The Best Way to Save Time When Grocery Shopping

During this past school year, my weekly routine on Mondays was to go to Ralphs and then Trader Joe's. I couldn't help noticing a pattern: I would often spend an hour at Ralphs and less than a half hour at Trader Joe's, yet the majority of my groceries were from Trader Joe's.

Upon reflection, I realized the truth of the maxim "time is money."

I spend so much more time at Ralphs because I'm on the lookout for deals. I have a list, of course, but often I'm just doing a price check on an item - if something is a certain price, I'll buy it, especially if I have a coupon. If the price is higher than I want to pay, I'll wait. When there's a Mix & Match sale - for example, Buy 5, Save $5 - I walk through the store looking for unadvertised items that might be included. All of this takes time, which is fine with me because my priority is to save money, not time.


But if your priority is to save time, then consider doing your grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Their prices are competitive with other markets, if not lower. And the prices don't change every week, so you don't have to constantly check them. You can just go in, buy the items on your list, and leave. Plus, Trader Joe's store brand products are non-GMO and they have many organic options.

Are you concerned about the savings you might be missing out on? Let's consider a few examples off the top of my head:

• One-pound bags of pasta like penne, farfalle and macaroni elbows are $0.99 at Trader Joe's. Barilla pasta is on sale for $1 this week at Ralphs, and there's no coupon available. Sometimes you can get pasta for $0.49, but those deals are few and far between, so you'll have to stock up when they come around, and then store the pasta somewhere in your house.


• The cheapest eggs at Trader Joe's are $1.59 for a dozen. Sometimes Ralphs has a dozen eggs for $0.99, but that's rare and usually around holidays, like Easter. The sale price at my store right now is $2.99.


• One of the main reasons I shop at Trader Joe's is for milk. They have the lowest price on gallons of organic milk at $5.49. Ralphs has Simple Truth Organic milk on sale for $5.99 per gallon, but the regular price is $6.49, and for some reason, my store often has limited stock in the refrigerated milk section so I wouldn't go there planning to get milk.


• Cereals like Frosted Flakes and Crisp Rice are $1.99 per box at Trader Joe's. You can regularly get cereal for less than that at Ralphs, but sales vary a lot so you have to stock up when you see a low price on your favorite variety and store the extra boxes.


• Clif bars are $0.99 at Trader Joe's, but they're on sale for $0.88 right now at Ralphs, which also also carries a greater variety. Again, if you have a place to store them, you could stock up at Ralphs, where the regular price is $1.25.

As you can see, you can definitely save money by shopping at Ralphs for some of your groceries, but the savings isn't that substantial if time is at a higher premium than money.

Having said all this, I do need to acknowledge a few shortcomings with my suggestion to shop at Trader Joe's if you want to save time:

• Trader Joe's doesn't carry everything you probably want to keep in your kitchen. For instance, I swear by Frontera enchilada sauces, but they're not sold at TJ's. And some products, like canned pumpkin, are seasonal. Their limited selection means you will have to supplement by shopping someplace else. But you could so online (Amazon carries Frontera sauces as well almost any other pantry ingredient you could want) or shop at Target, which has a substantial grocery section now.


• Some of TJ's store brand items don't hold up. As an example, I was so disappointed with the quality of their American cheese that I stopped buying it years ago and have stuck to the Simple Truth version from Ralphs (which my kids prefer over the Horizon version).


• The produce quality at TJ's is unreliable at best. My friends and I have discussed (and the internet has confirmed) that Trader Joe's produce is often of sub-par quality, in that many items spoil extremely quickly. Having said that, however, I have a limited list of produce items that I like to buy at TJ's, including butternut squash in the winter (so much cheaper to pay $1.79 for a whole squash than to pay per pound), lemons, rainbow carrots, riced cauliflower, whole cauliflower, and vacuum packed cooked beets. I'll also often buy bagged organic potatoes and sweet potatoes, zucchini and bananas.


