A Day in the Life of The Frugal Girl, Edition #3
Every now and again, I write a post journaling a particular day in my life. I've actually only written two of these before and because it's been a while since the last one, I thought it might be time.
This is the record of how my day went last Saturday. It's hard to say if this day is typical for me, because it seems that no two days are the same! It'll give you a little peek into my life, though. 😉
I apologize if this is really boring...I always feel like the records of my days are yawn-inducing, but since I enjoy reading about other people's days, I'm going to trust that at least some of you will be interested.
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4:40 am-The alarm goes off. I take the sheets off the bed (Saturday is sheet-washing day!), get a load of laundry started (with cold water, of course), put some clean laundry away, and do some general picking up in our room.
5:00-We head upstairs to the kitchen and I pack his lunch. Today it's leftover pizza, a banana, sunflower seeds, yogurt, a muffin, and some crackers, among other things.
5:15-He leaves for work. Normally after this I shower, but today I gave in to the temptation to check my email/Facebook/Twitter on the laptop before showering.
I lack self-control. :p
5:30-I hop in the shower (which, because of the warm summer weather, is sort of a lukewarm shower. I can't stand hot showers in the summer!). On Saturdays I bring the cleaning supplies into the bathroom with me because I like to clean the shower walls and doors immediately after my shower. It's much easier to do when I don't have to worry about getting wet!
After I clean the shower, I take care of cleaning the toilet and sink and then brush my hair and put on my basic makeup. I call the weather to find out the day's forecast and then get dressed accordingly. I take a little longer than usual to pick out my clothes because I'm trying to find something to wear during a photo shoot that involves small kids. This means I need clothes that allow me to bend over, squat, and lay down on the ground (I like to get on kid/baby level when I shoot).
6:15-I found something that will work (capris and a t-shirt) and head into the office to read my Bible and pray. Once I finish, I get started on email and blogging. This is the time of day I usually read other blogs as well.
7:15-Breakfast time! Today it's Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, which I baked yesterday. After breakfast I clean up, decide to make some yogurt, and then conclude I don't have time before the photo shoot. So, I settle for getting the supplies out and ready to go for later.
7:45-I do my hair (I don't do it earlier in the day because I prefer to just let mine air-dry), charge my camera batteries, do Sonia and Zoe's hair, throw some more laundry in, and look up the address of the home I'm heading to.
Oh, and I put the clean sheets on my bed too.
8:40-We all head out the door to go to the photo shoot. I'm shooting our friend's family, so I'm bringing the kids along with me.
9:00-10:30-I take pictures. Lots of them!
(is this little guy not the cutest thing you have ever seen?? Our friends at church just adopted him from Ethiopia, and we think he is so precious!)
11:00-We arrive back home. I unload my memory card, send a few photos to the family, and then make lunch for my kiddos.
11:30-I start making yogurt and clean up lunch while the milk heats up. Since yogurt requires time but little attention, I always try to do other chores in conjunction.
12:30-The yogurt is incubating in the cooler and I sit down to type up the day's activities before they completely fall out of my brain!
12:45-I give the three girls a shower/bath so that they'll be clean for this afternoon's wedding. I figure they should be able to stay relatively clean after their bath for a few hours as long as I don't let them go outside!
I try on multiple dresses (my bedroom kind of looked like this again), trying to figure out which one to wear to the wedding. I almost decide to wear my black polka-dotted dress from Goodwill, but instead I settle on a black dress I bought on clearance at Old Navy. I pick out clothes for the kids and husband, iron, do the girls' hair, and then decide that after the morning's outdoor shoot, I really need another shower.
I hardly ever take two showers in a day, but sometimes in the summer, it's kind of necessary.
by 3:00, when the husband gets home from work, the kids and I are all dressed and ready to go.
3:15-we head to the wedding.
Of course, I brought my cameras. 😉
After the wedding, it was off to the reception,
where my children had a fabulous time with the horns that were provided.
After dinner, Zoe danced the night away with all the bridesmaids. That girl loves to dance.
We got home long past her 7:30 bedtime (and past everyone else's bedtimes too!) but as we pulled into the driveway, she sighed a happy sigh and said, "Mommy, that was great!".
We speedily tucked everyone into bed and then headed to bed ourselves (starting your day at 4:40 greatly reduces the temptation to stay up late!).
Happily, Saturday night is the start of our weekend, so when we go to bed on Saturday, we can look forward to an alarm-clock-free morning. This work schedule really, really makes us love weekends. 😉
Loved hearing about your day. You are one busy girl! 🙂
Zoe's dancing was adorable!! 🙂
Wow! You get a lot done in a day. It's very motivating to read that; I like hearing about how other people spend their days. Thanks for sharing.
I like reading about other people's days, too. The pictures you shared are great! I like the baby boy's open hands (and his hair! just like my cousin's!) and how Zoe is jumping in hers.
Getting up early is wonderful and yes, it does make going to bed earlier much easier. We get up at 5:30 each morning. It would take me a long time to get used to 4:30. That is very impressive.
Okay...just one criticism, or should I say suggestion. You should clean the toilet, sink, and shower before cleaning you! I mean, come on...do you really want to scrub a toilet when you just got all clean yourself 😉
Loved the post...the pics of the kids are adorable!
lol! I never thought about that before. I guess I'm not awake enough to think about bathroom cleaning before I have my shower. =P
Loved reading about your day! That baby boy is too cute for words.
