Being frugal with TIME

[speakmato]

And I don't mean the magazine

I'm talking about what you did to save on time. I find that we're often too concerned about spending too much money (or making more of it) that we trade time for it, time we could use to relax and enjoy our all-too-short lives. I once read an article in The New Yorker about how making more money or having more space (say in a suburban house) wasn't always "worth" the time basically wasted in a really long commute.

Of course, that's a personal decision and everyone has different desires and limits, but I'd like to know what tiny things (or not-so-tiny) you've done of late to save time as opposed to money. After all, time may well be the most precious resource of all.

For example, the other day I chose to use my cell to call 1800free411 for a listing instead of my landline, because when checking listings on cell you can ask it to send a text with driving directions. It's weird and seems to save an infinitesimal amount of time, but I didn't have to walk back to my office to check google maps to print that stuff out.

The other day I decided that I'd be putting my recyclable trash into old paper grocery bags instead of plastic trash bags (for the wet trash), allowing me to just toss the whole paper bag in instead of having to empty the bag (plastic bags are banned from the blue bin). It also had the added benefit of reducing all the paper bags I had lying around.

Very small things, I know, but once they become habits, you end up having more and more time you can spend at play or in meditation or whatever. Perfect for the hippie lifestyle

What did you do to gather up your desired seconds?

[Broken Arrow]

That's an excellent topic! I'm much more concerned about time management than I am with money management.... Time is finite and once it's gone, it's gone for good. At least with money, you can make it back.

I don't have any particular tips to share though... just that everything in my life is centered around being as time (and money) efficient as possible... down to the placement of my garbage cans, motion sensing lights, etc etc....

[sweeps]

I save both time and money by using online bill pay.

I also save a lot of time by using an RSS feed reader. I can quickly browse updates to lots of web sites without actually going to them.

[LuxLiving]

a productivity dashboard:

Free Time Management Software | RescueTime

[cheap]

I use online bill pay to save time. I also save time by having someone else clean my house. My time is worth more than I pay the housekeeper.

[LuxLiving]

I save time by not going into the metro area unnecessarily. The Hubster works there. If there's something I need to pick up, drop off, buy, or research, I ask him to do it on his lunch hour or on the way home. Saves me time, money and wear and tear on the vehicles.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I am not very frugal with time.

I have the luxury of lots of time, as I do not now earn any income and have sufficient income through my husband. This means I can do things the slow way: Garden with no power equipment and no chemicals. Walk to the store a couple times a week. Help out friends spontaneously when they are in a jam partly because of their own lack of time. Do things like start a pot of beans to soak in the morning, then be here to turn on the gas to cook them just the right amount of time to be ready for supper. Read for hours in a day if I want. Research ethical investment possibilities. Without planning ahead, accept the invitation for supper with a friend in whose garden I have worked one afternoon. Strike up a conversation with the woman also looking through the books for sale at the dollar store. Grate up the motel soap bars that were in the bathroom drawer to use them ore easily for washing laundry. Paint the exterior trim on the house rather than hiring it out. Meticulously attend my amaryllis collection. Stop and smell the roses--not just once in a while like some sort of wake up call, but every day, multiple times a day. I am very, very, very blessed to have so much time. I am waiting for my DH to have so much as well.

[Caoineag]

When running errands, I organize by location so no backtracking.

When cooking (especially since we usually do it from scratch), we make multiple items at a time or do something else entirely while the meal is cooking such as clean house.

I pay all my bills online.

If I need to buy something other than clothes, I do my research online and usually buy online so I don't have to go shopping at multiple stores to find stuff. (this tends to save time and money on the things I tend to buy)

Thats all I can think of at the moment but lots of multitasking on simple tasks tends to mean I keep most of my time free to do things I enjoy.

[LuxLiving]

I use ebay and paypal to do gift shopping. Just bought a little something for FrugalSon's birthday (not for a few months yet) in about 5 minutes time. Bought thru Buy-It-Now on ebay, paid thru paypal. SPEEDY!! No lines, no going from store to store, got him something he'll love, and it didn't cost me any gas (other than what shipping I had to pay) and no wear and tear on my vehicle. I'm happy with the process! I don't like in-person shopping.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

I am not very frugal with time.

I have the luxury of lots of time, as I do not now earn any income and have sufficient income through my husband. This means I can do things the slow way: Garden with no power equipment ..... I am very, very, very blessed to have so much time. I am waiting for my DH to have so much as well.

sounds wonderful!

unfortunatly with 3.5 kids I don't seem to have time even though I don't work..wonder if I am doing something wrong?

generally if it is free I do it the quick way (online bill pay and such) but if it costs money I tend to do it the slow cheap way.

