Planning Your Day

As regular readers will know, I work from home and have 3 children, two at school but the youngest little one is home with me the majority of the time. For me, I need to plan my time to get the most out of my days, otherwise the days would inevitably fall into chaos with grumpy children and no money earned.

I’ve put together a few of the ways I use to keep our busy household afloat.

I use a planner

I’ve fallen into the trap of “winging it” from day to day many times! Now, however, I’ve found a planner that is perfect for sorting out my life!

This planner is perfect for a busy, working Mum. Each week is spread over a double page, I use the left hand side for work and the right hand side for family.

I also jot down reminders for the week at the sides. There are also handy pockets every three months to shove in any letters from school or other paperwork I need to keep at hand. I honestly don’t know how I used to manage without this planner!

Dedicate time for the family

This is something I’m trying to make sure I do more than ever this year. I’ve been guilty in the past of pushing the children to one side so I can get work done. There are times now though that this is inevitable, I work from home so it’s part and parcel of it really. However, I’m making sure I take time off now in the school holidays, get out with the children on my days off and just do more with them at home. My eldest is at a stage where all he wants to do is hide in his bedroom on his xbox but even he enjoys playing games together and getting outside. My daughter still loves nothing more than playing with dolls with me, and the youngest is happy with his Mummy and a box of lego. These times are precious and we won’t get them back. I’m trying not to take the little things for granted.

Plan ahead – food shopping

For me, planning ahead with the food shop is the only way to make sure we don’t overspend. It’s so easy to nip in the supermarket and fill the trolley with a load of junk that we don’t need and isn’t good for us. Now, I meal plan in advance by writing each day’s meals into my planner, and order our shopping online. Yes, this means I’m paying a delivery charge, but I have a monthly pass with Morrisons. It costs me £7/month and I can have as many deliveries as I like with that pass. Overall this definitely saves us money.

Utility Bills

Unfortunately, we all have to pay for our utility bills, there’s no getting away from it! There are ways to keep the costs down though and help to avoid unexpected bills.

We’re on a water meter, not through choice as it was here when we moved in. Once you’ve got a meter, you’re stuck with it, there’s no changing back. At the beginning of every month, we take a meter reading, submit it and pay what we actually owe. This means that we are covering our exact costs every month. There’s no chance of a huge unexpected bill landing on the mat once United Utilities rock up and take their own reading.

For Gas and Electric, I used a comparison site when we moved in and found a cheap deal. We’re with a company called Flow Energy who I’d never heard of before. A quick google though and their reviews reassured me. We pay a set direct debit every month with Flow. I have started to submit monthly meter readings though on top of this to ensure that our monthly payments are adjusted accordingly. Again, this should ensure that we don’t get hit with a hefty bill.

Life is all about making the most of your situation. By planning ahead and organising, you can make your life so much easier and more enjoyable!