In addition to helping declutter your home, organize your spaces, and get your mind clearer, organizers can often help you save some money. But you don’t have to hire one, or wait until your next session, to start saving. Reframing planning as something you do not only for your calendar, but in other aspects of your life, is surprisingly cost-effective. 

As the new school year settles into a routine, here are a few tips to get you started.

Planning Social Outings
When you consider fun activities, assess opportunities to enjoy them at lower cost. My local retro duckpin bowling alley, for example, offers a “family” package that I can use on Saturday night Cosmic Bowling, enabling six of us girls to bowl for two hours to 80s tunes and enjoy pizza and Coke for less than $20 each! Buy movie, museum, or theme park tickets on Groupon and use them on your next fun family outing.

Planning Travel
If you have a destination in mind, search Google Flights for cheaper dates (and/or use the app’s tracker), and schedule your trip accordingly. Look for hotels, flights, cruises, and travel packages during “shoulder season” – the sweet spot between high and low tourist seasons. (If you have a lot of flexibility, you could use these and similar tools to shift travel destinations based on pricing, saving even more.)

Planning Meals
We waste a shocking amount of food and money each year on uneaten groceries and leftovers. While modern life realities make eliminating that waste altogether virtually impossible, planning meals carefully and shopping accordingly can save a large share. Making this a regular practice is also good for the environment and a nice guilt-reducer!

Planning Gifts 
Gifts can be among the toughest, most frustrating, and most stressful purchases. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Take advantage of museums, indie book shops, arts-and-craft fairs, and trips – whether out of state or overseas – to buy unique presents. This generates a multifaceted win: you get to indulge your desire to buy something at the adorable museum gift shop, you’re supporting local artists and craftspeople, and the recipient of your gift(s) is likely to be impressed – by both your thoughtfulness and creativity.

Adding these layers of planning into your life might feel like added work, but in practice it turns out to add fun. You find new activities – e.g., Groupon offers an activity or class you hadn’t even considered, and you can try it for just $20! You eat better – you won’t be stuck with boring leftovers if you repurpose those noodles into a stir-fry or use the chicken bits to make a tasty soup. And, given how crowded with tourists a growing number of “dream vacation” destinations have become, shoulder season might just become your new favorite time to travel.