• Home
  • About
  • DIY
    • Easy Diy’s
    • Simple Table Settings
    • Holiday Diy’s
  • Fashion
  • Budget
    • Wedding
    • Travel
    • Money Saving Tips
  • Interiors
    • Decorating Tips
    • Makeover Inspiration
    • Room Reveals
    • Shop the Room
  • Contact
  • Workshops

A Plentiful Life

Money Saving Tips

How to Automate Simple Tasks

August 1, 2018

 

How to automate simple tasks to free up time.Life seems hectic lately, anyone else feel this? It seems there is not enough time in the day to get everything done, or maybe I’d rather hang out with Mark than worry about mundane life tasks, lol. I’ve been thinking about what’s important to me lately and realized being present, spending time with Mark, making space for friends, creating healthy meals and somewhere in there doing something active are top of the list. Doesn’t leave a lot if time for all the extra tasks I’m trying to do.

How do I automate my life? It might sound ridiculous but there are certain tasks I want to have off my plate. Let’s explore what I can have automated.

How to automate your life by getting tasks to work in the background
Here are 5 tasks you can automate tomorrow to free up time in your life.
1. Set up online payments for all your bill’s

This is one step that will take an afternoon to set up but once it’s done you don’t have to worry about paying any bill’s. You’ll simply receive the reminder email and on the same day every month your bill will be paid. The nice thing about setting up bill payment on line is you can set the payment date. By setting the payment date you can spread out all your bills throughout the month or pay them all on the same day, whatever works best for you. The only piece you have to do after is file the paperwork.

2. Order your groceries online.

Not sure about this one?  Honestly try it one week!  Have your groceries delivered and you never have to leave your house. I’ve tried Superstore and Save On, both were successes. This option helps me stay on budget, only buy what I need and easily shop for weekly deals. If you are curious about this process check out my previous article about Meal Planning.

3. Create an account to help with social media.

If you use any form of social media you should look into apps to help you plan your feed. I’m only starting on this piece but already can see the value. Being able to plan and schedule content has taken stress away, let me enjoy blogging more and made it easier to prep content. It’s a game changer. Some apps I am loving Planoly, Tailwind and Later.

4. Pay yourself first

It’s the old saying, but it works! Each week I know how much I should be saving so I automatically split that money between my RRSP and TSA. This way it’s not in my account and what’s left is for bill’s and fun! I’m never overspending because my bank account reflects the money I have to spend, not my total savings.

5. Watch for travel deals in the background.

In Canada nothing is more expensive or stressful than trying to book an affordable flight! Last year some friends told us about the Hopper and it’s already saved us a huge amount of money. Here is an example, every year we fly to see my family during the holidays. It’s a 55 minute flight. 2 years ago it cost me $1500 for two people. I tried Hopper this past year, received a notification at 11pm on a Wednesday and booked two roundtrip flights for $400! That’s 26 percent of the previous years total.

I’m not automating my life to sit at home and be a sloth. On the contrary, by automating a handful of tasks I’ve freed up so much time, which I can now spend with Mark or friends or biking or cooking or making a diy, the options are endless!

A Plentiful Life Affordable Bargainista budget Frugal Frugalista groceries online hopper how to automate money saving Money Saving Tips more time On a Budget panoply Saving Money tailwind time saver

Previous How Pinterest Can Take Meal Planning Next Level
Next National Thrift Shop Day

Related Posts

Meal Planning – Can It Save Money

Small Space Gardening – Part 1 Planting...

Gifts Under $50

Primary Sidebar

Tijana Popovc

A frugalista who hunts for great deals, try's her best to budget and navigates life as honestly as she can. I love thrift shopping, do it yourself projects, exploring the trails by our house, all the flowers, and spending time with the love of my life Mark.
Find out more

Newsletter

Categories

Pinterest

  • DIY dining room chairs, a makeover with paint and velvet.  Check out these black cane back dining room chairs. An easy DIY using Rust-Oleum flat black paint.
  • DIY side table.   Paint can transform, these side tables are proof.
  • DIY Upcycled Side Tables  With a few tools, a little bit of time and some time, these side tables were transformed.
  • DIY side tables.  See how these side tables were upcycled with a piece of wood and spray paint!
  • Create whatever look you want with this DIY leaf printed tea towel.   All you need is some paint and leaves!
  • An easy floral crown.  Want to make a floral crown for a party or baby shower or girls weekend? It's easier than you think.
Follow Me on Pinterest

Archives

Categories

About

About

Hi I am Tijana and my mission is to show you how to live your best life on a budget to create A Plentiful Life!

Newsletter

03.10.18 5 Years. 1. Our wedding dance. A random 03.10.18

5 Years.

1. Our wedding dance. A random, simple picture I saw on my computer. I feel like it could be a regular Tuesday night in the kitchen with Mark saying something funny and me laughing. Add in two toddlers, probably screaming for a group cuddle, just out of frame.

