Prioritized Living

Stop Hiding from Your To-Do List

Happy 4th of July!

With any luck, you’ve got yourself a cool three-day weekend with some extra time for relaxation! Maybe you finally plan to do that nagging item that’s been sitting on your to-do list for ages.

We’ve all got at least one thing on our to-do lists (or one scheduled activity on our time maps) that simply never gets done:

You always have eight items on your list but can never get through more than four.
You have 30 minutes blocked off in the morning for working out, but it never happens.
You have a backlog of years of family photos that you’ve been meaning to organize forever.
You can never find the time to meet up with your buddy to play basketball.

What’s holding you back from finally crossing that sticky task off your to-do list? [Read more…]

Make It From Scratch: Address Labels

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

How much money are you spending on return address labels?

Do you spend cash again and again to order customized labels online or from a mailer? Do you use free address labels sent to you by your alma mater or charities — even though you hate the design and your name is misspelled? Do you you spend hours hand-printing your return address on Christmas cards in lieu of spending for labels?

There’s a better way.

You can print your own address labels right at home.

For about 1¢ per label, you can create a peel-and-stick label with any font, color scheme, and image of your choosing. It’s cheap. It’s easy . . . and it’s fun! [Read more…]

Easy Ways to Save Thousands on Your Wedding

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Buy anything that’s labeled “wedding” and you’ll get the marital markup.

Weddings are not cheap. Some people save for years. Some hit up well-to-do relatives. Others solicit donations or even go into debt to pay for the nuptials of their dreams.

Before you elope in frustration though, consider these areas where you can save thousands of dollars on the final bill. [Read more…]

9 Valuable Tips for Negotiating Down to a Part-Time Schedule

Before our son was born, my husband and I took a hard look at our schedules.

We thrived as a couple holding down full-time jobs, but we wanted to carve out more time together as a family of three. We wanted to find more balance than our busy schedules allowed while still enjoying the personal and financial benefits of employment in our chosen fields.

After weighing our options, my husband and I made the decision for me to seek a part-time schedule.

According to an article on WorkOptions.com, the quickest (and arguably the most reliable) way to get that coveted part-time, professional schedule is to get that arrangement in your current place of employment. Making that dream a reality means convincing your company of the merits of your part-time plan.

Here are some tips for navigating that corporate road: [Read more…]

Why Budgets Fail (Part 2)

This post is part 2 in the series Why Budgets Fail.

If you’re just tuning in, click here to read Part 1 of this series.

Your budget is too simple.

Does your budget have only a few items on it? Maybe housing, clothes, and food?

If your life is more complicated than a hermit’s, your budget needs to reflect that. You’ve got a kid in college, a gym membership, a family vacation, a newspaper subscription, vet bills — the list goes on and on.

Don’t gloss over the hidden and forgotten expenses in your life when you make your budget, or your budget’s simplicity will be your downfall. [Read more…]

Why Budgets Fail (Part 1)

This post is part 1 in the series Why Budgets Fail.

Are you hiding from your budget?

You’ve gone to the trouble of creating a financial plan for you or your family, but you’ve thrown it out in exasperation. It just doesn’t work! Why even bother?

Your budget may have failed you for one of these (fixable!) reasons: [Read more…]

Quick Tip: Setting a Timer

List a handful of tasks you just hate to do — those things that you really can’t even bring yourself to start. Of course, the problem you run into is that those things never get done. Then they turn into larger, even less appealing tasks. It’s a vicious cycle.

The secret to tackling one of these tasks is just starting. If you can’t commit to finishing your chore, commit to focusing on it for even just a brief period of time. [Read more…]

Mistakes You’re Making With Your To-Do List

Morning dawns and the race to accomplish the host of tasks on your to-do list begins. Your list of must-do activities propels you through your day, but is it steering you in the right direction?

Streamline your life by eliminating these mistakes you might be making with your to-do list: [Read more…]

Getting Your Stuff Together: Don’t Start from Scratch

Have you ever wanted to torch your entire house so that you could start over without the mess?

Shortly after my son was born — while we were still trying to figure out which end of the kid was up — we started to get behind on the dishes. A tiny pile of used plates and pans began to turn into a full-blown mountain range of stuff. I was sorely tempted to trash everything so I could have an empty sink and clean counters again.

Do you too feel as though you’ve lost control over some space? Maybe it’s an area of your home, your office, your purse, your garage, or your hidden kitchen counters. Whether the problem is a new one or an issue that’s been plaguing you forever, you don’t have to start from scratch to get organized.

Get your stuff together quickly by taking advantage of the fact that you’re more organized than you realize. [Read more…]

Stop Buying These Money-Wasters: 7 Fast and Fool-Proof Foods You Can Make at Home

The supermarket is ripping you off.

In less time than it takes you to drive to the store, pick up some staple food item, and return home, you could have done all of the prep work to make it yourself – and for a lot less. Some of these items (like croutons, baby food, and yogurt) may seem mysterious and difficult to create at home, but they are fast and near-foolproof to create in your own kitchen.

As a bonus, yours will probably be tastier than what you could pick up at the store . . . and you will save a ton of money without spending a ton of time.

Here are seven foods that you can make super-fast and easily at home on the cheap.

Read the rest of my recently published blog post on Money Pantry!