• Their parking lots suck. There's really no other way to say it. Almost every Trader Joe's I've ever shopped at has a tiny parking lot with too few and extremely small spots. The only way I can shop there is to go before 10 a.m., and I realize that's not feasible for everyone. This may be a Southern California thing, since so many of our stores are old, but that's how it is here.

So obviously I can't recommend shopping exclusively at Trader Joe's. But when saving time is more important than saving money, you should consider doing most of your grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, where you might be spending a little more money, but you'll be saving a lot of time.

How do you save time on grocery shopping?

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Quick Tip for Storing Doctors' Contacts in Your Phone

I love my iPhone, and like most people these days, almost all of the information I need is on it - including contact info for my family's doctors. In my head, though, I always think of them as "Doctor Smith" or "Doctor Kato."


It was disconcerting every time I went to the Contacts app. My instinct was to look for "doctor," and I had to pause and think of what the first initial of the doctor's last name was. Then it hit me: Make their last name start with "Dr."

This is what I see under the D's in my contacts list now:



The idea is marvelously simple:

If your contacts list is alphabetized by last name, add "Dr" before the doctor's last name.

If your contacts list is alphabetized by first name, add "Dr" before the doctor's first name.

This will group all of the doctors in your contacts together. And now you (and anyone else you trust with your phone) can easily find the contact info for your doctors!

Flashback Friday: Decrease Stress by Working Ahead

This post was originally published a year ago, and it's exactly the reminder I need right now.

Now that my kids are fully into the swing of two sports, I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that it adds to my plate. My kids adjust better to these changes than I do, and I like to think it's because my husband and I make it easy for them, but still ... I now have more to do and less time to do it, with the new practices and games added into our schedule. It's got me thinking a lot about time management and the joys of working ahead.

Teaching the Benefits of Time Management and Working Ahead

My oldest child is now in second grade, and has to do a monthly project, a weekly book report, and "regular" homework. Plus he's got the two sports, which means multiple practices and games each week.

Not surprisingly, we've had a tremendous opportunity to teach our son about time management, and how planning and working ahead can make life easier and less stressful.

For example, his teacher sends the book report form home on Monday and expects it back on Friday. But at our request, she gives it to us ahead of time so my son can do his book report over the weekend. That gives us one less thing to worry about during the week. And seeing how much easier his homework load is when he does his book report ahead of time has been an eye-opener for my son - it's a tangible demonstration of the benefits of working ahead.

Another example: The students are given about a month to complete their monthly projects, so it seems natural to us to start as soon as possible to get it done. Because of our busy schedule, there really aren't that many days that can accommodate extra work, but whenever there's a big block of unscheduled time (usually over the weekend), we tackle the project. Sometimes my son has to be reminded that he has to work on the project when he can because there aren't that many opportunities. He gets back on board with the plan whenever my husband or I point out how happy he will be to have it done and not be stressed the week before it's due because there's so much left to do.

That's why I'm shocked by how many of his classmates don't work ahead when given the opportunity - toward the end of each month, I discover that some of them haven't even started, and that others are less than half done.

At this age, projects are still very much parent-driven because they can't be completed without adult assistance and participation. And it's the rare child (though I hear they do exist) who bugs his or her parent to work on the school project.

I wish all parents would take the opportunity to teach their children time management and the joys of working ahead.

Working Ahead Works for Adults

Of course, as adults, many of us don't have great time management skills, and we often don't work ahead. And it's hard to teach what you don't know (or practice). I have to admit, that even though I have the ability, I often fail to manage my time well and don't fulfill my intentions to work ahead.

But I've discovered that Flylady's philosophy of I can do anything for 15 minutes works really well in helping me manage my time and get ahead. I started by managing my "hot spots" on a regular basis: I deal with the mail every night instead of letting it pile up on the dining table, I clear my desk (almost) daily, and I put away laundry right away. I've also developed an evening routine that makes my mornings easier.

Keeping these tasks off my plate has given me more time and energy to focus on other areas. Consequently, I am getting better at working ahead in the kitchen, and on this site, and at other projects. It's been interesting and rewarding to experience this trickle-down effect - and just as interesting (and far from rewarding) to see how quickly my productivity drops off (and my stress level rises) when I stop working ahead.

