How do you fit it all in ??

Cullumpster

Good morning all

I was just wondering how you guys manage to fit so much into your days/ weeks

The reason i'm asking is that i am really trying hard to be OS, i've brought a breadmaker and a slow cooker and i'm planning our meals and trying to shop savvy.

but something always goes wrong :mad:

I work full time (38hrs) so i find it difficult to get home and prepare 'homecooked' meals, but i do most of the time

I was just wondering how you other full timers do it, have you got a system that you stick to, or do you just do it and not think about it?

I'm going to try and earn some extra money, i've recently brought a 'cardmaking' book, so i thought about making some packs and selling them at work, all good in theory but wether it happens it another matter

Please help me become Savvy, Delia and a whizz at saving money all in one go :j

ancasta_2

i would like to know this secret too, as some weeks i can work up to 50 hours, the firs thing i want to do when i get home is just sit.. i dont know where you all get the time and energy to do all the housework and cooking and baking.

fairylights_2

I'm lucky really as I work from home so can juggle everything. !That said, on evenings when there's nothing to watch on we bake instead. Dh is a budding chef-wannabe so he makes his breakfast bars for work and all kinds of goodies. I do my meal planning on a Thursday night whilst watching bank of mum and dad (makes me determined not to go there again!) and stick rigidly to it. Plus I make LOTS of double meals and then all I have to do is remember to fetch it out of the freezer in the morning and then make some rice/pasta/potatoes to go with at the end of the day.

I think it's the same for everything else. Once you're used to doing things a particular way it it's normal. People I know think I'm crazy for using cloth nappies on my two, but I don't know any different so it's not a load of extra work. It's always been like that.

Housework I NEVER have time for. That's just because I don't like doing it though .... :rotfl:

Badgergal

Oh I am so glad it is not just me!

I was so tired after work last night I fell asleep on the bus, then when I hauled myself home from the bus stop I had to bake cookies for my dad's bday present because that's what I had planned so I could give them to him today (I forced myself, I did not feel like it and only allowed myself 5 mins to read the post after I walked through the door), then spend the evening decorating and wrapping them nicely, and by the time I had cleaned up after myself, loaded the DW and tidied a bit (flat is a studio so it quickly descends into chaos what with bedroom and living room being one and the same!), the evening was gone...I had packet noodles for dinner cos I certainly wasn't inclined to do a full OS meal and had used up all my frozen meals I'd done myself...

And I'm always forgetting to put stuff in the slow cooker - the time just goes...

I recommend doing things in bulk and then freezing stuff or making it do the next day, then at least you get out of proper cooking a few days a week.

But I do seem to spend much of my weekend cleaning/doing things I am too tired to do in the evenings, and bf complains that I haven't sat down...

I wasn't much help was I? Just a moan!

Gryfon

I'm at home too with my two children (ick to the holidays!) and I still never find time to do all the housework and baking

I would like to bake bread but mine never seems to taste very nice

I have good intentions...but end up spending most of the morning on the computer browisng forums!!!

Ticklemouse

You have to remember that some of us are not in 'paid' employment ie we are 'stay at home mums'.:) Thus we don't have a work schedule to fit everything around in that we have to be an office between 9 and 5.

Mind you, I am my parents' carer. mum to 2 boys, chief cook and bottlewasher at home, do all the DIY, am a mystery shopper and am about to become an after-school childminder Hmmmmmmmmmmm - where do I get the time ?

No seriously, it takes time to get used to doing things. At first, using your new kitchen gadgets takes longer but you soon get used to doing things automatically - ie prepping veg or taking things out of the freezer in time. I'd start by cooking bigger portions in your slow cooker then you can freeze meal sized amounts for when you have had a hard day at work. Then at least you feel as if you're eating well/cheaply and OS
If you BM has a timer, set it up before you go to bed then it's ready at breakfast or even for when you get home from work.

