MONEY AND TIME MANAGEMENT IS KEY FOR FAMILIES

The first step in balancing a budget for the family is cutting costs. What expenses are easy to forego? Can you cancel your membership in the fitness club and instead go jogging in the forest for free? Helping each other out with childcare instead of hiring a childminder helps significantly to save costs. There is also potential for savings when it comes to shopping: used toys, furniture, household appliances and clothing can also be found inexpensively in second-hand shops and Internet exchanges. In addition, an insurance check makes sense too. You may want to look at Nova Science Publishers for further information and reading.

Your family is the most important thing in your life, so you want to be able to manage your finances and your time with them. You can do it! 

Time management: More structure means more fun 

Time management is the magic word: Bring structure to your everyday family life, organize, prioritize, plan and schedule all your duties and tasks. You will see that this is also a good way to incorporate a little “fun” into your day. And don't worry. Even if that sounds a bit exhausting now, it is actually quite simple and a matter of getting used to. If you stick to your plan, planning and prioritizing will quickly become routine. 

Good planning is half the battle 

Make weekly and daily to-do lists. Have a quick sit down on Sunday and make a note of what's coming up for the next week. What needs to be done as soon as possible? What is tied to fixed dates and what can you plan flexibly? Plan your week roughly and set fixed dates for cleaning, shopping and also for drinking coffee or going for a walk. Also take a close look at your “scaffolding”. How often do you go shopping in a typical week? Wouldn't a bulk purchase be enough? Are there any tasks in which the children can be involved or even take responsibility for them? 

You can carry out such planning with a weekly calendar, in a notebook or diary, as a list or calendar on the mobile phone, or you can design your own bullet journal. You can add thoughts, diary entries and more to this, so that after a few weeks you will have a nice reminder to hand at the same time. 

Attention time killer: Use free time wisely 

Don't just plan your week ahead on Sundays. Every evening, sit down briefly and go over the next day's to-dos. Now plan the day in detail. Is cleaning on Wednesday? Set fixed and realistic time blocks. From 8 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. cleaning takes place. At 11.30 you have to start cooking for lunch. That means: You have almost an hour of free time in between. Take advantage of this. These breaks are important for you and your family.