It's all a work in progress, but by consistently working ahead at one area of my life at a time, I'm increasing my productivity and decreasing stress!

Image via FreeDigitalPhotos.net by winnond.

Decrease Stress by Working Ahead {it's a skill that can be learned}

Now that my kids are fully into the swing of two sports, I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that it adds to my plate. My kids adjust better to these changes than I do, and I like to think it's because my husband and I make it easy for them, but still ... I now have more to do and less time to do it, with the new practices and games added into our schedule. It's got me thinking a lot about time management and the joys of working ahead.

Teaching the Benefits of Time Management and Working Ahead

My oldest child is now in second grade, and has to do a monthly project, a weekly book report, and "regular" homework. Plus he's got the two sports, which means multiple practices and games each week.

Not surprisingly, we've had a tremendous opportunity to teach our son about time management, and how planning and working ahead can make life easier and less stressful.

For example, his teacher sends the book report form home on Monday and expects it back on Friday. But at our request, she gives it to us ahead of time so my son can do his book report over the weekend. That gives us one less thing to worry about during the week. And seeing how much easier his homework load is when he does his book report ahead of time has been an eye-opener for my son - it's a tangible demonstration of the benefits of working ahead.

Another example: The students are given about a month to complete their monthly projects, so it seems natural to us to start as soon as possible to get it done. Because of our busy schedule, there really aren't that many days that can accommodate extra work, but whenever there's a big block of unscheduled time (usually over the weekend), we tackle the project. Sometimes my son has to be reminded that he has to work on the project when he can because there aren't that many opportunities. He gets back on board with the plan whenever my husband or I point out how happy he will be to have it done and not be stressed the week before it's due because there's so much left to do.

That's why I'm shocked by how many of his classmates don't work ahead when given the opportunity - toward the end of each month, I discover that some of them haven't even started, and that others are less than half done.

At this age, projects are still very much parent-driven because they can't be completed without adult assistance and participation. And it's the rare child (though I hear they do exist) who bugs his or her parent to work on the school project.

I wish all parents would take the opportunity to teach their children time management and the joys of working ahead.

Working Ahead Works for Adults

Of course, as adults, many of us don't have great time management skills, and we often don't work ahead. And it's hard to teach what you don't know (or practice). I have to admit, that even though I have the ability, I often fail to manage my time well and don't fulfill my intentions to work ahead.

But I've discovered that Flylady's philosophy of I can do anything for 15 minutes works really well in helping me manage my time and get ahead. I started by managing my "hot spots" on a regular basis: I deal with the mail every night instead of letting it pile up on the dining table, I clear my desk (almost) daily, and I put away laundry right away. I've also developed an evening routine that makes my mornings easier.

Keeping these tasks off my plate has given me more time and energy to focus on other areas. Consequently, I am getting better at working ahead in the kitchen, and on this site, and at other projects. It's been interesting and rewarding to experience this trickle-down effect - and just as interesting (and far from rewarding) to see how quickly my productivity drops off (and my stress level rises) when I stop working ahead.

It's all a work in progress, but by consistently working ahead at one area of my life at a time, I'm increasing my productivity and decreasing stress!

Sanity Saver: Update your calendar as events arise

I use Google Calendar to organize my life. I love it because I can use it to send myself email reminders, schedule repeating events, and more. I even color-code different types of events so that I can spot things at a glance.

At the end of each month, my kids bring home the next month's school calendar, filled with upcoming events. One of the main reasons I quit my full-time job and became a work-at-home mom is to be able to participate in and contribute to various school events, so that calendar is important to me.

A couple of weeks ago, when my kids brought home the February school calendar, I took it and entered relevant events into my own Google calendar while my kids were doing their homework. PTA meetings, fundraising events, etc. were all transferred. Where appropriate, I set up email reminders so I don't forget to go to a meeting, or to bake something for a bake sale.

