How Can Setting Up Fall Routines Save My Time and Money?
School’s back in, and let me tell ya, chaos is knocking at the door! If you wanna save some time and cash as the fall craziness unfolds, you've hit the jackpot with today’s chat. We're diving into how to whip up some smart routines that will bless both your fam and your wallet. Forget the frantic mornings and last-minute takeout runs; I’ve got the goods to help you kick that chaos to the curb. So grab your favorite drink, kick back, and let’s figure out how to keep our cool and save some dough this season. Wondering where to start? Let’s tackle this big question together: How Can Setting Up Fall Routines Save My Time and Money?
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As summer fades and school kicks back in, the chaos of daily life can hit hard. We’re diving into how to build smart routines that not only keep the family on track but also save some serious cash. Ralph kicks things off by reminiscing about the wild mornings when his kids were younger, juggling school bags and breakfast while trying not to lose his marbles. The truth? Last-minute chaos can drain your wallet faster than you can say 'takeout'. Today’s big idea? Routines aren’t about restrictions—they’re about creating a rhythm that brings peace to your home. So, grab a cup of coffee (or tea, if you’re feeling fancy), and let’s chat about how to identify those chaotic moments in our lives and turn them around with simple tweaks. Whether it’s prepping the night before or planning meals ahead of time, small changes can make a huge difference. By the end of this episode, you’ll be ready to tackle the fall season like a pro, with a budget that doesn’t scream at you every time you open it. Let’s get this organized chaos under control!
Takeaways:
- With school back in session, it’s the perfect time to create routines that save money and time.
- Building smart routines can help your family avoid chaos and reduce stress during busy mornings.
- Identifying just one chaotic point in your week can lead to significant improvements in your daily life.
- Implementing simple changes, like meal prepping, can save you from last-minute takeout and chaos.
- Stewardship is about more than just money; it's also about managing your time and energy wisely.
- A well-structured routine not only saves money but also honors God by promoting order in our lives.
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00:00 - Untitled
00:04 - Building Smart Routines for Fall
00:49 - Building Fall Routines for Financial Peace
03:58 - Understanding Chaos in Daily Routines
05:48 - Planning for a Smooth School Year
09:04 - Transitioning to Fall Meal Planning
Ralph
School's back in, activities are starting and chaos is creeping in. Do you want to save time and money as fall unfolds? Well, join me today as we build some smart routines that bless your family and your budget.Because I've got the solution for eliminating the chaos on today's show.This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence. Hey there and welcome back to Financially Confident Christian. Hey, I'm Ralph and we're in our series Smart Money for Back to School and beyond.Now yesterday we talked about how to teach your kids money habits and we talked about how to start that early. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to check it out. Hey, you can find all of our episodes at financiallyconfidentchristian.com.now today we're going to go in a new direction. We're going to be talking about building fall routines that reduce stress and increase your savings.Hey, I remember when my kids were younger we got into that summer routine and along came the school year and is back to get into that fall routine. And that can be a time of chaos, like I mentioned earlier, and can cause a lot of stress and also cost you some money.See, the truth is summer's slow pace is getting ready to be gone. If you're listening to this when it's actually released, we're not too far away from that.And if you're like my family, mornings can be frantic and then when the kids get home from school in the evenings, it's completely disorganized and, and takeout, yeah, takeout. Food becomes the norm and before long, if you're not paying attention, deadlines are getting missed and stress builds.And here's my big takeaway for today, why I talk about it on today's show. Money leaks through last minute chaos. Because if you're like my family life feels more reactive and not intentional.And hey, we just did a whole series about living intentionally. But here's the thing I want you to understand today. Routines are a gift. They're not a prison. Let's get to the word.Let's look at the book of First Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 40. And it says this, everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.Now you say that to your kids and be like, oh, sure, that sounds good, mom and dad, but you know, back to school is not necessarily an orderly way, but that's what the word says. Let's look at the Book of Ephesians chapter 5, verses 15 and 16.It says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. Because I love the ending of this because the days are evil. That pretty much stands on its own. But let's look at this one.This is from the book of Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 23. And it says this. And I think this is a good way to cap off our scripture for today. All hard work brings a profit. All hard work brings a prophecy.Stewardship isn't just about money. It'd be easy for me to talk to you about, hey, let's do this for money. Let's do this, this, and we'll all be set. But stewardship's bigger than that.Stewardship is also about your time. It's about your energy. It's about a rhythm. And hey, if we do it all right, it's about peace.Because routines in the end are a spiritual act of alignment. So you might be saying, Ralph, okay, I'm on the same page as you. Let's figure this out. What can we do? Well, here's my solution for today.I want you to really identify one chaotic point in your week and apply a time saving, money saving tweak. So here's your one action step for today. I want you to start by identifying just one chaos point. Hey, maybe for you it's that morning routine.Getting the kids ready, getting the bags packed and all that sort of thing. Maybe that's what it is. Or maybe for