Over the last year, I have tried lots of different things. Some of made my life easier and some I could have done without! What works for me, doesn’t work for everyone else but I wanted to share with you 3 things that have REALLY helped me. In fact, they were game-changers!
Clicklist
If you know me or follow along on this blog, you will know that I HATE cooking. Along with this, I HATE going grocery shopping (especially with 3 kids in tow). So, for me, I would make short lists and plan dinners that were prepackaged and easy.
Then, several Krogers in our area started offering Clicklist. AMAZING. I grocery shop online and then drive up and pick it up. Just that easy.
There is a $4.99 fee with this feature but it is worth it. We have actually found that it is has saved us money. How? Because when I am adding things to my cart online, I can see how much my grand total will be. When I am shopping in the store, I try to keep track of the prices but let’s be honest…I think I only have $50 worth of groceries and then they ring up to be well over $100. Anyone else struggle with this??
So, now I can make sure that we stay within our budget and I don’t have to take my kids in a store with me! It is a WIN / WIN for everyone!
Trello
For YEARS I have used a planner. I literally could not have ever imagined my life without a planner. I would buy purses specifically with my planner in mind. I would challenge anyone that would tell me that there was “an app for that”. And then I found Trello….
I can put my entire week in there including my appointments and to-do lists. The best part is that it allows me to move tasks easily from day to day (for when I don’t get certain things done on the day that I had hoped).
I use a google calendar app for all of my appointments and then sit down on Sunday with my Trello app to plan out everything for the week. Very similar to what I did with my planner but now I don’t have to tote around this huge planner with me….all I need is my phone!
Robotic Vacuum
I spent a lot of my time cleaning my house. I mean A LOT of time. We have 2 dogs and 3 kids so the floor of my house is dirty all the time. I was vacuuming or sweeping multiple times a day and it was only making me bitter.
After doing lots of research, we decided on the Neato d85. We decided on this one because of all of the dog hair in our house. This one was rated the best of it and didn’t seem to get “lost” as some of the other brands did.
My kids love our robotic vacuum. They have lovingly named it “Peanut”. It is easy for them to use (we just ask them to press the button). I have learned my lesson the hard way about using the programmable feature. We have an older dog that threw up one time and Peanut tried to clean it up. It made a mess but luckily not over my entire house because it got clogged!
Just run it when you need it!
One note – if you use yours multiple times a day like we do, you can expect to have to replace the battery every year. We were able to find one at Battery’s Plus for $79. For us, we have just worked that amount into our yearly budget because is it worth it!