Doing this calendar update right away has several benefits:

• I don't miss anything because I look at each event listed (and just skip the ones that aren't relevant to me, like fire drills).


• I have a good idea of what's coming up, so I can plan ahead. Whether it's buying baking mixes, arranging childcare, or something else, I can avoid last minute scrambles (and possible expenses).


• I get to toss the paper clutter right away, which is great because I've been working hard not to let paper clutter build up in new places (and working equally hard to get rid of existing paper clutter).


• I'm setting a good example for my kids. It's important to me to teach my children good time management skills. I want them to know how to plan ahead and be organized, so that they don't have the extra, unnecessary stress that comes from constant last minute emergencies.

How do you save your sanity?

Finding a Better Work/Life Integration

The back cover of USAA magazine always features a notable USAA member. One recent issue featured the CEO of Campbell's Soup Company, Denise Morrison. She said that instead of "work/life balance," she prefers to achieve "work/life integration."

I've decided I like that idea better too, especially since I now work at home and have found that trying to separate my various activities and roles doesn't work very well. But integrating them together - that's a concept I can work with.

Lately, I've found myself struggling to get everything done. It started at the end of last month, when my room parent responsibilities for both my sons' classes kicked in (organizing the class gift for both classes, plus some other obligations at school). And then there were the overwhelming number of deals to post, and all the plans I had for what I wanted to get done at home ...

I need better integration. I'm not sure exactly how to achieve it yet, but I wanted to give you a heads up, since if you're a regular reader, you've probably noticed that I've stopped the Evening Roundup in the last week. It's one of the ways I'm experimenting to see if I can be more productive overall.

Another thing I've been doing is decluttering like crazy. As you may already know, I'm a big believer in maintaining a stash of gifts to avoid last minute runs to the store before birthday parties. However, I realized that I've been keeping more than I need, so I donated over half of my stash to a toy drive. I also let go of some sentimental items, and am creating plans to let go of more sentimental items that I know we'll never use.

As I create space in my house, I've also been working hard to fill it intentionally. For example, I've earmarked the space created in my closet by donating all of those toys for the boxes that I keep our holiday decorations in. I'm excited about this, because moving those boxes will give me easier access to other boxes that I've been wanting to go through for a long time but kept avoiding. Being able to get to those boxes without having to move a whole bunch of others means I can go through those boxes in brief spurts - and breaking up a dreaded task into small parts makes it a lot more palatable.

Decluttering goes hand in hand with re-organizing, and organization is a huge key to integrating the different parts of my life. However, right now, I am not feeling quite so organized as I would like to be, and I think it shows in my house. We're hosting Christmas dinner, and this is one of those times that I will have to make use of what Flylady calls Crisis Cleaning. While not ideal, it does feel good to get the house cleaned and that gives me a good starting point from which to work toward maintenance so that crisis cleaning isn't necessary.

What are your best tips for work/life integration?


Banner ad via MySavings.com.

What I Learned About Switching Computers

I got a new laptop to work on, and I've spent a good part of the last two days adapting to my new computer. Here are a few key things I learned to save time during the switch:

• Back up your files - You should be backing up your files anyway, and since I do so much on my computer every day, I send myself a weekly reminder to download a back up of this blog, and another weekly reminder to back up my hard drive. This practice made transferring files to my new computer super easy. The only real problem has been setting up the library in iTunes, which just never seems to go very smoothy.


• Work online - Many services, including Google, allow you to store files online. By storing data in the "cloud," you don't have to worry about transferring anything.
  
• Sign into frequently used programs whenever possible - Browsers like Chrome and Firefox allow you to sign in, and will save your bookmarks, history, and even usernames and passwords. When you're using a new computer, all you have to do is sign in to the browser, and all of the icons and shortcuts that you're used to will be right at your fingertips again.


• You can transfer a lot - One extension in Firefox that I use all the time is called Clippings, which is a shortcut for pasting frequently used text. I was dreading having to recreate all of my Clippings, so I was beyond thrilled when a simple Swagbucks search revealed that I could transfer my Clippings from one computer to another. It saved me a ton of time last night.

