Can we all collectively say how much we have learned to grow and adjust in the past year? Adjusting back to a more ‘normal’ life has meant me trying to juggle my 4 kids – working full time from home, and Sam working again, so I thought I would share 5 things I have implanted in my life to streamline our lives and keep us more sane.
This post is sponsored by Walmart+ – All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the businesses that support my blog.
Streamlining Life
Okay, so what do I mean by streamlining life? Basically I realized around the first of the year that I was never going to stop feeling flustered and stressed all the time if I didn’t make some changes.
I was going to have 4 kids. We were going to have 2 working parents, and there were never going to be more than 24 hours in a day. But I also have a high desire to make our lives fun – and to seek the things that aren’t working in our lives or that can be changed to make our lives better and change them.
In the past 6 months I have changed 5 major things in our family that have slowly helped streamline our lives and cut out some of the stress. None of it meant instant change, but all of it has meant gaining just a little bit of sanity back.
#1 – Grocery Delivery with Walmart+
This is the biggest change for us! I have had Walmart+ for a while now, but FINALLY really started fully using it to its abilities for us and our family. I now tell every person – but especially mom – I meet that this is the game changer move they need to do in their lives.
Walmart+allows me to order from our local Walmart store and have delivery as soon as today. There is a $35 minimum and restrictions do apply which is easily always met for me. The biggest reason we use Walmart+ is that IT IS THE SAME LOW PRICES YOU LOVE. I don’t think people understand that that is a big deal when it comes to grocery delivery especially.
There are some weeks I do an extra order for some small stuff I forgot, but in the spirit of telling you just how I have run things to help make my life more simple:
– On Friday I sit down with my list and create an order online
– I schedule the delivery for the first thing on Sunday morning when I know we will all be home. I do it early because I know I will think of something and that gives me time to add to my order for about 24 hours.
– When our order is on its way I clean out our fridge with anything we don’t need anymore or that is old so that I am fully ready to load it up.
For me this has easily been our biggest time saver – We no longer have to divide and conquer with the kids to go to the store. It was also A LIFESAVER for Walker’s birthday this year that snuck up on me. I was able to add his gifts to my order and never had to leave to shop since he is home with us all summer. I will link to what I got him below!
Other Benefits of Walmart+
- Mobile Scan & Go – Shop and checkout from your phone in store!
- Member Pricing on Fuel – Save 5¢ per gallon at most Walmart, Sam’s Club & Murphy stations. You will also get member pricing at Sam’s Club fuel centers.
- Walmart+ free shipping – no order minimum on items from Walmart.com (excludes oversized/freight & Marketplace items) with next-day and two-day shipping options.
- Rx for Less – *Not available in all states. Cannot be combined with insuranceGet select prescriptions for as little as $0 & save up to 85% on thousands more at participating Walmart pharmacies.**Not available in all states. The program is not insurance and cannot be combined with insurance. Savings off of the overall regular nationwide retail pharmacy prices based upon 2020 national program savings data from MedImpact; average savings are 65%.California targetable:Get select prescriptions for as little as $2 & save up to 85% on thousands more at Walmart pharmacies.**Not available in all states. The program is not insurance and cannot be combined with insurance. Savings off of the overall regular nationwide retail pharmacy prices based upon 2020 national program savings data from MedImpact; average savings are 65%.If the asset is so small, we can’t have the savings source disclaimer & targetable in only states it is available:Get select prescriptions for as little as $0 & save big on thousands more at Walmart pharmacies.*Not available in all states. The program is not insurance and cannot be combined with insuranceFTC Guidelines:
So as you can see – adding Walmart+ to our lives allows us to save money and time in so many ways – which is the main goal I have right now! To sign up for Walmart+ click the link here. It is quick and easy and you will be thanking in no time.
Some Favorites to Add to your Next Order:
#2 – Outsourcing in the right ways
This one is hard – but I had to take a deep look at why I am working, and realize that I wanted to outsource work that took me AWAY from my kids more than outsourcing childcare.
For us that meant hiring someone who helped with some general around the house chores like the kids’ laundry and such. I found so much guilt in this at first, but I quickly realized that I have chosen a career that allows me to be home and with my kids while also making a full time income. I am not a superhero and I can not do it all, so I needed to either have Goldie go to daycare or have help with other stuff.
#3 Better Use of Calendars and Lists
This one might seem silly – but I have a laminator and made a quick printable. We use the printable to go over our daily goals between Sam and I and it is so helpful. At the end of the day we wipe it clean and start fresh!
We also were using it with our nanny which I highly suggest if you have any in person help.
Sam and I also got on a better page by using a large at home calendar to keep our lives a bit more organized! We now have any and all needs for each kid in the family on one calendar.
#4 – Cutting back on what I manage
I spent the first 5 years of being a mom as a full time stay at home mom. That means I am well versed in handling all emails/ all things, but the reality is I was feeling things fall through the cracks. I sat down with Sam and we decided to have a few things no longer even come through my inbox.
Those are things like sports for the kids and anything dental related since he is in that business. No longer having a few things come through my inbox was needed for my sanity, but also to keep things running smoothly.
#5 – Lowering expectations.
One thing that I honestly have had to come to terms with – even though I am so type A is that I can no longer do EVERYTHING in the same way I used to. That has taken me years AND YEARS to come to terms with – but I had to realize that it is OKAY to trade some things for others.
For example – I traded having perfectly organized photo books every 3 months for having 2 more kids that keep me too busy for that. That trade off is very easy when I look at it that way.
I also traded off having time to DIY every little thing my heart desires for the ability to live less stressed financially. Again an easier trade off when I look at things that way.
All in all – life is about enjoying it. And not every season is easy to fully enjoy, so finding ways to streamline the things that do cause stress are HUGE. There are amazing companies out there like what Walmart is doing with Walmart+ that can make our lives as busy moms SO MUCH better if we just take the time to adjust how we were previously doing things.
Be sure to sign up for Walmart+here and I would LOVE to hear in the comments what your favorite feature ends up being, or how it helps you in your life.
Pin the Photo Below for Later
Be sure to follow me on Instagram (@arinsolange) for more tips, tricks, and DIY’s that will make your life that much better. Before you leave be sure to pin the photo below so you can find this post later.
