Second Cup: Efficiency is anticipation

Looking forward can save time and money

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to anticipate your upcoming needs so you don't
waste money or time. Today's tip comes from the Frugal

(00:27):
Girl blog. This blog is full of recipes and tips
for frugal living and expressions of gratitude for the blessings
of a frugal life. The Frugal Girl blog also has
one of the most supportive reader communities on the Internet.
Today's tip actually comes from a reader comment. This person

(00:48):
wrote that frugality is often about anticipating and preparing for things,
which is absolutely true. I would broaden that word frugality
to afficiency. When we anticipate things, we are able to
spend less time and money than if we just deal
with our needs in the moment. I am sure we

(01:12):
have all had the experience of realizing around six pm
that we aren't sure what to eat, and aren't sure
we have the groceries to make anything. In any case,
deciding what to make and making sure we have the ingredients,
and then cooking too seems like too steep a hill
to climb, and so we spend fifty dollars or even

(01:33):
more getting dinner delivered for the family. Now. I love
restaurant meals as much as anyone, and sometimes it is
really nice to get sushi delivered as a treat. But
it is better when that is a conscious decision and
you can look forward to your yummy meal as opposed
to doing it just because you didn't think ahead to

(01:56):
have something you like readily available. When we do manage
to get around to groceries, I'm sure many of us
have had to make repeat trips to the store because
we didn't think of something. You agreed to bring cookies
to a reception on Sunday, but you are so fixated
on shopping on Thursday for the stuff you needed Thursday
and Friday that you didn't think about Sunday, and so

(02:19):
it is back to the store on Saturday or Sunday,
maybe when there was something else that would have been
more fun to do. Now, longtime listeners know that I
don't think we need to go overboard with anticipation. One
of my favorite phrases is that your future self will
not be incompetent if you do need to figure out

(02:40):
dinner on Thursday and there is nothing in the fridge.
You will do so you probably won't starve, and it's
not the end of the world to go back to
the store on Sunday if you need to. It would
be kind of ridiculous to think through everything you'd need
and say a month, when most of us probably go
to the show store once or twice a week anyway.

(03:03):
But in general, anticipation does save time and money. If
someone is invited to a birthday party, you can order
the present as soon as you say yes. That way,
you don't have to pay for expedited shipping or make
a trip to the store. If you're running a business
and you think ahead of time about questions a client

(03:24):
might ask, or you map out your workflow so you're
not doing things last minute, you won't have to pay
for employee overtime. And sometimes it's just about doing things
in the right order. If you think about your Saturday
and you know you plan to plant flowers and clean
your car, you might want to bring the flowers home

(03:46):
from the gardening store before you go vacuum out your car.
That way, the dirt on the floor winds up gone
rather than lingering. By looking ahead thoughtfully, you can identify
anything you maan need in advance in order to save
yourself some cash and time. Efficiency is about anticipation. Now,

(04:09):
it's usually not awful if you don't anticipate, but it
does feel good to get it right. So you can
give yourself a little pat on the back when you
pull the meat out of the freezer a day ahead
of time and look forward to the dinner. You know
exactly how to make in the meantime. This is Laura.

(04:33):
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

(04:54):
Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four then breakfast.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

(05:18):
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