This is my first new computer in three years, and I think things went a lot more smoothly this time than they did the last time. That's extra important to me because I'm doing more online and even offline on my computer than I've ever done. If you have a tip to add, leave it in the comments - I'd love to make the switch even easier!

Trying to Find a New Routine, Time Management, & Menu Planning Changes

This past weekend was a crazy whirlwind of sports for the boys, and it came after a week of newly scheduled practices. So although we're in week five of the school year, it's only now that I feel completely overwhelmed and off-kilter. (And I'm really glad school started early this year, so at least our morning routine is already set, and we've all gotten used to the homework load.)

We got a little unlucky this season, and all of our team practices are stacked early in the week, in the late afternoon. During what would normally be my dinner prep time. Weekends are pretty much taken up by games. (What should be a 1 to 1-1/2 hour game takes up 2 to 3 hours because of having to arrive early, etc. And sometimes there's not enough time to go home between games, so we can easily be at the fields for 5 hours or more.)

The thing is, it appears the kids can completely handle their schedule of school, homework, practices and games. I'm the one who's struggling to get them everywhere on time, make sure they are properly fed and watered, and their homework gets done - while also keeping up with blogging (my job!), housework, PTA volunteer work, cooking, shopping, and supporting my own friends. There's a lot of talk about overscheduling the kids, but in our case, I seem to have overscheduled myself!

I know that it will just take us me a couple of weeks to settle into a routine, and then I'll feel more settled down. But in the meantime, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all that's on my plate now - and so I'm wondering, what do you do when this happens?

My usual tactic is to make a list of things that need to get done and just tick them off one by one, prioritizing by urgency whenever possible but also tending to do the things I prefer over the activities I dislike most (e.g., I'll menu plan before I vacuum, even if the vacuuming needs to be done more). Crossing things off my list makes me feel more in control and less overwhelmed.

One thing that's always a big help is menu planning, not just because it helps me get dinner on the table, but because it also mentally prepares me for what the week and days are going to be like. I take into consideration what time we'll be getting home from the last place we'll be, and how much time I'll have to spend in the kitchen based on what I have planned for the day. So now that I (finally) have full schedules of the boys' various activities, I'm off to plan my menu for the rest of the month!

My Key to Getting Things Done: One Project Per Day

You might have noticed that my week-in-review posts have tapered off, and that's because I've been working hard to come up with a better time-management system based on The Rule of Three.

In a nutshell, I realized that I would greatly increase my productivity by limiting my focus to just a few things at a time. So I came up with the idea of focusing on one project/goal each day. Of course, some things need to be done every day, like exercise and cooking. But, here's what I'm planning on trying over the next few weeks:

Monday - Shopping & Batch/Freezer Cooking

Tuesday - Blogging

Wednesday - One or two of the following: Shopping, Batch/Freezer Cooking, Cleaning, Home Organization

Thursday - Blogging

Friday - Cleaning (I do my Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Fridays, so it makes sense to focus on cleaning the whole day)

I started following this plan last week and I felt like I got more things done. So hopefully that trend will continue as I get better at implementing it!


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The Military's "Rule of Three"

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading this article in Good Housekeeping, and was struck by the concept of the "Rule of Three," which is used by the U.S. military:

They've found that people can only track three things at once. The entire military system is designed to reflect this. A squad leader is in charge of three fire team leaders...." (When the military experimented with a "Rule of Four," notes Seelig, effectiveness dropped precipitously.)

I know this section got my attention because I've been struggling to accomplish all of my goals in multiple areas - housekeeping, cooking, blogging, health and fitness, home organization (which is distinct from housekeeping), financial goals, plus smaller projects like things I've taken on for the PTA. That doesn't even touch on the goals I'd like to add to my list, like educating myself more about investments.

The concept of the Rule of Three made me feel better about my struggles. It makes sense that I'm having a tough time because I'm trying to do too much, which makes it difficult to be effective at anything.

