Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to anticipate your upcoming needs so you
Speaker 1: don't waste money or time. Today's tip comes from the
Speaker 1: Frugal Girl blog. This blog is full of recipes and
Speaker 1: tips for frugal living and expressions of gratitude for the
Speaker 1: blessings of a frugal life. The Frugal Girl blog also
Speaker 1: has one of the most supportive reader communities on the Internet.
Speaker 1: Today's tip actually comes from a reader comment. This person
Speaker 1: wrote that frugality is often about anticipating and preparing for things,
Speaker 1: which is absolutely true. I would broaden that word frugality
Speaker 1: to a shuency. When we anticipate things, we are able
Speaker 1: to spend less time and money. Then if we just
Speaker 1: deal with our needs in the moment. I am sure
Speaker 1: we have all had the experience of realizing around six
Speaker 1: pm that we aren't sure what to eat, and aren't
Speaker 1: sure we have the groceries to make anything. In any case,
Speaker 1: deciding what to make and making sure we have the ingredients,
Speaker 1: and then cooking too seems like too steep a hill
Speaker 1: to climb, and so we spend fifty dollars or even
Speaker 1: more getting dinner delivered for the family. Now. I love
Speaker 1: restaurant meals as much as anyone, and sometimes it is
Speaker 1: really nice to get sushi delivered as a treat. But
Speaker 1: it is better when that is a conscious decision and
Speaker 1: you can look forward to your yummy meal as opposed
Speaker 1: to doing it just because you didn't think ahead to
Speaker 1: have something you like readily available. When we do manage
Speaker 1: to get around to groceries, I'm sure many of us
Speaker 1: have had to make repeat trips to the store because
Speaker 1: we didn't think of something. You agreed to bring cookies
Speaker 1: to a reception on Sunday, but you were so fixated
Speaker 1: on shopping on Thursday for the stuff you needed Thursday
Speaker 1: and Friday that you didn't think about Sunday, and so
Speaker 1: it is back to the store on Saturday or Sunday,
Speaker 1: maybe when there was something else that would have been
Speaker 1: more fun to do. Now, long time listeners know that
Speaker 1: I don't think we need to go overboard with anticipation.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite phrases is that your future self
Speaker 1: will not be incompetent if you do need to figure
Speaker 1: out dinner on Thursday and there is nothing in the fridge.
Speaker 1: You will do so you probably won't starve, and it's
Speaker 1: not the end of the world to go back to
Speaker 1: the store on Sunday if you need to. It would
Speaker 1: be kind of ridiculous to think through everything you need
Speaker 1: and say a month, when most of us probably go
Speaker 1: to the door once or twice a week anyway. But
Speaker 1: in general, anticipation does save time and money. If someone
Speaker 1: is invited to a birthday party, you can order the
Speaker 1: present as soon as you say yes. That way, you
Speaker 1: don't have to pay for expedited shipping or make a
Speaker 1: trip to the store. If you're running a business and
Speaker 1: you think ahead of time about questions a client might ask,
Speaker 1: or you map out your workflow so you're not doing
Speaker 1: things last minute, you won't have to pay for employee
Speaker 1: over time. And sometimes it's just about doing things in
Speaker 1: the right order. If you think about your Saturday and
Speaker 1: you know you plan to plant flowers and clean your car,
Speaker 1: you might want to bring the flowers home from the
Speaker 1: gardening store before you go vacuum out your car. That way,
Speaker 1: the dirt on the floor winds up gone rather than lingering.
Speaker 1: By looking ahead thoughtfully, you can identify anything you might
Speaker 1: need in advance in order to save yourself some cash
Speaker 1: and time. Efficiency is about anticipation. Now, it's usually not
Speaker 1: awful if you don't anticipate, but it does feel good
Speaker 1: to get it right. So you can give yourself a
Speaker 1: little pat on the back when you pull the meat
Speaker 1: out of the freezer at day ahead of time and
Speaker 1: look forward to the dinner, you know exactly how to
Speaker 1: make in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
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