Family life is busy. Between working, school runs and spending quality time together there is little time left to stop and just breathe.
As a result, it can be hard to stay on top of life admin such as housework, food shopping, bills and other such tasks which are essential to daily life.
But the good news is, using these 5 tips you can easily put some order into your tasks, make them more efficient to complete and reduce the stress by getting them done on time.
So, let’s get started…
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Create a housework schedule (and get the family involved)
No one likes doing housework at the best of times, but by having a clear schedule of what needs to be done on which days can mean tasks are broken down into manageable chunks.
This means that everything will get done throughout the course of the week without the need to spend a significant block of time dedicated to housework alone.
In our house we have a rule, do our chores as soon as we get through the door, everything is completed within an hour, allowing us to spend the rest of the evening as a family.
Further to this, everyone in the family is assigned tasks to complete.
This even includes the little ones, whether that be loading the washing machine, dusting the surfaces or helping unload the dishwasher – turning chore time into family time.
2. Meal plan
Meal planning and preparation has become a huge trend over the past few years, but rather than doing it as a means of weight loss/gain, meal planning can help you slimline the food shopping process.
By knowing exactly what you need for the upcoming week, you don’t need to spend hours wandering down the aisles, instead you can cut the time it takes to do your food shopping in half.
Take a list with you when doing your food shop or better yet complete the process online to save even more time.
In our house we have a number of go-to recipes which are simple yet effective for those busier nights when working late or attending after school clubs.
3. Use an FCA registered insurance broker
Most forms of insurance are arranged or renewed on a yearly basis. The process can be time consuming, especially if the product is new to you.
An insurance broker can help you through the process saving you time and effort by explaining everything you need to know and finding you the cheapest quote in minutes.
The one exception to this yearly process is life insurance.
Whilst a sinister thought, without such cover in place, the future financial stability of your family could be at risk if the worst were to happen to you.
Again, using an FCA registered life insurance broker, will allow you to save time and money when arranging such cover, as well as ensuring you understand the complexity of the policy.
Families are most likely to benefit from either level term life insurance (value remains fixed throughout the policy), decreasing term life insurance (value decreases in line with a repayment mortgage) or family income benefit (provides a tax-free monthly income to replace salary or cover daily living costs).
You can compare quotes for all these policy types (free of charge) at Reassured.
Again, determining the best type of cover for you can be discussed with a broker.
They will not only be able to match your requirements and budget to the most suitable product, but also help unpick any life insurance jargon, enabling you to make an informed decision.
4. Set up automatic payments
Most households have a wide array of bills which need to be paid throughout the month.
It can be difficult to stay on top of these and late payments can lead to unnecessary fees.
With the online banking facilities now available it is easy to set up direct debits and standing orders to ensure that all of the payments are made on time and without the need of any input from you.
Again, streamlining the amount of time each week/month you need to focus on banking.
5. Keep a family calendar
So, you now have a clear plan in place to manage your weekly/monthly tasks but what about the ad hoc/one off tasks.
Keeping a family calendar can allow you to plan ahead and keep track of what other family members are doing on specific days of the week.
This could encompass everything from parents evening, to birthday parties and even dentist appointments.
A little tip we use is that we plan any actions needed to be taken prior to the event also, for example, if one of the kids is attending a birthday party at the weekend, we schedule in time to arrange their present and card a couple of days beforehand.
This ensures we aren’t blindsided last minute because it had been forgotten.
So, there you have it, 5 top hacks for taking the stress out of life admin and opening up the availability to spend more time with those you love.
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