1. Groceries
Check out your local grocery store’s website to find out about grocery deliveries right to your door. You’ll probably have to create an account but once all your info is in, you can do some really great stuff like save shopping lists, get recipes, and more. Being able to save lists is a really great time saver because you could have a “basics” list with all your main household items and the next time you order groceries all you have to do is add on to it. Many stores’ sites also feature recipes that are in categories such as Kid Friendly, Italian, Healthy, Vegetarian, etc. so you can get dinner ideas and order all the ingredients in one place! You just decide the window of time in which you’d like your groceries delivered and “voila,” everything you need for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s lunches. Now if only you could order someone to put them away for you...
Recommended Sites: www.Safeway.com & www.WholeFoods.com
2. Transportation
Raise your hand if you love your commute to work... anyone? According to a 2007 Gallup survey, the average American spends thirty to sixty minutes commuting to work each day. For a lot of people, using public transit may be less stressful than their current commute (45% of Americans think theirs is), and definitely less expensive. If your commute requires a bridge toll or daily parking fees, by the time you’ve factored in the cost of gas and mileage put on your car, most people would find it significantly less expensive and less stressful to use public transportation.
If you live in a city, a shared car service may be able to better fit your needs. If you want regular access to a car but don’t want to deal with the hassle of ownership then maybe a shared car service is what you’re looking for. Zipcar is a national shared car service, customers go online to create an account and are then able to reserve cars for a few hours or entire days, then go pick up the car and off you go! The reservation fee includes gas and insurance.
To help simplify your life check for local shared car services and public transportation routes in your area. Though my life requires that I own a car, public transportation gets my vote for the commute to work. Sunday evenings I update my favorite Podcasts, create a new playlist or two, and sync my iPod. In the morning I grab my coffee travel mug, iPod, and purse and head for the bus. I spend the next twenty minutes catching up on world events and Angelina’s latest adoption scandal while sipping my java and letting the bus driver worry about getting me there.
Recommended sites: www.Publicroutes.com, www.Zipcar.com & iTunes
3. Community forums
Craigslist tops my list for best community forums because it’s just got so much variety. There’s a jobs section, for sale section, and Best of Craigslist section. With this site I can sell my 3-year-old’s old clothes, buy a treadmill, and read about community activities. Mamasource’s website is a great forum for parenting advice, questions range from potty training to summer camps to products that are safe for kids with sensitive skin and allergies. Meetup.com is a community forum that connects people with others who share the same interests. There are a plethora of groups and all you have to do is put in your interest and zip code to find similar people in your area. Are you looking for hiking trails that are stroller friendly? Or join a mommy-and-me swimming class. Whatever you’re looking for, these types of sites and ones like them are great resources for parents because they offer first hand information and recommendations about services, products, and offer great advice.
Recommended sites: www.Craigslist.com, www.Mamasource.com, & www.Meetup.com
4. Children
Whether you have one kid or five, everyone can use an extra hand when it comes to getting ready for school in the morning, driving to after school activities, doing laundry, making lunches, helping with science fair projects and any myriad of other things. I think that the simplest and best bang-for-your-buck option here is an au pair. For about $7 an hour you’ll get full time childcare, having an au pair not only will simply life it will enhance it! The big advantage here is that with other childcare options like a nanny, you have to commit to a pretty set schedule, but with an au pair you can change it by the month, the week, even by the day. You get to tailor your au pair’s work schedule around your needs, she/he can work the exact times you need!
Just imagine coming home from work to your kids sitting at the dinner table, homework completed, a load of laundry going, and their lunches for tomorrow already made? You wouldn’t think it could get better, but now imagine all of that plus a regular date night! Your au pair could work for an hour in the morning to get the kids ready for and dropped off at school, then pick them up afterwards and take care of all the ballet classes, soccer practices, piano lessons, and homework help till you get home (that’s roughly 20 hours per week so far), and every Friday night you the hubby get alone time. You could even schedule the au pair to work an extra hour in the evening for, dare I suggest it, time for you to go to the gym!
Recommended sites: www.AuPairCare.com & www.SmartAuPairs.com
5. Family calendars
Have trouble keeping track of soccer schedules, ballet classes, your husband’s work travels, groceries, and your own appointments? I can barely keep track of my favorite pen, let alone trying to remember where everyone is supposed to be and when. There are some really great websites that can help keep everything organized with things like family calendars that give each family member a different color for their appointments, will sync to an iPhone or PDA, and send email alerts to any address added to your family profile. Cozi.com even lets you keep a grocery list that can be printed and emailed. Google has a calendar application that’s pretty convenient and can be used by multiple people if you link your family’s email addresses together. There are tons of applications available on iTunes that can be used on the iPhone that will sync calendars and send you alerts. With the MultiCal application you can view your Google calendar from your iPhone, no syncing required. It even lets you switch between multiple accounts and calendars if you have more than one.
