Tara Kuczykowski - All In Good Time: When to Save, Stock Up, and Schedule Everything for Your Home

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ALL IN
GOOD TIME

When to Save, Stock Up,
and Schedule Everything
for Your Home

TARA KUCZYKOWSKI WITH
MANDI EHMAN

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ALL IN GOOD TIME

Copyright 2012 by Tara Kuczykowski and Mandi Ehman

Cover design by Diana Kolsky

Cover photos by Shutterstock

Book design by Tiffany Estreicher

All rights reserved.

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First Edition: January 2012

EISBN: 9781101554067

An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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For our husbands and children
The reason we do what we do

This book isnt about frugal living or financial management. And its not about tackling your time management skills so you can be more productive. What it is is a collection of tips and shortcuts that are sure to save you time and money here and there, as you choose, so that youll have more of both to spend on the things and people that really matter to you.

If you can effortlessly juggle three square meals and several loads of laundry a day, keep your home spotless, volunteer for your favorite cause, shuttle yourself to the gym or your kids to Gymboree by day and the activity of the moment by night, all while keeping your budget in the black... if you can do all this, then you probably dont need any of the information youll find here.

If, however, youlike usstruggle to find enough time and dollars to do everything on your to-do list while still making time for your family (not to mention for yourself) and getting a full nights sleep, weve written this book for you. If your budget never seems to stretch far enough to cover the groceries, the dentist bills, the extracurricular activities, and still leave you with some money for family vacations or to save, this book is for you too.

Weve found that many people spend so much time and money on tasks and things when they could have saved minutes and dollars if they had only known to plan slightly differently. Why should you waste a Monday morning at the doctors office for a regular checkup when you could be in and out in an hour on a Wednesday? Why spend several dollars on another gallon of gas when you can sign up for a grocery-store loyalty card that will save you money next time youre at the pump? It may only seem like a half hour here or a dollar there, but it all adds up.

We met over six years ago, when Mandi had just become the new mom of a tiny baby girl and Tara was the mom of three little ones under three years old. We both worked a few hours a week from home, and we became fast friends even though we lived thousands of miles away from each other at the time.

Fast-forward six years, and we now have nine children ages nine years old and younger between us, work at home full-time, and our husbands, who share a passion for remote-controlled airplanes, are both stay-at-home dads.

Although we always laugh about the similarities between our families, there are some pretty significant differences too. For example, Taras four oldest attend public school, while Mandi and her husband homeschool their daughters. Tara and her family live in a suburban neighborhood in Ohio, while Mandi and hers live in rural West Virginia. And while Mandis passions are organizing and productivity, Taras passions are saving money and cooking from scratch without spending hours in the kitchen.

At the end of the day, were both just busy moms trying to juggle all of our responsibilities. We know what its like to be full-time home managers, and we know what its like to be working moms. Weve dealt with layoffs and unemployment and with active sports schedules and busy workdays.

As we said at the beginning, this book is a resource for busy households looking for ways to trim their schedules and their budgets without giving up the things they love. We dont expect anyone to implement every single tip or idea we have, but were including them all in here so that you can pick and choose what works for you and your family at any given time.

The as you choose part is an important part of both of our philosophies. Its easy to get caught up in the idea of saving every penny you can or having a perfectly organized home or being productive all the time. We believe those are all good thingswithin reason. But we also believe in splurging (when we can afford it) to take our families to Disney World and making time for impromptu backyard campfires or games of Candy Land with our kids. Wouldnt you rather spend an extra half hour outside with your kids than in a germy doctors office? To us, thats the goal of saving time and moneynot to prove that we can hang with the best, but to leave more for our families.

Whether youre a working mom, a stay-at-home parent, or something in between, there are probably times when you feel stretchedfinancially, emotionally, and physically. We want to show you how to stretch your resources and your minutes rather than yourself. Weve all heard the adage that children are only young once, and its true. Our babies are toddlers and elementary aged now, and we know it wont be long before theyre preteens and high schoolers and then moving out on their own. We want to do what we can to maximize our time and money to make as many enduring and happy memories as we can while theyre still ours!