In most cases, besides all the other responsibilities we have as busy moms, we are responsible to handle the influx of mail that arrives in our mailbox on a daily basis. Unless we know how to control the flow, it can very quickly take over our home. There are some very simple ways to "control the flow".
When you bring the mail into the house, don't just throw it in a big pile where a mountain can quickly form. Take a few minutes to quickly go through it to reduce the amount you actually need to deal with.
First and foremost, go to your trash can/recycling bin and paper shredder. I bet at least half of what comes in to the home to begin with is junk mail. Just throw it away. You don't need to keep it! Use a...
I don't know about you, but I am inundated each and every day by e-mail. I have my personal e-mail and my business e-mail. I am involved in Free Cycle (www.freecycle.org) and get close to 100 emails a day just from that. I am on Facebook and get emails with status updates as well. What is a busy mom to do?
You need to learn how to manage all the e-mail you receive without driving yourself crazy!
E-mail is a great way to stay in touch with friends, family and business associates but if it is not managed properly, it can create havoc.
For instance, when the phone rings and you are too busy to answer it, there is an answering machine or voice mail that will...
We are so busy these days, running here, running there. Do you find that you are running into the grocery store at the end of a long day to pick up some things or are you scheduling a time to go the grocery store to do the food shopping for the week?
Either way, in order to save time, you need to do your food shopping by the aisle. If you shop in the same supermarket all the time, you should be familiar with the basic layout of the store. This can help when you are making your grocery list too.
Are you thinking, "Make a grocery list? Are you kidding me? I just run in an grab what I see and think that I need".
As in any other type of organizing, food shopping involves organization too. Besides the meal planning,...
Some people go food shopping without any coupons. They don't want to concern themselves with organizing coupons. As a result, they don't save as much money at the check-out as those of us who do collect coupons.
However, for us busy moms who do take the time to cut out coupons and go on line to print them out, we need to keep the pile organized.
I have collected coupons from the Sunday paper and weekly ads for as long as I can remember. I am one of those people who get a big thrill out of saving a buck.
There are many ways to organize those coupons. I will give you some options to consider...
You can organize your coupons in a traditional coupon organizer that you can purchase which looks like a...
The traditional way of obtaining coupons for the supermarket or other stores from the Sunday paper is just one option you can use to save money at the store.
These days, you can also find plenty of coupons on-line. There are many site available to the consumer that, if you take some time to utilize, can really save you money. Currently, if you plug in "coupons" on the Google search engine, you will get about 95,000 results.
These sites not only provide coupons for groceries, but also restaurants, travel, retail stores and even rebates.
Here is just a sampling of the sites you can check out to print out coupons for when you are "checking out" at the store...
As a busy mom, you are responsible for running the household, caring for your children, being a chauffeur, and perhaps having a full-time career among other responsibilities. Part of those responsibilities includes meal planning.
As a mom, it is our responsibility to make sure that the family is fed and fed well. Providing good nourishing meals is important to us. However, chances are, your schedule is so chaotic that you hardly have any time to prepare dinner let alone find good nourishing meals that everyone will enjoy.
If you run home after a full day to get something on the table before everyone has to run out the door again for evening activities, you probably don't have time to figure out what to serve. So,...
Do you have good intentions to recycle but just never get around to it? Perhaps it's because you have not set up a system to do so. It is easy to do and good for the environment.
First you need to look around your home and select a convenient spot that has enough room for two containers. Some suggestions are: the garage, the area under the sink in the kitchen, next to your regular trash can, a pantry, a storage room or under an open counter in the kitchen. Even if they have to be out in the open, an attractive container with a lid will do just fine.
You need to separate your paper from your plastics, glass and cans. You can either use a container for the paper or a large paper bag you find at the grocery store. This...
Most of us want to help the environment by "Going Green" to make it a better world for ourselves and our children. However, I believe some do not practice good "green" habits because they think it is too complicated and time consuming. Not the case.
You don't have to go to extremes to be green. Just by doing some basic, simple things, you can contribute. Besides recycling (see my future blog called "How To Create A Recyling Station"), you can:
1. Stop buying bottled water. Did you know that some bottled water is actually bottled municipal tap water? Few people can tell the difference, anyway. Bottled water is more expensive than gasoline and 250 to 10,000 times more than tap water. If you do...
Audrey Cupo is a full-time Professional Organizer and sole proprietor of A BETTER SPACE based in Bucks County, PA. She specializes in residential organizing and focuses her business on helping busy moms get organized with her services and her U Can Do It product line. To sign up for her free newsletter full of great monthly tips, resources and product reviews go to www.4abetterspace.com.
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