7 EASY TIPS TO SAVING TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY! Take a regular old-fashioned egg-timer or just use your alarm clock. Set it for ONLY five minutes. THE MISSION : To see how much straightening the family can do before the bell rings. Assign all tasks before the clock starts ticking.

Saving You: Time, Energy & Money!

For example:

• Mommy is in charge of things that go into the garbage.
• My son is in charge of toys.
• My daughter is in charge of putting clothes & shoes away.
• The baby is in charge of putting away books and magazines.
• Daddy is in charge of the timer and picking the special treat when we're done.

Ready…set…go!

You ought to see the kids scamper. Even after the bell rings they scurry along trying to finish up tasks. During the five minutes, occasional “turf wars” erupt like “Hey! I'm in charge of books, and you put one away!” Or “I finished all the clothes; can I help put away toys?” Then everyone converges on Big Dan to see what treat he'll select. It can be anything from riding bikes, to watering plants outside with the hose to ice cream cones. It's amazing what a family can accomplish in five minutes. The time-frame is short enough to make it challenging and hold their interest, yet long enough to make a difference in the housework. Try it and see!

2. Time & Energy:

Aluminum Foil should be your best friend when cooking something in the oven. Anything from Cookies, to meats, or lasagna will be made better by lining the pan, pot or cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Then when you're done with your meal, clean up is a snap! Your food sticks to the foil not the pan. Just toss the aluminum foil, rinse your pan and you're done! No scrubbing or soaking required.

3. Time & Energy:

Get each member of your family a twelve pack of same color, same logo/stripe socks. Pick a different color stripe or logo for each person's twelve-pack. For example:

• My husband wears: white ankle socks with blue & red logo
• My son wears white ankle socks with blue logo
• My daughter wears white eyelet ankle socks
• I wear ankle socks with black logo
• The baby wears white no-slip baby socks

Next, (and this is important) bag, donate or throw away all the other socks in your home. From now on, sorting the laundry will be a total breeze! It will save oodles of time and energy because each sock you pull out of the dryer will have twenty three other socks that match it. No more fishing around for the dryer or laundry basket for the one precise sock matching sock. Added bonus: The maximum number of mismatched socks we can possibly have in our house is 5 at any given time.

4. Energy:

Create cubbies using an old bookshelf or milk crates with each family member's name on their cubby. Put the shelf right next to your dryer. Now as clothing is removed from the dryer it can be folded and placed in the cubby of the appropriate person. This automatically sorts clothes with no extra effort. Cubbies stay organized so much better than baskets or bags.

5. Time & Money

Never have any time to read a book, take a class, learn a foreign language or even study the Bible? Get audio books for your commute. There are people who have learned a new language and gotten degrees, higher paying jobs etc. just by listening to books on tape, CD or MP3.

6. Time & Money

Give the free grocery delivery option a try if available at your area grocery store. You can schedule a delivery time that works for your schedule, send them your shopping list and viola! Your groceries come to you. If anything is less than fresh or doesn't meet your approval, most stores refund your money with no hassle. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

7. Time & Money

Never waste money by paying full price on groceries again, and never waste time clipping coupons out of the paper. Use free printable grocery coupons! Just click and print grocery coupons from our website. http://www.workingmom.com/coupons.htm