My husband also gets up early; his alarm goes off at 3:30! I do not get up that early though; I told him before we were married over 30 years ago that I was not a morning person and he said he could live with that. I get up between 6:00 and 6:30; you wouldn't want to be around me at 4:30! We both love weekends when the alarm doesn't go off, although he still gets up very early.
The girls are older now and clean the bathrooms and do lots of the chores that I used to do, but I remember doing the same as you, cleaning right after I finished a shower. My husband empties the dishwasher and puts away the dishes every morning, and always makes the coffee, one of the many reasons I'm still crazy about the guy.
Holy cow! 3:30 is REALLY early. 5:00 am is the earliest I would ever choose to get up...it would never occur to me to rise at 3:30. lol
You packed a lot into one day. You are really well organized. I really enjoyed your blog. This was my fist visit, but I hope to return often. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary
I love that picture of Zoe in mid-air. She looks like she would dance the night away!
Anyone who can get up & going at 4:40 a.m. does not lack self control lol I am an evening person, I def lack self control in the area of getting up & for me, 7:00 is too early! Course my hubby goes to work at 2 in the afternoon!
I often clean the shower while I am in there in the buff. Like you said, you don't have to worry about getting wet. Plus, after I rinse the walls, I shower myself and then as always squeegee the walls and shower curtain. That means I don't have to clean nearly as often.
Wow! No wonder you stay so thin! You hardly ever sit down. Just hearing about your day makes me tired. I love how you have set days for washing the sheets. So organized and efficient. I aspire to be that way. As it is I just wash the sheets when I feel like it, and try to clean the bathrooms once a week. I like the idea of doing it while your in the shower though. Thanks for giving us a glimpse in the daily life of The Frugal Girl.
Yikes! You have half a day's work done by the time I get up in the morning, lol.
Wow! 4:30 on a Saturday! I think you got more done before noon than I get done in one day. You are amazing.
How come your husband has to get up so early? Why does his job require such an early start?
He works in IT and his department has to be there around the clock. His shift is actually the best of the three shifts, believe it or not. lol
Wow! Hat's off to you! You sure are busy! I loved hearing about your day, makes mine seems kinda relaxed. I agree with you on not taking hot showers in the summer, just makes you feel more sweaty. I love your blog and read it every day!
If I posted my day, my blog readers would say, "Liz may be frugal, but she sure is lazy!":P
You are so funny, just a week after posting about your dirty office and how you're not perfect, you post about how you get more done before 9am on a Saturday than I do all day!
Seriously, the day I get up at 4:40 on a Saturday and have the bathroom cleaned and a load of laundry in the washer before 6am is the day I've become someone else. But then my post about bread rising at midnight and coming out of the oven by 2am is probably pretty unusual, and downright unimaginable for people with kids.
Love the photo of Zoe dancing. I love dancing at weddings. In fact, it's really the only place I dance anymore, except occasionally at home with my husband.
Exactly...you work probably as hard as I do, just at different times of day!
We wouldn't choose to get up this ridiculously early, but Mr. FG's job requires it right now. So, I just try to make the best of it.
May I add a cheapskate laundry suggestion? In my opinion, the best stain remover is a bar of Fels-Naptha soap. I found out about it from a newsletter I subscribe to. It can get out about any stain, except an oil based stain. Only Dawn dish soap works on those. But a bar of soap lasts a couple years! I keep it in a plastic bowl and when I need to work on a stain, I fill the bowl up with water and use a toothbrush to scrub the soap & then scrub the stain. I have found it at grocery stores usually by where they would sell Lava soap. You can buy it online too if you can't find it in the store. I swear by it!
Thanks for the tip Pam. I use Oxyclean, and it's great, but doesn't work on everything. Also will try Dawn for stains I suspect are oil-based. Wonder if it works when other options have already been tried and item has gone through the washer.
I did have a stain on a dress shirt for work that I had given up on. I had pretreated & washed it and it didn't come out. I hung it in my closet. Later on after I had found out about Fels-Naptha, I decided to give it a try and the stain came out! I can't remember what the stain was, but after that I was sold on Fels-Naptha.
Also to be cheap, I keep a spray bottle next to my kitchen sink filled with a small amount of Dawn & water. So when I have to handwash a dish, I can use the perfectly fine watered down Dawn. I also use it on laundry stains as mentioned above, makes it easier to spray on the stain.
So you managed to cut the bride and groom's faces out of the picture but not the pastor's! The look on his face is so T-dub! It sounds like you guys had a great day- I love weddings where the kids are included!
You have inspired me to start getting up earlier...which I've known I needed to do for quite some time! What time do you all get up on weekends? Is it usually more relaxed or still just as busy?
Impressive, Kristen! I need a new, more efficient routine.
I recently got laid off and have been enjoying my time off- but find myself up til 2am and asleep til almost noon! It's just not right!
My new job is starting in a week and a half and I know I need to get myself back on a schedule for this.. thanks for inspiring me! 🙂
wow.... I think you are crazy to get up at 4:40 AM (is that every morning or just this particular one?) but you got so much done and I am impressed.... I think if my daughter slept through the night, I would get more done because I wouldn't nap all day, but oh well.... thanks for some motivation!
I've been wondering, since you wash all of your laundry in cold water, do you still sort it into different loads (i.e. a load of towels, jeans, other clothes, etc.)? Or do you just throw everything in together?