• Homeschool
  • Book Reviews
  • Meal Ideas
    • Menu Planning
    • Lunch Box Ideas
    • Cooking
      • Feed a Family of 4 for $4
  • Dairy Free/Gluten Free Recipes
    • dairy free recipes
    • dairy free products
  • OAMC
    • Monthly Plans and Wrap Ups
    • Breakfast
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Tips and Strategies
  • Ways to Save
    • frugal activites
    • coupons
    • dating
    • Mamapedia
    • Groupon
  • Weight Loss
  • Money Matters
  • Reviews/Giveaways
    • Giveaways
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Mom's Plans

learning to live a fulfilling life on less

  • Home
  • About
    • Disclosure Policy
  • Hire Me
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Disclosure Policy
You are here: Home / Ways to Save / frugal activites / How I Plan To Survive My Return To Work–Part II
frugal activites, saving, time management

How I Plan To Survive My Return To Work–Part II

August 11, 2009

I don’t officially return to work until August 24th, but I have already been spending roughly 15 hours a week at work updating all of my work in preparation for the big return. Adding in that 15 hours has given me a taste of just how hectic life is to become. I will be adding in a lot more hours beginning on the 24th.

Dave Ramsey has a plan for those with irregular incomes. He asks them to make a budget by listing their most important bills first all the way down to the least important ones. On a lean month, one should pay those most important bills first and when the money runs out, it runs out, even if some of those bills at the bottom of the list don’t get paid. In a month where there is a lot of income, all bills are paid.

I plan to apply this strategy to my time. In the 10 months since I left work, I have added a baby to this family and created my blog, which I enjoy immensely. Still, my work load was heavy previously. Now I think it is going to be insane!

So, in the interest of keeping my sanity, here is my list of activities to spend my time on from most important to least. On very busy days, those at the bottom will receive little or no attention.

1. Take care of myself. I have a hard time doing this, but I must put myself first. That means making time to exercise, relax a bit and eat a healthy diet.

2. Spend time with family.

3. Complete responsibilities for my full-time job.

4. Ship out eBay items sold.

5. Write on my blog.

6. Take care of household responsibilities such as grocery shopping, paying bills, etc.

7. Pick up around the house.

8. Read other people’s blogs. I spend a little (okay, maybe way too much!) time reading other people’s blogs. I still want to do this because I find it personally fulfilling and I learn new things, but I am going to have to put it in its place, maybe only doing so for 15 minutes a day.

9. List new items on eBay.

10. Clean deeply.

In addition to this list, my husband and I need to simplify, especially in the area of meals. Those who read my blog know we like food. (Maybe too much.) In addition, my husband was raised in a family where there were several little side dishes in every meal. I was raised on one pot meals. We c ompromise with about two side dishes at a meal.

For this season in our lives, we must simplify. We will rely heavily on the meals I have made and frozen. Sometimes we will have to eat simply—grilled cheese and soup, frozen ravioli and canned pasta sauce, etc. It may not be the way we prefer to eat, but I do not want to waste money eating out. I want to save money so I can be a stay-at-home mom.


Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print

Related

1 Comment

Mom’s Plans’ Newsletter

Enter your email address to signup for news, posts, and special offers!

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

The Frugal Guide to Getting Ready for Summer

Just Ask – Part II

3 Ways We Saved Money on Our Vacation to Memphis

Comments

  1. Bradi Nathan says

    August 11, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    Enjoy every moment! Many women whom I've had the pleasure of interviewing have admitted that working makes them a better mother and wife at the end of the day. Malaak Compton Rock (wife of Chris Rock) told me that she was put on this earth to be more than a mother and a wife…. and I think that's okay! Good luck to you and enjoy the remainder of your summer with your family!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

frugal activites, monthly goals, time management

How I Plan To Survive My Return To Work

July 21, 2009

In about a month (can it be true?!) I will rejoin the ranks of the full-time employed. In addition to my full-time job, I am also a wife and the mom of a five year old and a 9 month old. I have two side passions at home–my eBay store and this blog. Put it all together and it is alot to juggle.

Here are the ways I am preparing myself (and family) so the transition is a smooth one:

—Put myself on my work schedule beginning in August. I plan to exercise before work, so starting in about 2 weeks, I will begin getting up around 5:30 or 6 a.m., the time I will need to get up when I am back to work. (It also means I have to start going to bed earlier.)

