When I first pictured my life as a stay at home mom I thought that I would have tons of free time to do craft projects, cook large gourmet meals, keep my house perfectly clean and have plenty of time to work out. After all, since I wouldn’t be going to “work” anymore I should have TONS of free time during the day, right? Yeah, I was a little bit on the delusional side.
Between a newborn with colic (more on that here), a very spirited toddler whose favorite word is no, blogging and preparing to launch an ETSY shop, there are days where I feel like I never stop moving. And I still don’t accomplish half of what I hoped to.
In order to get everything done, spend time with my kids, and maintain my sanity, something needed to change. I needed to either add more hours to the day, or find ways to be more productive with the time I have. While I would still like to figure out how to add more hours to the day, I’ve figured out 3 simple time saving hacks that currently help me save both time, energy, and a little bit of money.
Amazon Prime
The first thing I did was start using Amazon Prime for almost everything (if you don’t already have a Prime membership then use this link to Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial!!!!). As an Amazon Prime member, I get free two-day shipping on almost everything on the website. Instead of trying to drag my kids to the store and basically wasting an entire afternoon shopping, I just order it online and it’s at my door in about two days. I buy everything from diapers to photography equipment to food items through Amazon.
We use Amazons Subscribe and Save service for things we buy monthly. Like dog food, baby formula, diapers, wipes and a few other things. By scheduling a regular delivery we receive a discount between 5%-20% on each item. Items are delivered on the first of the month, depending on weekends and holidays. Which means at least one less trip to the store. You can schedule deliveries bi-weekly, every month or every 2,3, 0r 4 months as needed. You can also easily skip a months delivery if you need to.
The picture above is a snap shot of our next delivery. Since we have more than 5 items we save between 15% and 20% on everything. This saves us around $30 a month, it also saves on gas money since I’m not driving to multiple stores. Which might not seem like a lot. But now that we are living on one income every little bit of savings helps.
I save so much time and energy by ordering everything I can online and not having to go shopping on a regular basis. Because if you’ve ever had to take kids shopping with you, you know that there is no such thing as a “quick” shopping trip.
Walmart Grocery Pickup
I discovered Walmart grocery pick up when I was pregnant. My husband had gone out of town for work and I was suffering from a hip issue which made it almost impossible to walk. So spending an hour walking around a grocery store was not going to happen. But try explaining that to a toddler who’s run out of apple juice. A friend suggested I try Walmarts grocery pick up and I fell in love with it.
You can use the Walmart Grocery website or the Walmart Grocery App for your phone. I prefer to use the website. I find that their app likes to randomly close itself while I’m trying to use it. Both the website and the app are easy to use and navigate. You can either type in the specific thing you are looking for or browse through their different categories. Another great feature is that you can save your items to a favorite list. I just save everything I buy to my favorite list. Now when I go to place an order instead of searching for each item all over again I just head over to my favorites list.
If it’s your first time using Walmart Grocery pick up you can use the code WOWFRESH to get $10 off your order. You can also get $10 for each person you refer!
When you’re done shopping just pick your preferred delivery time and pay online. It’s that simple! One of my biggest complaints was that you couldn’t pick up your order the same day you placed it. But Walmart has recently changed that. Now if you place your order before 1 pm you can pick it up after 4 pm on the same day!
When you go to pick up your order just follow the signs for Grocery Pickup outside the store. Depending on the store you will either check-in at a kiosk or call and let them know you are waiting for your pickup. They will have a sign in the pickup area letting you know which one you need to do.
The fact that I can get in and out of Walmart with all my groceries in under 10 minutes without having to go through the process of getting kids in and out of the car is AMAZING. I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner.
A lot grocery store chains have started offering grocery pickup services and normally run a discount on your first pickup. So if Walmart isn’t a store you normally shop at, ask your favorite grocery store if they offer a similar service.
Roomba – Robot Vaccum
I absolutely HATE vacuuming. But with a toddler and a husky if I don’t vacuum the floors at least once a day my house is covered in Cheerio dust and dog hair. It drives me absolutely crazy!
Shortly after my husband got our dog he also got me a Roomba. I think he knew that if I had to keep vacuuming dog hair every day I was going to tell him it was me or the dog. My Roomba is a little robot gift from above. The only vacuuming I do anymore is a small area rug in the living room. Which only needs to be done every few days.
Every night before we go to bed I run the Roomba so I’ll wake up to a clean floor. On really messy days I’ll run the Roomba again during nap time. Not having to vacuum every morning saves me a ton of time. It also means I spend less time doing a chore I hate and more time on things like blogging. So it’s a win win.
It is super easy to use. Just hit the Clean button on the top of the Roomba, or program it to run automatically at scheduled times. It cleans under chairs and furniture that are taller than 3.8 inches. And when it’s finished vacuuming, it puts itself back on the charger.
We have an iRobot Roomba 650 (Which we got HERE) on Amazon. One of the biggest reasons we got this particular model was that it comes with a virtual wall. The virtual wall keeps your Roomba away from places you don’t want it to clean. We use the virtual wall in our living room to keep the Roomba away from a piece of furniture it tends to get stuck under.
Using Amazon Prime, Walmart Grocery Pickup, and a Roomba are 3 simple time saving hacks I’m currently using. By cutting down the amount of time I spend driving, shopping, and cleaning I have more time and energy to spend with my kids, blogging, and other fun projects.
Do you have any
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