Do you ever feel like a hot mess mom that seems not to be able to find things to help her stay organized or lighten the household workload for yourself? Well, hopefully, some of these super simple suggestions using some programs and apps can make life a little easier on yourself. We all are so different in how we do things in our home and how each of us works. I can’t live without being organized, and I feel like my daycare business wouldn’t work any other way. I use calendars, lots of post-it notes ALWAYS, but I do use a couple of programs that I wanted to share with you all. Recently I put a poll on my Facebook page asking if anyone would like tips and tricks that work for me – everyone answered YES! Here we are and ready to share with you a few things that help me along the way. I hope they help you too!
Amazon Echo Show or Dot
I love my echo show, and thankful my mom got it for me for Christmas one year! Amazon makes multiple devices that can take down notes or lists of things I need when I am in a bind is fantastic! I can yell “Alexia Add Milk To My Shopping List,” and when Friday comes around, I can pull up the list on the show or my phone and add it to my order. My boys know if we run out of something to add it to the list which is easy peasy! My Echo show is such a lifesaver in my house right now. Honestly, you can get an amazon echo dot that does the same thing for even less money. It also will play stories, songs ( we listen to the toddler station A LOT! ) and lots of other skills you can add. I know I have it also set up for the drive into work for Travis, so he asks it what his trip looks like – and it will respond to let him know how it is traffic-wise as an example of its awesomeness! If you invest in one, you will not be disappointed!
Instacart Shopping Services
Oh my gosh. I love this option for grocery shopping – it’s the best! On Thursday evenings, I get on my phone and start making my grocery list for the week. I pull up my amazon list on my phone ( talked about above ) and then the Frys app – start planning meals! I add everything to my cart, so it is ready to go. I then wait until the next morning to schedule the delivery, but everything will stay in my cart overnight. The app works for us because we get paid on Fridays, so I wait till the next day to put the order through. If I use the Frys app to schedule the groceries, then my Frys card does get scanned and its a $9.95 delivery fee, which means I still get all the regular deals and coupons. The groceries being delivered is worth it to me! We buy at minimum $200 a week worth of groceries and saves me time. Which means I don’t have to spend my weekend grocery shopping! They then shop for me, delivery it to the house at the end of my day around 5-6pm. It is the best thing ever! It also helps me budget if need be and not grab random things to throw it in my cart. They also offer to pick up, which is just as great for $4.95. Walmart is another example that you can use if need be. Instacart provides all sorts of stores, so check within your city to see where they will shop!
Link to use if you want to give it a try! https://inst.cr/t/jp7Yfx5Pi
Download the app to your phone too!
Amazon Subscribe & Save Program
The next thing I use and love dearly is the Amazon Subscribe & Save Program. I am an amazon prime member, so I took advantage of the program on the big ticket items we need monthly or every couple of months. Such things like dog food, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, batteries, and paper plates. If you have 5 or more items you receive monthly you can get 15% off. This adds up big time and ships free to your door. It’s so easy, and I love that I get dog food without the hassle of remembering or carrying a huge bag to the car! Amazon sends you a monthly email where you can pick if you need to skip an item for a month or customize it some. They do let you know ahead of time before it charges to the card so you are prepared and can go over the things you need quickly before they ship. If you do have Amazon prime look into this and see if it can save you some money or hassle on stuff you need anyway!
Freshly Delivered Meals
I have been talking about this one on my Instagram the past week or so! They are homemade fresh meals delivered to your door on Wednesdays. I needed help with meal prep as my free time is limited watching kiddos for about 12 hours daily. These meals you pick on the app, and they come straight to your door to eat. If you can’t eat them right away, you may freeze them for later on! I order the six-pack and heat them at lunch for me to eat instead of me trying to meal prep on the weekends. It is a huge lifesaver for me, and they taste delicious! One goal for me this year was to eat clean, and this helps me stay on track with my own goals.
PS. If you want to try these at all, send me a message through Facebook, or the contact page on the blog, or Instagram. I can give you a code to try them for $40 for the first two weeks! I recommend trying the system out. You can cancel whenever you like & even skip weeks if need be. Feel free to look at the Freshly app to see if it might be something you would like to try!
Digit Saving App
This one is huge for me, and I know it doesn’t work for everyone. Right now we are using this app called Digit. You link the app to your bank account, and it acts as a savings robot. It helps you save money by taking out small amounts from your account and putting it into a savings account. You can customize the app to fit your needs meaning to tell the app to take out small amounts or limit it to not take out for weeks at a time, or even if your account hits a certain low… it will stop. That is the cool part! It has no specific time or schedules it takes money out but learns your spending habits with time.
I have it set up on two accounts, and we are right now saving up to go to Disneyland here at Christmas time. We needed about $4,000 for us to all go for three days, so we have been using the app to help us get there. I put the link above if you click the Digit title if you want more details. I do realize people have their own savings account and can have money taken out each paycheck, but this seems to work better for us for the moment. Once you have enough saved up, you are able to move money to your bank account!
Here is the digit code you can use and get 5 bucks credit to your account for starting!
digit.co/r/ZjkOYaq29G?ab
Meal Menu Planning
Let’s talk about meal planning for dinners for the family. It is such a simple thing, but I thought I would throw it on there for you all. I have a menu planner that I have on the fridge with a dry erase marker, and I plan out meals for the week. I know I told you before, but we both work LONG hours and don’t have time to stop by the store in the middle of the week. So we make sure when we get groceries, it is to last the entire week including daycare meals and snacks. Granted there are weeks we run out of milk or whatever and have to make a quick stop at Walgreens. Tons of different ideas for this, check out the links below! These are a few of my favorite. I have to say this works amazingly well in my house and everyone knows what to expect for dinner!
Ibotta App
This app is fantastic to save money on the groceries you buy already! You download the app, connect your shopping card to whatever store you shop, and pick the items you purchased. Then in 24 hours, you will see the cash in your account. If you do not use this, I highly suggest starting! You get money for things you already buy! I am telling you – its amazing!
For example, I just cashed in my 50 bucks from buying groceries for gift cards for my dad for Father’s Day. It’s seriously so simple and easy to use! I try to get in the routine to go into the app after groceries are delivered. You use to have to submit a receipt but not anymore – it’s linked to your shopper card, which saves you so much time! Here is my code if you would like to try it.
If you use my code, you will get $5 in your account for free to start. = YZBAZY
Butcher Box
Monthly I order my meat from Butcher Box as they have high-quality meat at a significant low cost. I bought my meat at the regular grocery store but I can tell the difference, and I know grass-fed beef and organic chicken is way better for you! I ended up trying a box a while back, and it came out to the same amount I was spending for us to buy meat at the grocery store. Now, this is something new we have been doing because one of my goals this year is to eat clean. I realize this isn’t something everyone can do or wants to do, but I wanted to put it on here just in case. You can always customize your box to fit your needs, and it ships directly to your door. You don’t even have to order every single month too. So many customizing options that I enjoy!
Here is the code if you would like to try it out too! The first box when signing up I got a free 2lbs of salmon. I know they have different promotions from time to time.
Butcher Box Link = http://fbuy.me/v/Dezarae
Hopefully, these suggestions will help some of you with staying a little bit more organized. I am a fairly organized person, and it’s just in me to keep things nice, organized, and events running smoothly. I realize it isn’t for everyone, and that makes us all unique. Even if one of the apps or programs help your household – I will be extremely grateful! I would also love to hear from YOU on things that work for household – leave them in the comment section!