you it's dinner time. Dinner times can be tough. We got homework to worry about.Maybe we're shuffling this one to this extracurricular or something like that. Sports going on, that can be chaotic. And then how about Sunday night chaos? That can be something too. Just name it.I'll tell you a story about my boys right now because this will really bring this home completely. So picture this. My two boys. Now, my oldest son, he's a very precise guy. I mean, he is always on time.In fact, if it was time to leave at 7:30, he was walking out the door at 7:29. There's no excuses, no, no room for flexibility for him. He's. He's tapping on his watch. It's all about the schedule.Now my other son is a different story. I mean, my youngest son, no worry, no hurry. So picture this. My one son, the oldest is sitting at the door tapping on his watch.He has got his backpack on. He's ready to go out the door. My other son is just now starting to make his way down the steps from his bedroom on the second floor.He's got shirt half dressed, he's disheveled, and it's now already 7:30. And inevitably, the battle would ensue. Unfortunately, my wife became the referee on the way to school.We used to call it the MMA battle in the backseat of her car. And that's what I'm talking about when I say chaos. So maybe your chaos looks something like that. So identify it. That's where we're going to start.Second thing I'm going to encourage you to do is brainstorm some solutions. You know, we did this, for example, maybe in the mornings, you prep those clothes. The night before, lay out the clothes.Especially if you got real young children, lay out the clothes ahead of time. Maybe you packed the lunches the night before. One of the things that we did is we made sure those backpacks were ready to go.My wife actually bought a bench that sat sort of on the way out the door. And every night before she went to bed on a school night, she'd make sure both of their backpacks were lined up and ready to go.Now, of course, picture my two kids. The one is very regimented. The other one, not so much. My oldest son, his stuff was always precise. Everything was zipped up.My youngest son, man, there was stuff hanging out the sides. That's for another day, but that could be your morning. And that may be a brainstorming solution for the mornings. For dinners, how about this?Plan meals and shop on Sunday. You know, one of the things that my wife became, and I'll use it just kind of funny way of saying it, but my wife was the queen of the crock pot.And the crock pot really saved us because we weren't scurrying around and say, okay, what kind of takeout we going to get? But we planned those things. Or I should say, better. She planned them. I can't take credit for that.You know, I made sure we got our shopping done on Sunday, so that by the time that Monday morning rolled around, we were ready to go. So that's the second thing. Brainstorm some solutions. And then I don't want you to do too much. I just want you to implement one change.Just pick one small change and start it when school goes back. And if you're listening to this and school's already started, start it this week. And here's another little bonus tip. Budget for helpful tools.So maybe you need to find a planner. You know, one of the things that one of My customers told me about.One of my clients says, hey, you know, we do during the school year, Ralph, we bought one of those, the plastic calendars that you put on the wall. And we just wrote everything that's going on for the next month. I thought that was a great idea.Or maybe you need to become the queen of the slow cooker as well. So get something like that or maybe some bins or containers. But if it truly helps you plan and purchase intentionally.Because my whole goal with all the things I've talked about today is to really help you reduce your stress and also reduce that scattered spending. Because with chaos comes scattered spending, and that could put you in a down spiral for, for your budget. It also helps boost family peace.Listen, there wasn't much we could do about the two of ours. Like I said, it was literally MMA in the back seat.But if you have a plan, if you've got a routine and a rhythm, I think it's really going to promote family peace. It also certainly increases consistency and it increases clarity. And here's the thing it does in the end, it honors God with structure and order.As the scripture said, God loves structure and he loves order. So let's pray together right now. Father God, we just thank you for the gift of time and the gift of structure.And Lord, we confess, we often let schedules overwhelm us. So we just ask that you would help us create rhythms that reflect your peace.Show us where we can save time, Lord, and money through this order and really not get stuck in that chaos. And we just ask that you would give us discipline to follow through and more importantly, Lord, joy in the process.And we ask this in boldness and in confidence and in Jesus name, amen. Listen, Fall doesn't have to feel frantic. It certainly doesn't have to feel chaotic.Smart routines are your secret to peace and they're your secret to saving. So again, I'm going to encourage you now. Identify your one chaos point and work on tweaking it this week.Just take one at a time and hey, maybe you do one a week and over a month or two, you can get all that chaos knocked out. Now, while I'm talking about chaos, one of the things I would love for you to do is share the show with somebody else.Maybe they've got that chaos going on in their lives. Maybe you've heard stories of your girlfriend or somebody told you, hey, guess what? I got this kind of craziness going on in my house.Share the show with them, send them a text, send them an email. Share it with friends and family who may need the same idea that we talked about.Just send them to financiallyconfidentchristian.com and say, hey, this guy Ralph, he's got some great ideas on how to get ready for back to school. Now tomorrow we're going to be talking about intentional fall meal planning.I'm going to show you how to save money and eat better, so I'm going to encourage you not to miss it. Now let's all go out there today and be financially confident Christians. You can do this. I truly believe in you.Believe in yourself, stay financially savvy, God bless you, and you have a great day.