I feel like I need to combine the lessons of Eat That Frog! with the Rule of Three to maximize my productivity and minimize stress. (Because nothing creates stress like feeling overwhelmed!)

So . . . I'm working on these things right now:

Clarifying my goals per Eat that Frog. The clearer my goals, the clearer the things that need to be done in order to achieve them.

Working out a system to implement the Rule of Three. I don't want to reduce the number of things I want to accomplish, but I can focus on a few at a time, which will hopefully have the same effect as following the Rule of Three.

I am also hoping this book, Getting Results the Agile Way: A Personal Results System for Work and Life, will be a Kindle deal soon because it apparently discusses the Rule of Three in relation to productivity.

My Best Anti-Procrastination Tip

We all have them - days where we can't seem to find the motivation to do anything. To be honest, I'm having one of those days right now - so I'm using my best anti-procrastination tip, and I'm going to share it with you:

Make a short list of easy things to do - and then do them. The act of doing them will give you momentum to keep going.

There's a lot of truth to Newton's first law of motion (an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion). Like me, I think you'll find that doing something small leads to another something small, which in turn leads to another action. You may not get your "big" tasks done this way, but at least you've cleared the way for it.

And when you don't have all those little "energy drains" nagging at the back of your mind . . . you may find that you suddenly have the energy and desire to tackle a "big" task.

Note: For more on energy drains, I recommend Cheryl Richardson's Take Time For Your Life, which is a fantastic book on priorities and getting things done while still being good to yourself.

Two Tips to Save You Lots of Time in LA

Here are a couple of tips that you won’t use frequently, but could save you hours when you need them. The links are specific to Los Angeles and California, but you should look for similar opportunities in your area if you’re not local.

Tip #1: Make an appointment when you have to go to the DMV. I have done this twice now, and it just amazes me to see the people standing in a line that goes out the door and around the building when I can just walk in and be done with my business in fifteen minutes because I had an appointment. It’s easy to make an appointment online here.

Tip #2: Do your juror orientation online. This is a relatively new development, but if you are called into jury duty in Los Angeles County, you should be given the option of completing the orientation by watching online videos. It can delay the time you need to report to the courthouse by two hours or so (e.g., from 7:15 to 9:30). The training video did crash once and had to be restarted from the beginning. You’ll have to answer some questions during the training, but it’ll tell you the correct answer if you get one wrong. The certificate that you have to print is multiple pages, but you should only need the first page for proof of completion. You can learn more about online orientation here (click on the orientation link on the left).

I thought about adding a Tip #3: Check traffic maps before you leave for your destination. But in all honesty, the maps have never been particularly useful. I have found Sigalert.com to be far more accurate than Google Maps, but still takes some time to update. Unfortunately, the best advice when it comes to dealing with LA traffic is still: "Leave early."

Creative strategies for coping with rising costs - Part Three: Finding Time For Cost-Cutting Measures

In this series, Creative Strategies for Coping with Rising Costs, I will discuss the ways I am saving money and cutting costs in order to maintain our lifestyle as prices increase. You can read Part One: Back to Basics here and Part Two: The Drugstore Game here.

The first two part of this series discusses fairly time-consuming measures if you've never kept a price book or played The Drugstore Game. So in Part Three, I want to discuss ways to find the time to do these things. Unfortunately, there's no totally painless way - if you weren't doing these things already, you'll have to make some changes. My goal in this article is to suggest the easiest ways to make time.

Here are some ideas for finding blocks of time to implement your cost-cutting measures:

• If you work, use your lunch hour. You can take the weekly circulars and cell-phone pictures you've collected and enter them into your price book to get started. Or, if there's a drugstore nearby, you could head there at lunchtime. This is also a good time to plan a menu, if you are using meal-planning as a way to save money (bring the grocery store circulars to work so you can plan your menu around what's on sale).
• Trade baby-sitting time with a friend. You can watch her kids while she goes to the drugstore and vice versa.
• Create your price book with a friend who lives in your area. You can divide responsibilities by store or by category. Better yet, do both - trade the raw figures that you've collected, fill out the price book page for the items assigned to you, and then make copies of the pages so that you each have a complete book. Your price book will be done in half the time (even less if you get more than one friend involved).
  
