Cleaning up: How to manage time and save money on household essentials every day

Key steps

• Turn off the TV and social media to concentrate on tasks and reduce the time they take.

• Get the kids and anyone else living at home to help you. You can invent some cleaning games to get little ones involved in a way that is fun but also a good learning opportunity.

• Buy concentrated cleaning supplies like Cif ecorefill Power & Shine Bathroom and Kitchen.

• Shop to a list of required groceries so you don’t over spend.

Life can be hectic with so many things to juggle each day. Whether you are a full-time working parent or a student figuring out your schedule, it can be easy to lose track of time and money. Here we’ll share our money saving tips and key steps for how to manage time, so you aren’t constantly running out of cash, time or everyday essentials.

Use a diary and at the beginning of the week get your schedule in order. Plan meals, budgets and supermarket trips, creating lists for each thing you need to do.

Top 5 time saving tips

It can be hard to make time for you cleaning your home or complete daily tasks with so much to do. Here are 5 top time saving tips to maximise your schedule:

1. Clean in the right order. There’s no point dusting if you still need to put the vacuum round. Plan your daily cleaning duties so that you don’t undo your hard work.

2. Maintain your home’s tidiness every day. A little bit of work each and every day will make the overall task easier to manage and reduce the time you spend cleaning.

3. Pre-sort your laundry before washing and drying. Invest in wash safe mesh laundry bags to separate the dirty laundry prior to washing so it’s ready once it’s clean.

4. Sort your waste as you use items. Don’t leave separating your recycling or rubbish until the point when you’re emptying the bins. Have separate containers for different types of waste and sort as you go.

5. Use multi-purpose products. Get the most from your cleaning regime with multi-purpose products that let you move from one surface or room to another without going back to the cleaning cupboard.

How to save money on cleaning products

There are three key ways you can save money on cleaning products:

1. Purchase concentrated cleaning supplies that will allow you to save on unnecessary packaging like Cif ecorefill Power & Shine Bathroom and Kitchen. It’s 100% recyclable, uses less 75% plastic, and allows you to reuse your spray bottle for life.  

2. Make homemade alternatives such as easy all-purpose cleaner made from one cup of water and one cup of white vinegar.

3. Recycle or reuse old cleaning products and items to get more for your money. Spray bottles and other cleaning bottles are common materials in crafts.

How to save money on groceries

There are five easy ways you can save money on your weekly shop:

1. Create a meal plan. This will both save time and make sure you are able to create a very specific shopping list.

2. Stick to the shopping list. Take a shopping list with you and stick to it, avoiding the purchase of unnecessary items.

3. Save leftovers. Store leftovers in a container and pop it in the freezer as a meal for another day.

4. Shop alone. The reality is it is easy to cave in if you have other people pitching in ideas that aren’t on the shopping list, in particular if you have children!

5. Don’t be afraid of the reduced section. Supermarkets reduce items that reach their sell by date. However, the use by date is often a few days later, meaning they are good to buy and eat.

Planning a household budget and sticking to it (as far as possible) can make saving money so much easier. Read our guide for tips.  

Now you have great ideas for how to manage time as well as saving tips to make your monthly income go further. We hope you’ll be able to use our guide to take steps to reduce stress and make more time for yourself.