4025: Manage Your Time Improve Your Finances by Andrea Joy of Saving Joyfully on Productivity And Finances

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00] Have you ever rearranged your furniture and discovered the carpet underneath looks brand new while the rest of it looks, well, not so new? It's time for a carpet upgrade. At The Home Depot, we have stylish choices at simple prices from all the top brands. Best of all, we can install it for you, starting at only 49 cents per square foot. So all you have to do is pick your perfect floor. Start your carpet project today at The Home Depot. How doers get more done. Exclusions apply for licenses. See homedepot.com slash license numbers.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_03] Expedia and VisitScotland invite you to come experience the beauty that awaits in Scotland. The sweep of wild coastlines, quiet locks and untamed landscapes. Fresh cuisine that feels rooted in the land. Come experience the kind of stillness that stays with you long after you leave. Plan your Scottish escape today at Expedia.com slash VisitScotland.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_01] This is Optimal Living Daily. Manage your time. Improve your finances. By Andrea Joy of SavingJoyfully.com. And I'm Justin Malik. Welcome back to our usual Sunday bonus episode where I share an episode from one of the other podcasts in the Optimal Living Daily network, usually overlapping with the kinds of themes that pop up here on this show. Today's comes from Optimal Finance Daily. Please follow or subscribe to Optimal Finance Daily wherever you're hearing this if you enjoy this episode.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_01] This is Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_02] Andrea Joy of SavingJoyfully.com. If the saying is correct that time is money, then time management can be an important aspect of financial management. Time is one of our most precious commodities. We never have enough time for everything and finding free time is almost always a challenge. Keep in mind as you read further, I am a wife, mother of a five-month

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_02] old infant, blogger, and full-time employee. Time management does not come easy for me. This is exactly why I felt this post might be helpful for many others just like me. Working full-time, you are constantly juggling work, family, and personal life. As a parent, you're also juggling schedules for your children, preparing meals, trying to make appointments, and keep some sort of balance with everything. In every stage in life, we need to find ways to

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_02] manage our schedules and keep some sort of sanity. One of the hardest aspects can often be doing all of this and still staying on a budget. How does time management relate to finance? Can the lack of time management cost me money? Poor time management has many financial implications. The costs can affect just about any area of your life financially. Poor time management can affect

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_02] your job. Not managing your time wisely can cost you additional time away from the office or even cost you a big promotion. The costs can be at college, causing your grades to decline, resulting in lower grades or even failing classes. No matter what stage you are in your life, learning to manage your time more effectively can play a huge role in your financial life. The more you are in control of your life and

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_02] time, the more you can effectively stay on budget. Time management can be a huge challenge for so many of us, but learning to manage your time can be as valuable as an additional paycheck every month. This might sound like I'm talking crazy, but consider the amount of money wasted when you do not plan for things. Eating out frequently, stopping to grab a beverage, forgetting that thing at home and having time to quickly stop and buy a replacement, you know many of us have done this. Or forgetting to pay a bill

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_02] or balance your checkbook properly, resulting in ungodly fees. So here are the most important ways to balance your time. One, find out what is most important to you and prioritize those things. You need to ultimately realize that you cannot do everything and you must decide what is most important to you every day. Two, learn to say no. Learning to decline things and not take on too much is an important aspect of time management.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02] When you have learned to prioritize, you can start to learn to say no and not feel guilty. No one should make you feel guilty when you have finally learned to say no. Number three, recognize that your time is valuable and you should prioritize and say no as a result. When you finally begin to look at your priorities and recognize your value, saying no becomes easier. You cannot always do everything. Being the best version of you means declining some opportunities or invitations along the way.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_02] This way you can focus your attention on where it needs to be and say yes when the right situations present themselves. Setting up a weekly schedule and meal prep. Firstly, plan for the week ahead on your first or last day off of the week. If you work a schedule that's Monday to Friday, this would most likely be on a Sunday. Take time to organize your time for the upcoming week and make sure you're aware of any

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_02] unexpected plans or requirements of your time. Meetings at work, kids' school, or things your spouse may have unexpectedly planned are always a possibility. Make sure to include your children and or spouse in preparation for the week ahead. This can help to prevent any surprises due to miscommunication. Number two, meal prep is an important aspect of time management for many of us who are on the go all week.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_02] If your meal prep is complicated and requires additional time, this will be a very important aspect of your time management. I have found that simplicity in meal prep is often the best way to continue it effectively. I've also discovered that the more I prepare in advance, the less time I will have to spend on preparing meals each day. Packing lunches is only as complicated as you make it. This can always be a more simple

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_02] process depending on what you pack. You need to keep your financial life organized. When you are overwhelmed and busy, it is so easy to get caught up in everything going on around you. When this happens, what do you do about maintaining your finances and keeping everything organized? Well, I'm typically the last person to help you get organized because organization is not usually my thing. One thing

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_02] you have probably learned about me so far is that I learn from my mistakes. I accept my failures as a lesson to learn from and I find a solution to my problem based on the lessons learned. I'm not sure why, but I obviously learn best through the difficult times and grow more from the painful experiences that have shaped who I am today. How can a disorganized life affect your finances? Here are some of the ways.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_02] Late fees. A mishandled budget. Overdraft fees. Excessive food waste. Overspending on convenience costs. Overspending on items that you should have researched the best prices in advance. Car fees for repairs and services that could be prevented. Overlooking bills that should have been paid and were sent to collections or have late fees. Not watching your speed and getting speeding

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_02] tickets. And overspending in general. For groceries, you need a grocery budget and meal plan, including a plan for quick meals. You just listened to the post titled, Manage Your Time, Improve Your Finances, by Andrea Joy of SavingJoyfully.com.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01] Now I've gone to the doctor with fatigue and got a sleep study which showed nothing. No real data, no plan. Turns out it was low iron and ferritin, which is something Superpower checks for. They send a licensed pro to your home or you visit a nearby lab for one draw covering over 100 biomarkers. Heart, liver, thyroid, hormones, metabolism, even environmental toxins. Members get a real action plan,

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01] supplements, lifestyle tweaks, and prescription suggestions right in the app. You see your true biological age and track it for life. Make this the year you stop guessing about your health with Superpower. For a limited time, our listeners get $20 off to unlock their new health intelligence. Head over to superpower.com and use code OLD for $20 off your membership. That's code OLD.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01] And after you sign up, they'll ask you how you heard about superpower. Do me a favor if you could and tell them Optimal Living Daily sent you to support the show.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_04] So good, so good, so good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom Rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman, Frame, and Free People. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_02] Thank you, Andrea, our newest contributor to the show. Saving Joyfully is designed to teach you new ways to save money every day, encourage you in your financial journey, and inspire you to live a more joyful life. Come by her site for a lot more articles, plus freebies and more. Again, that's savingjoyfully.com. And I have to say, I agree with Andrea. There's definitely a connection between

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_02] time and money. Personally, I see both my time and money as two of my most powerful resources, and I really try to be mindful of spending them on things I value. Sunday food shopping and meal planning not only helps with food costs, but I find it helps with that daily decision fatigue of what am I going to eat today? For me, I simply hop on over to the fridge and take out what I've

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_02] prepared. I also set up my bills on auto pay and my investments are all automated. So while I do track my spending daily, I really only spend about an hour a month checking on my finances and calculating my savings rate because I find it motivating. And that's another episode of Optimal Finance Daily. Thank you for your support and for listening every day, of course. We wouldn't be here if not for our

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_02] fantastic listeners and contributing authors. Have a great start to your weekend, and I'll be back with another new post for you tomorrow, right here where your optimal life awaits.