Recommended sites: www.Cozi.com, iTunes, & calendar.Google.com
Check out your local grocery store’s website to find out about grocery deliveries right to your door. You’ll probably have to create an account but once all your info is in, you can do some really great stuff like save shopping lists, get recipes, and more. Being able to save lists is a really great time saver because you could have a “basics” list with all your main household items and the next time you order groceries all you have to do is add on to it. Many stores’ sites also feature recipes that are in categories such as Kid Friendly, Italian, Healthy, Vegetarian, etc. so you can get dinner ideas and order all the ingredients in one place! You just decide the window of time in which you’d like your groceries delivered and “voila,” everything you need for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s lunches. Now if only you could order someone to put them away for you...
Recommended Sites: www.Safeway.com & www.WholeFoods.com
2. Transportation
Raise your hand if you love your commute to work... anyone? According to a 2007 Gallup survey, the average American spends thirty to sixty minutes commuting to work each day. For a lot of people, using public transit may be less stressful than their current commute (45% of Americans think theirs is), and definitely less expensive. If your commute requires a bridge toll or daily parking fees, by the time you’ve factored in the cost of gas and mileage put on your car, most people would find it significantly less expensive and less stressful to use public transportation.
If you live in a city, a shared car service may be able to better fit your needs. If you want regular access to a car but don’t want to deal with the hassle of ownership then maybe a shared car service is what you’re looking for. Zipcar is a national shared car service, customers go online to create an account and are then able to reserve cars for a few hours or entire days, then go pick up the car and off you go! The reservation fee includes gas and insurance.
To help simplify your life check for local shared car services and public transportation routes in your area. Though my life requires that I own a car, public transportation gets my vote for the commute to work. Sunday evenings I update my favorite Podcasts, create a new playlist or two, and sync my iPod. In the morning I grab my coffee travel mug, iPod, and purse and head for the bus. I spend the next twenty minutes catching up on world events and Angelina’s latest adoption scandal while sipping my java and letting the bus driver worry about getting me there.
Recommended sites: www.Publicroutes.com, www.Zipcar.com & iTunes
3. Community forums
Craigslist tops my list for best community forums because it’s just got so much variety. There’s a jobs section, for sale section, and Best of Craigslist section. With this site I can sell my 3-year-old’s old clothes, buy a treadmill, and read about community activities. Mamasource’s website is a great forum for parenting advice, questions range from potty training to summer camps to products that are safe for kids with sensitive skin and allergies. Meetup.com is a community forum that connects people with others who share the same interests. There are a plethora of groups and all you have to do is put in your interest and zip code to find similar people in your area. Are you looking for hiking trails that are stroller friendly? Or join a mommy-and-me swimming class. Whatever you’re looking for, these types of sites and ones like them are great resources for parents because they offer first hand information and recommendations about services, products, and offer great advice.
Recommended sites: www.Craigslist.com, www.Mamasource.com, & www.Meetup.com
4. Children
Whether you have one kid or five, everyone can use an extra hand when it comes to getting ready for school in the morning, driving to after school activities, doing laundry, making lunches, helping with science fair projects and any myriad of other things. I think that the simplest and best bang-for-your-buck option here is an au pair. For about $7 an hour you’ll get full time childcare, having an au pair not only will simply life it will enhance it! The big advantage here is that with other childcare options like a nanny, you have to commit to a pretty set schedule, but with an au pair you can change it by the month, the week, even by the day. You get to tailor your au pair’s work schedule around your needs, she/he can work the exact times you need!
Just imagine coming home from work to your kids sitting at the dinner table, homework completed, a load of laundry going, and their lunches for tomorrow already made? You wouldn’t think it could get better, but now imagine all of that plus a regular date night! Your au pair could work for an hour in the morning to get the kids ready for and dropped off at school, then pick them up afterwards and take care of all the ballet classes, soccer practices, piano lessons, and homework help till you get home (that’s roughly 20 hours per week so far), and every Friday night you the hubby get alone time. You could even schedule the au pair to work an extra hour in the evening for, dare I suggest it, time for you to go to the gym!
Recommended sites: www.AuPairCare.com & www.SmartAuPairs.com
5. Family calendars
Have trouble keeping track of soccer schedules, ballet classes, your husband’s work travels, groceries, and your own appointments? I can barely keep track of my favorite pen, let alone trying to remember where everyone is supposed to be and when. There are some really great websites that can help keep everything organized with things like family calendars that give each family member a different color for their appointments, will sync to an iPhone or PDA, and send email alerts to any address added to your family profile. Cozi.com even lets you keep a grocery list that can be printed and emailed. Google has a calendar application that’s pretty convenient and can be used by multiple people if you link your family’s email addresses together. There are tons of applications available on iTunes that can be used on the iPhone that will sync calendars and send you alerts. With the MultiCal application you can view your Google calendar from your iPhone, no syncing required. It even lets you switch between multiple accounts and calendars if you have more than one.
Recommended sites: www.Cozi.com, iTunes, & calendar.Google.com