharing!
ThriftyFrugalMom
You’re welcome!