by a.b.
I have to say I have hit a wall. Between studying for my state licensing exam, my job, spending time with family, and my general responsibilities, I’m exhausted.
The first thing to fall apart when I’m tired isn’t my body or my schedule; it’s my patience, quickly followed by our budget. I forget to pull the chicken out of the freezer, or to put the pork in the crockpot. I get distracted by some memory training device and I forget to eat until I’m ready to chew through my own arm, and end up at McDonald’s instead.
I have found certain things help me during this time:
- Write everything down. – From my weekly to-do list to general reminders, if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t get done. I’m actually preferential to post-it notes; I stick them on walls at eye level in relevant places.
- Take the time to create a flexible plan. – If I have an actual menu plan, I have a much better chance of remembering to pull out the chicken. So I planned on cooking Pork Chili Verde on Friday, but I slept in…there was no way the PCV was going to be ready for us to eat considering it’s eight-hour cook time, so I switched the chicken chopped salad to Friday, and the PCV to Saturday. Having a plan offered me the flexibility I needed to feed my family without having to go out.
- Don’t kick yourself for being human. – That’s not to say in the past few weeks we haven’t gone out. We go out on happy hour and to conveyor belt sushi so that we keep our costs down, but I’m not going to berate myself for being imperfect. I’m tired of doing that.
- Ask for help. – One of the truly wonderful things about my husband is he checks up on me. He makes sure I take study breaks, takes me to work when he can so I don’t have to deal with the stress of driving, and more (he even cooks!). Even so, I sometimes have to ask for help. He’s awesome, not a mind reader. The downside is I have to be self-aware enough to know what I need, but if I ask for a bit of help to begin with, things don’t immediately get out of hand.
On top of everything my laptop decided to poop out on me yesterday. It appears to just be the AC Adaptor (keep your fingers crossed), but I honestly did not need to drive around town trying to find that. In all honesty, I immediately started looking at ibooks on craigslist, but I know that’s not the frugal solution. So sue me, I’m tired.
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I feel ya. I have problems with chronic, persistent fatigue. Trying to be frugal around that? Hard. It's made worse by the fact that my husband also has chronic health problems.
Writing things down, as you noted, is essential. If you don't note it, you'll probably forget it.
Flexibility is key. Because I never know how I'll feel day to day, I have to assume that things won't go according to plan. When shopping for groceries, besides keeping basic staples around, I make sure I get the ingredients for a couple of recipes if I'm missing any. I may only cook once that week; I may be able to cook twice (a lot depends on whether we get around to dishes), but I know for a fact that if I don't have the ingredients for a specific recipe, it won't get done.
The other big item is pretty obvious: Have back-up food. Frozen pizza, hot dogs, canned soups, the makings for a PBJ and, if you can find some good sales, something like Fiber One bars or Nature Valley is good to prop you up between meals. For those days you just don't have the energy to cook — or care about it — it's a huge relief to have food around. Because ordering out just gives you guilt, which sucks up what little energy you have.