• Go shopping after the kids are asleep. Personally, I hate shopping late at night, but I have friends who love it.
• Get your spouse on board. My husband is very accommodating about stopping at a drugstore on the way somewhere. If we're all together, I'll just run in and grab the deal I need, but he will also go by himself if I am clear about what the deal is.

These are the ideas I came up with. If you have suggestions to add, please leave a comment!

And remember, once you've created your price book and played The Drugstore Game a few times, the time commitment is greatly reduced.

Come back next Monday for the fourth part of the series on Unusual Ideas For Saving Money Without Reducing Your Standard Of Living. And don't miss the update on the first two posts in this series.

The Value of Your Time

I've been extremely busy, but it really hasn't been one major project, just everything combined. A big part of it is that I have chosen to do certain things myself rather than pay for them, most notably cook healthy meals and clean my house. It's made me ponder the value of my time, particularly since I work full time.

I've decided that at least for the moment, I am willing to spend the time cooking and cleaning for my family - we eat much healthier than we would if we paid for take-out, and our house is a lot cleaner now that I'm doing it myself instead of paying someone. However, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have Marc's full support, understanding and encouragement. It helps tremendously to keep the marital peace when we agree on how to spend our money.

For my part, I am working hard to streamline my tasks. I have become more diligent about my menu planning and am making more meals that can go into the freezer to free up time on weeknights. I have also learned to clean my house by breaking up jobs that I used to think needed to be done at once - for example, instead of vacuuming the whole house, I now vacuum only the top or bottom floor, and sometimes I only vaccum half of a level if I'm really pressed for time or just too tired. In a few months, I may decide these tasks are not worth my time after all. But for now, they are.

Learning How To Cook (Efficiently) - Financial Tip of the Week (Nov. 3)

This is the fifth and final installment in a series on saving money by cooking at home. Don't forget to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Cooking Skills
It's hard to cook without basic skills, and even experienced cooks continue to learn in the kitchen. For a few years now, I've been wanting to take a knife skills class at The New School of Cooking but haven't managed to work it into my schedule. I'm sure other cooking schools throughout the country offer similar classes, not just on knife skills but on other basic techniques as well.

However, you don't have to spend a lot of money to learn how to use a knife, or even to cook. I think that one of the best ways to learn these days is to watch Food Network. Several of the chefs are particularly good at teaching - for beginners, I recommend the shows Sara's Secrets, Food 911, How to Boil Water, Everyday Italian, and 30 Minute Meals. I think Semi-Homemade won't really teach you skills, but will give you the confidence to try a few things because they're so easy. Additionally, there are many websites with how-to videos and articles - take a look at Epicurious, Cooking Light, and Food Network (here and here; check out their list of safety tips, too).

But the single best way to learn how to cook is to just do it. As I discussed in Part 1 of this series, experimentation - even if it results in a failure of a meal - is still a success, because it makes eating at home fun and exciting.

The Efficient Kitchen
It's much easier to cook if your kitchen facilitates cooking rather than hinders it. When we moved into our house, the first thing I did was have additional countertops installed in what was supposed to be the breakfast nook. I couldn't understand how anyone could cook in a kitchen that didn't have any counter space!

Counter space is important, because you need room to do your prep work, like chopping and measuring. Give yourself plenty of room, and don't forget to put a plastic grocery bag on the counter to toss your garbage into. Keep the tools you regularly use within easy reach. And make sure there's some clear space next to the stove to make stove top cooking easier.

These tips from Cooking Light are intended to assist in designing a new or remodeled kitchen but some of them can be used to reorganize any kitchen. Find more tips here and here.

I hope you've enjoyed this series on how to save money by cooking at home, and that you've been inspired to eat a few more meals at home. Don't forget to invest the money that you've saved!