2. Second Date, 9 years ago.

3. DIY photobooth photos. I love these photos. We look at them every year. I always roll my eyes where I can see the night takes a turn and the backdrop is halfway ripped down, but it cost $40, sooooo...worth it. 

4. Evie, Poppy, and Mama. The photobooth was supposed to be an early surprise for our anniversary as the 5th year is wood. It's an old-school wooden photobooth that happens to be set up in North Van right now, but Mark got really sick. Instead, we did a girl date, had croissants, bubbly water, photobooth photos, and a craft session. 
 
I'm posting this early because I'm signing off social media for a bit. Life with two 3 year olds is full and takes a lot of energy. Marks business is thriving, and I need to be able to support in any way I can. Plus, if I have an extra 10 minutes, I probably should be doing some self care, not scrolling on my phone. 

✌️
Have you ever been shopping at your local Salvatio Have you ever been shopping at your local Salvation Army thrift store and looked up? There is so much to discover in the aisles above the racks. Everything you need for a fun and connected long weekend with the family. 

Games, puzzles, colouring, and more! I was excited to find a floor puzzle and a few games for our younger kids. All 3 games and the puzzle only cost $12! A great investment and definitely something that will get good use in our house for many years. 

Any plans for the long weekend? Going out of town or staying home, I would definitely suggest a quick stop at your local Salvation Army thrift store to discover all of the wonderful items to keep your family entertained all weekend long.

#aplentifullifethrifted #thriftstorefinds #thrifted #salvationarmythriftstore #thriftedgames #thriftedpuzzles #thriftkids #thriftkiddies
Last one, I swear! 🤭 Swipe to see the inside o Last one, I swear! 🤭

Swipe to see the inside of the rainbow cupcakes. Honestly, so easy, and they look great! Next time, I might reverse it and make rainbow icing and plain cupcakes, a bigger wow factor. BUT three year olds LOVE sprinkles, so this worked.

🌈✨️🧁
THREE! 🦄 🎉 🌈 I had a lot of fun with thi THREE! 🦄 🎉 🌈

I had a lot of fun with this one! Do you think I accomplished this on a budget? You bet I did! The only thing about being on a budget is that it can be a bit more labour intensive. 

I used cookie cutters again, which makes for easy prep. I cut out all of the sandwich pieces in advance and froze the rice krispies oncee they were made. The rainbow cupcakes I baked in advance and froze, so it was easy to take them out and ice the day of the party.

As for the decor, from the dollar store: 3 bags of balloons, 10 streamer rolls, and 2 unicorn felt banners. Plus leftover string, tape and a Happy Birthday kit, which included the foil balloons and rainbow balloons. Total: $32.50

Now that might not be the cheapest decor but when balloon garlands sell for hundreds of dollars, I think that's a pretty good budget
Yup, I'm that mom. 🫣😂 My kids will be embar Yup, I'm that mom. 🫣😂

My kids will be embarrassed by my enthusiasm one day, but until then, I'm bringing it full force. A few friends sent me photos, and I looked like this in most of them.
TWO! I thought we'd have a big party to FINALLY ce TWO! I thought we'd have a big party to FINALLY celebrate our girls last year but then another lockdown. We had a few family members, and it was nice, but I still went all out! 

Super affordable decor: cookie cutters, $1.99 plants, and butterflies (I think this was a set of 50 for not that much). I also bought secondhand butterfly wings for the kids to wear. 

The cookie cutter adds a level of fun to the food and a bit of themed decor to the table. Butterflies were easy to add throughout our house. Plants ended up outside on our front stoop afterward. 

PS I won the balloon garland! That would be a big party splurge.
The kids have taken over the bath! I wanted to fin The kids have taken over the bath! I wanted to find a nice storage solution for my bath essentials that didn't take up a lot of room. To find what I needed, I headed to the kitchen section of my local Salvation Army thrift store. You might not think the kitchen area is where you'd find bath supplies, but I was looking for something different.

I was so happy to find this heavy cheese plate with dome. It would keep all my bath supplies safe from small children. Then I fell in love with this terracotta pot for my Epsom salts, along with a porcelain spoon, simple candle, and small glass vessel for the matches.

The matches I found at the dollar store, they were long bbq matches, so I cut them to size and taped the striker onto the bottom. I love how it turned out, and I was able to use this secondhand glass jar in a new way!

Don't worry, the kids' toys are still there, I thrifted a small little basket to keep everything contained and in ONE corner.

#aplentifullifethrifted #thriftstorefinds #thrifted #thriftedbath #relaxingbath #momtime #selfcare #budgethome #affordabledecor
Copyright © 2023 A Plentiful Life
Theme by SheShoppes

Copyright © 2023 · Avondale for Genesis on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in