Exceptions would be using the dryer (allergies/doesn't dry in house..to huimid) and other cleaning chores.

On the other hand, I hurry thru chores so I have more time to spend with the kids

[honeichild]

I pay bills online
I take my showers , lay out my clothes and lunch at night to make my mornings go smoother
I use my email calendar to remind me of things I need to do throughout the day.

[Secret Stash]

I need to learn how to be more frugal with my time. Sometimes I waste hours by just not doing anything worth while.

[getforfree]

I work 2 jobs now, so I don't have much spare time. I usually multitasking: do my laundry, cooking, and clean up at the same time.

I cook about 2-3 times a week only, but when I cook, I cook 5 different things at the same time, like soup, meatballs, pasta, baking something, it depends what I have in my pantry.

When I don't have enough time to go through my mail, I bring it with me to work, and go through it during my brake or lunch time. I brought a bag of sock and small stuff to be sorted with me a couple times to sort it at work to save time at home. I also brought clothes to iron a couple times to do it at my brake time. I usually get my eyebrows done at work, ( I don't do nails, but if I would do it, it would be done at work too.)

A lot of times I eat while driving to save time.

But I don't do anything that costs extra just to save time. Some people buy fast food, pay extra for goods at a convinience store, pay others to do some things for them. I don't spend extra on stuff like that.

[ParsnipsRhubarbCelery]

What a great post! (the first post at the beginning of the thread -- Being frugal with TIME) Sometimes, it seems there's not enough time in the day. Then, I see other people who seem to have all the time in the world, and I think, "how do they do that?!?" This is only my second post, so even though I'm drawing a blank, I want to think of something that helps save time....
[2 minutes later]
Okay... here's one: I spend *quality* time instead of *quantity* time. Quality time means really being attentive to what I'm doing (like living right here in the moment). If I'm really doing something with full in-the-moment attention (as opposed to daydreaming), I think I actually get things done faster (with less mistakes

[mikewoodbooks]

I wrote a book on saving time and there's a blog on my website with a bunch of time saving tips. A couple quick suggestions:

• Plan ahead. Wipe out small tasks during the week so that your weekends are completely free to tackle large projects.

• Use (what i refer to in my book) "the dilution solution". If you mow the lawn once every week (or go to the laundry, library or whatever) then start doing it once every nine days. Placed into effect on a number of areas, this adds up to a couple days saved over the course of the year.

• Don't waste time tossing and turning in bed. If you're not asleep within 5 minutes of laying down, then you're getting too much sleep (or you're hyped up on caffiene). Start staying up later and getting up earlier. Time spent laying there in bed wide awake doing nothing is unproductive

• The computer is a time suck. Because every answer in the world is there, and we are a curious species, people tend to watch youtube videos and constantly search this that and the other. Put yourself on a computer diet.

Hope these help. Good luck, mike

[Gailete]

Because of bad health, I rarely know when or if I will have the time or energy for an activity, so I try to make the most of what I can. For instance I try to wash the dishes from the last 24 hours while I'm cooking supper. If I have to be standing up I might as well keep doing things.

My delicate cycle of clothes takes 34 minutes to wash so many times when I dump them in I start the cleaning of the second floor (our washer is up there) and usually can have that done by the time the load is washed, then I can start a new load and hang my delicates up on the dryer rack to dry.

I try to find ways to save that may take some initial set up time, but after that it is automatic and I don't have to think about that again. Some of those things were automatic payments for my medicare supplements which saved me about $50 per year!

I try to do little things to save. I sat down and in about 10 minutes made a plastic bag holder dispenser out of some old fabric. I now have it next to the washer, so when I need to empty the trashcans upstairs, there are free bags up there already even if it takes 2-3. I'll be able to just refill them as needed--I had been going downstairs to get bags every time I needed to empty the trash. I save all our plastic grocery bags and can get quite a pile, but I also use them as padding when shipping things out that sell on ebay.

Getting into a good time saving habit can take awhile, but it pays off once you are doing it. I have now been living in our house for a year and have learned it oddities and how to save time doing things. Even now that I have observed how the sunshines during each part of the year, I'm better at shutting and opening the curtains for passive solar heating/cooling.

[financialnut]

PLAN!

There is no substitute!

Here's what my wife and I do:

Every Sunday evening right before the busy week is to begin, we sit down together (planners in hand) and schedule things for the week. We plan our weekly date, her work schedule vs mine, when we'll shop, and other important things.

Because I believe that your TIME with your family is the most important thing, I think you should include your family in how you're scheduling those valuable minutes of your life.