–Finish decluttering and deep cleaning the house. A clean, clutter free house is easier to maintain when time is at a minimum, so some of my effort next month will go to finishing the job I started in May.

—Finish my monthly goals I set several months ago.

–Create new monthly goals when I return to work. My husband and I need to manage our time and money wisely during this next period of life so he can graduate with his Ph.D and I can become a stay-at-home mom.

–Learn to become more organized. I am currently reading Organize Your Life by Ronni Eisenberg. I plan to implement many of the strategies to best utilize my time daily.

–Continue to make freezer meals and find new slow cooker recipes. I have been busy making freezer meals and plan to continue that for the next few weeks. It will be such a blessing to have meals I can just pull from the freezer when I am busy and/or stressed. In addition, these last two weeks I have been relying heavily on my slow cooker and have loved it! Having a meal in the slow cooker means I can avoid the 4:30-5 p.m. craziness that always seems to surround the time right before dinner. I plan to use my slow cooker A LOT this fall.

So, those are my activities so far to try to make the return to work smoother. With any luck, by next May, I will be able to be a stay-at-home mom.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print

Related

9 Comments

Mom’s Plans’ Newsletter

Enter your email address to signup for news, posts, and special offers!

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

Update on Things To Do While on Maternity Leave

Saving Money Painlessly–Sharing Expenses

Lessons Learned from My Grocery Challenge

Comments

  1. NW Coupon Lady says

    July 21, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    It sounds like you are on the right track. Make sure to have downtime so you don't overload. Keep us informed on how it goes when you return to work many of us can learn from your organizational skills.

    Reply
  2. Mommyto3andahusky says

    July 21, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    I love your blog. Why did you take a leave of absence? Your blog is very inspiring. I just love it!

    I have a crockpot recipe for you. I made this last night. I found it on this 30 day meal site that Nannygoat has. It was so easy and turned out so good with leftovers for lunches. Good luck!

    http://littlenannygoat.blogspot.com/2009/04/30-meals-step-2.html

    Reply
  3. Melissa says

    July 21, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Mommyto3andahusky–I took a leave of absence beginning in October when I had my daughter. I was lucky enough to get an unpaid leave through the end of August. I went to the link, but I didn't see a recipe? Thanks for your comments.

    Reply
  4. Jennifer says

    July 21, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    I just found your blog recently. Do you ever offer tips about starting an ebay store? I would love to learn more about that.

    Reply
  5. Melissa says

    July 22, 2009 at 1:09 am

    Jennifer–Thanks for the idea. I will try to run a couple of post about starting an eBay store in a few weeks.

    Reply
  6. Megan says

    July 22, 2009 at 3:17 am

    I must say that I'm so happy that I found your blog. I too, am on a quest to be a SAHM. It will be great following your posts. Good luck on your return to work.

    Reply
  7. Megan says

    July 22, 2009 at 3:19 am

    I love your blog. I'm trying to save money and learn to streach our dollar too in hope of being a SAHM one day. It will be great to get some tip and ideas from your blog. Good luck on your return to work!

    Reply
  8. Charlene says

    July 22, 2009 at 3:59 am

    Hi, just found your blog through a CVS deals post–may I make a suggestion about making room for some things in your budget when you return to work? If you can possibly swing it, get someone to come in and clean twice a month or so–you'l automatically pick the house up when you know they're coming, and the time it frees uo for you is time you could better spend with your family. Yes, we want a clean house for our families, but it's not written in stone that we must be the ones to do the cleaning. Our time is important always, but especially if we work fulltime outside the home!

    Reply
  9. Mommyto3andahusky says

    July 22, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    Melissa, the recipe is on a green recipe card on the link.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Mom’s Plans’ Newsletter

Enter your email address to signup for news, posts, and special offers!

Welcome to Mom’s Plans! I'm a homeschooling mom to three kids with special needs, ages 18, 13 and 12. We're living a frugal life, eating as naturally as possible due to food intolerances, and homeschooling using literature-based curriculum. Read More…

Visit Melissa Batai, MomsPlans.com's profile on Pinterest.

Disclosure

Mom's Plans is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Budget
  • Classic Home
  • Contact
  • Deals
  • Earn Money
  • Food Waste
  • Groceries
  • Guest Posts
  • Hire Me
  • Holidays
  • Home
  • Kids
  • Link Love
  • Lunch Boxes
  • OAMC
  • Recipes
  • Reviews/Giveaways
  • Ways to Save
  • Welcome, Deal Seeking Mom Readers!