At the end of the day, don't beat yourself up about it - even if you're doing bits, it's better than you were doing. You may find over time that you do go to a butchers and greengrocers instead of the supermarket and you automatically put recycling by for when you do go near a collection point. If you work 50 hours a week, remember you aren't superwoman (despite what you may think )

Lillibet_2

Don't know about "doing it all", there's always something that falls by the wayside for me, but in terms of working full time (on maternity leave at the mo:D...and no, Spud STILL hasn't arrived:rolleyes:) it all came down to orginization & forward planning. I found if I had already doen the thinking about it & just had to follwo a plan it was MUCh more likely to happen.
I would plan my meals about 2 weeks in advance, just adding odd meals here & there & have a constantly running shopping list (a post it note on the appropriate page in my dairy, I AWLAYS shop fortnightly on a wednesday) so that as I planned a meal I could add the necessary to the list for the appropriate week. I also keep a full inventory of whats in my freezer to meal plan from, as I bought things for the freezer I would add them to my inventory & as I planned a meal using them I would cross them off. As I cooked each nights meal I would check the plan for what was on the menu the next night or 2 & get out anything to defrost. I often cook double or treble & put the extra portions in the freezer for busy/sick/can't be bothered nights & these can replace scheduled meals as long as whats planned & defrosting will keep a extra night.
I used to have a housework plan, doing certain things on certain nights. This has gone to pot a bit whilst I am at home, but it used to work quite well, if anything got missed beacuse we were out that night I would make a judgement call whether it needed to be done the next night or could wait until it was next scheduled. Vacuuming was always done on a Thursday, laundry on a Tuesday & Friday, dusting on a Thursday, tidying the living room on a Tuesday, tidying the bedrooms on a Wednesday, deep clean kitchen & bathroom on a wekend & top & tail each day etc etc.
I always had Monday & Friday nights "off", beacuse we eat at a relatives house on a Monday & beacuse Friday I deserve it!
I woudl also "reward" myself, if I wanted to go to a car boot sale on a Sunday morning I would tell myself only if all the laundry is upto date & teh grass mown etc. Work before pelasure but because the work is spread out in easy to manage clumps it isn't hard work. don't know if this would work for everyone, I think it comes down to self discipline & routine which isn't everyones stong suit of course;)

Gryfon

Ok and one more thing...I've tried doing a big batch to freeze!

It never works as people then want seconds...and I end up with none left

Shez

O thankgoodness - its not just me then!!

I do work full time and have to sneakily peep through the boards during the day when no ones looking!

I have two young children 3yr and 16mths and as soon as I get home Im cooking tea, getting them ready for bed, the youngest is at that "I want to stay awake all the time so not to miss anything!" stage, so she doesnt always go off to sleep till 9pm, then i might have to tackle stack of ironing, which is no fun when youre half asleep yourself!

I'm still getting used to using this site - how do you keep up with all the postings?? is there a quick way? for instance: the OS get together they mentioned about the car stickers, didnt know what you were all talking about - I only found the car stickers reference last night on the email from martin!
Needlesss to say im probably too late now to get one by the time i found it!

Some people seem to be so quick to find things and reply to posts???

catkins

I work evenings so I have all day to myself. When I worked days full time I never made bread but I did try and cook from scratch every night although often I did not feel like it.

Mind you, no matter how early I get up (usually 7am at latest) and I do not have to leave for work until 5.30pm I still never seem to have enough time. I walk my dog for 2 hours then groom him for half an hour and then there's the housework, the garden, the decorating, the cooking....... don't know where the time goes (don't dare add up the hours I spend on the internet, especially this site!!!!) Some days I am so tired I don't know how I manage to do my job!!!

rchddap1

I only do what I can. I work full time and a long drive to get to work into the bargain. If I was to do everything OS I'd never leave home. OH gets home earlier than me and does the cooking, so that when I get home I can prepare other meals, or make some bread etc...