Magnificent Monday! List A Time/Money Saving..

[Sunshine75]

List a time or money saving idea you have done for your daycare. For me, I have started making bigger batches of French toast on the weekend. Then I take my pizza cutter and cut them into sticks and freeze them. Not only do I spend less versus the boxed french toast sticks but I save time during the week as well.

[spinnymarie]

That's a good one! I'm finding (obviously) cooking from scratch & freezing is definitely time saving (opposed to not freezing) and definitely money saving! I have a little spread sheet I found that helps you calculate exactly how much a home-made recipe costs, that really helps me steer away from pre-packaged stuff!

[Michael]

More threads on Money saving tips: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...ey+saving+tips

[MsLaura529]

I LOVE the French toast sticks idea ... it's genius!

[heyhun77]

Time savers for me are:
*using formula dispenser containers for my two infants and having the water in the bottles so I can just open the bottle, dump in the formula and shake
*cooking in bulk as much as possible
*having all food prepared as much as possible the night before
*having my diaper station all stocked up and right above the changing table so I don't have to gather items for diaper changes
*cleaning the house in 5-15 increments and using a cleaning schedule to make sure the whole house gets done M-F so my weekends are mostly work-free
*Having a menu plan so we don't waste time figuring out what to make for meals. My menu plan also has a master shopping list with every possible ingredient on the list so I can make my shopping list and leave for the store in about 5 minutes (just have to check supplies and cross off all the things we already have on hand)
*doing my bookkeeping a little every week (receipts especially) so at the end of the year it only takes me a few hours to get my numbers together for the accountant and prepare statements for my clients
*not necessarily a time saver but a sanity saver- I have a bin of "new" to the kids toys that I keep on hand and rotate through for times when my infants are needing more of my attention. This way the other kids don't really notice that one child is pulling me away from their immediate attention while I'm giving that one child what they need.
*online food program claiming- especially now that I have a tablet and can do it on there with the MMK app
*any service that will come to me - ordering groceries online for delivery, dry cleaning pick up/drop off, printer ink company that delivers, OfficeMax will deliver so I can email them things to print/laminate and they will deliver

[Sunshine75]

Good ideas everyone! This is so fun! Love to bulk cook too but I need to get another refrigerator as I don't have enough freezer space! Spinnymarie would you be able to copy your spreadsheet to this link? It would be great to see and use as a tool.

[Lil'DinoEggs]

Money Saver

*Thrift Store Saturdays-I go to the thrift store once a month to stock up on new toys and books (which are usually $1 a bag) - Cost is $10-$20 a month on a ton of new toys

*Laser jet printer - I print, double sided, 2500 pages a year. I know this because I only change my toner once a year and buy paper in bulk. And the printer cost me $70!!

*Weekends are for leftovers. My coordinator is pretty strict about our meal plan so even if I cook a little bit, I always have left overs and none of which are useable for other meals.

Time Saver

*I buy ten pound bag of chicken and make chicken tenders all at once. Then I put them in indivdual freezer bags. I do the same with tilapia

*I keep manila folders: one for menus and one for weekly schedule. When an idea hits me or I see an article I add it to the appropriate folder.