Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Jessica of Mothering With Creativity

In lieu of the recent posts about waking up early, and being a part of the many commenters whose children are up by 5:30 a.m. in the morning, I thought I’d share some tips for making mornings easier, despite the early risers!

I have 3 children ages 4 and under. My baby still wakes up once in the middle of the night, and is up by 5:30 a.m. My two-year-old follows him 15 minutes later. My 4-year-old has learned to “sleep in” until 6:45 a.m. — woohoo! 🙂

I work part-time in the mornings teaching kindergarten, and my husband also leaves the house by 7:25 a.m. It occasionally happens that I have a productive morning with all the children running around and playing nicely. However, most mornings, that is not the case, and so I do not expect it.

Since parents of early risers typically have early-to-bedders, the evenings are often prime “prepping” time for the next day.

Here’s how I use my evenings to make my mornings more enjoyable:

Prepare Lunches

It can often take me 25 minutes to make five lunches for five very different people. (I know it would be easier to say “everyone eats the same thing!” but I do enjoy the special touches for each person, and so it’s something that’s worth it to me to spend a few extra minutes preparing.) Preparing lunches the night before saves that much time and stress from my morning.

Shower at Night

I hate showering at night. Did I mention I hate showering at night? However, I’ve been showering at night for almost three months now. I still hate it, though maybe not as much as I did three months ago!

I go to bed with wet hair (annoying) and I just straighten it in the morning (and use a little water to get out out any crazy kinks). Though I would prefer to shower in the morning, showering at night shaves a lot of time off of my morning routine.

Pick Out Clothes

For the indecisive child (or parent), making clothing choices the night before can save a lot of morning time stress. If my 2 and 4-year-olds know what they are going to wear ahead of time, they are capable of getting themselves dressed without me. This saves me the time, and allows them to practice valuable skills.

Fill Juice Cups

Does anybody else have a child with a one-track mind? I’m sure that in some regards this focus can be a blessing, but at 5:45 a.m., the insistence that “no one else moves until I get my almond milk” is enough to drive me up a wall.

The simple solution? Fill a sippy with almond milk (or juice, water, milk, etc.) the night before and place it in the fridge. As soon as they wake up, they can get their drink, and you don’t have to drop everything to fill a cup. On days when I remember to do this, my two-year-old gives me the biggest smiles.

Make Lists

I love lists. While trying to leave in the morning, do you ever find yourself running in and out of the house for all of the “forgotten” things?

Make a list of all the easily forgotten and necessary items on a sticky note and leave it on the counter or the garage door. Before you leave, be sure to give a quick glance over your list.

Remembering to do some, if not all, of these things helps make my morning with early-risers much more enjoyable and much more smooth.

And for the record, I wrote this in the early morning while my kids slept in. How’s that for irony? That usually never happens!

Do you have early risers at your house? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for making the most of your mornings!

Jessica Locke is a wife and mom of three small children. She loves Jesus, being creative, eating sweet treats, and making her home a place where others can feel at safe and loved. She blogs about life as a mom at Mothering With Creativity.

photo credit

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Guest post from Tammy of SkipperClan

One year ago, we wiped out our savings when we sold our house at a loss for a military move. Since that time, we have become more disciplined about shopping smart and using coupons. I’ve gotten deals on restaurants, oil changes, and birthday gifts through tips on MoneySavingMom.com and other discount sites like Groupon.

The problem is that deal shopping is only half of the process of saving money.

Deciding how much to spend for each category is actually the first step, and one we neglected. Crystal gives great advice in her book about budgeting and this month was our first month where we did the budget, on paper, before the month began. We budgeted every month when we were first married, and we have been attempting to stick to our budget over the last year but this month things seemed to ‘click.’

This is what we’ve learned.

Record budget items as they come in.

Whether it is email reminders about regular bills or an expense that only happens once a year, our budget is more accurate if I follow this process. Like most families, our schedule is busy. I found myself procrastinating if I thought I had to set aside the time all at once to budget for the next month.

Focus on one category at a time.

When we tried to dramatically cut our grocery, eating out, and clothing categories all at once, we gave up quickly. I think it is similar to other healthy habits, gradual changes are easier to maintain.

Ask if it can wait.

If it is a day or two before the next paycheck and both cars need gas, then we might each fill the tank half way. If I am inspired by Pinterest to make Christmas gifts but I need supplies, I evaluate my current stash and make something different. Sometimes the expense is delayed just to ease cash flow, but sometimes we decide we did not really want to purchase the item at all.

Be accountable.

There is power in being held accountable in areas we want to change, finances are no exception.

In our case, I shared with a mentor a little about our situation and asked her to pray for us. I gave her permission to ask how things are going in specific areas that we are working to improve such as increasing my income and being consistent about using our budget each month.

She might ask when we see each other in person or send me a text. I can text, call or email her when there is something specific for her to pray about concerning our goals.

How much you share with an accountability partner should be agreed upon by your spouse, if you are married. Ideally, you might find another couple who can fill this role.

 If you are using a budget each month, what is one tip you would share with someone trying to get started today?

Tammy has been around the world as an Air Force spouse, is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and is navigating the teenage years with her two kids. Her goal at SkipperClan is to encourage and empower women with practical strategies for life. You can find her on Twitter as @Tammy_Skipper.