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Since starting my own business in addition to trying to keep up with my blogs and being a mom, I have been struggling with work life balance and managing my time well. As a stay at home mom I spend hours cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and getting everyone to and from school and activities. I have come to realize that if I can save time doing these things I have more time to work and more time with my family. Here are my time saving tips for work life balance.
Stay at Home Mom to Boss Mom Overnight
Any other boss moms out there? The struggle is real! I am still the sole childcare provider for my kids and I am counting down the days until my youngest goes to preschool soon. This is going to open my schedule a lot so that I do not have to work evenings or weekends to catch up on my work.
I have literally become a boss mom overnight and it is surreal yet overwhelming. I thought my business would start out slow and it would be a good way to get used to going back to work. Little did I know it would become a full time job with potential clients reaching out to me daily. Best of all, I am soon going to be making as much if not more money than my husband which is amazing yet intimidating at the same time.
When you live off of one income (plus side hustle income) for several years, you are used to a certain lifestyle and budget to follow. The household and childcare duties fell on me since I was the one who was unemployed for so long. Now that we are a household with two working parents, I am quickly realizing I cannot do everything. This is a change for both my husband and I as we split up childcare/school drops offs and household responsibilities.
So how do we balance it all?
Time Saving Tips for Work Life Balance
Grocery Delivery
Walmart was one of the first stores in my area to offer grocery pick up and delivery services. While their pick up service is free, their delivery option is affordable especially with their $98 unlimited deliveries for a year. I have been using Walmart Grocery for awhile now and I am obsessed! I can now get groceries with all three kids without impulse buying or forgetting things on my list. It helps with my time management and budget.
I love how they offer healthy and organic options that are affordable and fresh. Since they now offer an unlimited delivery service that is cheaper than Amazon Prime (we canceled our Prime membership to use Walmart instead) we can get everything delivered that day. This includes craft supplies, groceries, personal care products and diapers.
Instead of spending 1.5 hours grocery shopping, I can save that time by having my groceries delivered. This has been the best thing ever!
Meal Delivery
We are personally not fans of meal prep services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. The reason is we still have to do the cooking and I simply do not have the time. I LOVE to cook and we do occasionally stay up late to have a kid-free home cooked meal but this is impossible to do three times a day every single day for a family of five.
Instead we have gotten into meal delivery services where we get already prepared farm to table meals that we just have to reheat and serve. It is healthier than eating out and saves us money and time.
Cleaning Service
I have not started this yet but it is my goal for 2020. I am started to realize that time is money and if I break away from work to two spend hours of cleaning my house, I am actually losing money. I can hire out the cleaning for a cheaper hourly rate than what I can make. It is in my plan to start hiring a cleaning service to come 1-2 times per month so I can save some time and money.
Childcare
This has been a hard one for me. We have had minimal childcare for years now. And by minimal I am talking 6 hours per week. Even though I am working from home, I still work a lot and it is impossible to get anything done if my kids are here. We are lucky to have found an affordable and flexible hourly childcare facility with a great sibling discount. Now that my youngest will soon be old enough to go, we plan to put the kids in a lot more.
This includes dropping them off for more date nights, when I need to work and even just for some me time.
Time Management
How do you manage your time as a mom and a human being? Whether you stay at home, work at home or in an office, it is all so difficult to balance. How do you find time for yourself and your spouse? Let us know some great ideas that we can feature on this post!
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