7 Important Things Parents Should Do at the First of the Month

What do you do at the beginning of the month to set your family up for success? Here are some important things parents should do on the first of the month to avoid financial issues and scheduling conflicts. My referral links are included where I’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase, but it won’t cost you anything extra.

 

 7 Important Things Parents Should Do at the First of the Month

1. Pay Bills

Most mortgages, car payments and tuition are due at the beginning of the month. Pay them ASAP to avoid late fees. I remember my Mom would always write out checks for our family’s bills, then my Dad would sign the checks.

Now I pay almost everything online. Although I always seem to get stuck behind the only lady at Kroger who decides to write a check and has to dig into her purse for 45 minutes to find her ID.

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2. Organize Family Calendar

Our family calendar lives in a few places: on my iPhone calendar and a dry erase calendar that I keep on the fridge with afterschool activities and events.

I like the dry erase calendar because you can use it over and over. In fact, today after school I’ll let A.J. erase the dates from last month and start over. It can serve as a writing lesson too.

Besides displaying the family calendar where everyone can see it, family meetings are a great way to check-in and discuss family issues.

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12 Life Events that Require a Family Meeting

3. Clean a Closet or Appliance

As much as I hate cleaning our house, if I break down the tasks into manageable parts it’s a lot easier to do. For example, on the first of the month clean out a closet, a drawer or a major appliance.  I’m going to clean our oven tonight and get off all the caked off food and gook.

By tackling a small project, but not a big project you’re more likely to finish it vs. procrastinate. If you’re already dreading the holidays, consider getting a professional home cleaning service.

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4. Look Ahead

Take a look at the rest of the quarter or the rest of the year. See if there’s anything coming up in the next three months that your family may need to plan for like a vacation or holiday shopping.

Sometimes things pop up because I forget to look a month or two ahead. But I also try to set reminders on my iPhone a month ahead.  For example, our family’s Amazon Prime Membership ends in early December. I’ve set two alarms on my phone for the middle of November and for the beginning of December to go ahead and renew it. I don’t want my Amazon Prime Membership to expire because the two-day free shipping and videos options are so convenient.

5. Check-in with Sitter or Nanny

Does your sitter need anything? Is her schedule changing? Do you have a date night coming up where you’d like them to work some extra hours? I find that the sooner I plan ahead for sitters, the better the chance that I’ll get a “yes” from my request.

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6. Write in a Journal

Children grow so fast and life flies by. Take a moment to jot down your dreams, goals, and memories. If you can journal all month that’s even better. But entries on the first of the month are better than nothing.

Braver Journal


7.  Organize Important Receipts

My wallet is overflowing receipts every month. Most of them are from debit card purchases or even things I pay for cash, yet still have to clean out my wallet. If anything comes up that’s tax-deductible, I remove it from my wallet and set it aside.

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I hope you enjoy all these tasks on the first of the month. If you can’t complete them on the first, at least try to do them the first week of the month.

About Joyce Brewer

Creator & Host of Mommy Talk Show. Emmy award-winning TV journalist.Wife & Mommy; Mom Blogger; Social Media Coach; Long Island, New York transplant living in Atlanta, GA. Follow Joyce on Twitter @MommyTalkShow Author of Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms featuring interviews with mompreneurs who created businesses using their skills & backgrounds.

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15 comments

  1. These are great tips! Staying organized is key to successful parenting. Thanks!

  2. Great tips! Paying the bills and staying organized are two of the biggies. And they work in exactly that order.

  3. Cleaning something is definitely an area I can work on. I don’t clean so much as I shuffle things around. LOL

  4. These are definitely things parents should do at the first of the month. Looking ahead helps makes sure you are organized.

  5. I am normally pretty organized. I do need to plan ahead a little more though since our lives seem to just get busier and busier.

  6. These are great tips! I’m about to get more organized. Some days I feel like I can’t keep up with all of the different schedules we have.

  7. These are really great tips! First of the month is the best time for planning! Thank you so much for sharing these!

  8. It is always a toss-up between old school (journal reminders) and new school (smart phone reminders) for organizing and planning. I do a bit of both, as does my husband.
    I agree with you about Amazon Prime 🙂
    I also like the idea of a business quarter (3 months) of planning ahead of the time.

  9. Great list you made for the moms! I know this is bad but I really can’t take it when older people still write checks…why? Electronic is so much easier so I like your suggestion to pay for everything online!

  10. Keeping everything and everyone organized is no small feat. These are great ideas for starting out the month on the right foot.

  11. Writing in my journal is sort of like an outlet for me, it allows me to reflect on the things that has happened in the previous month as well. It’s a great idea and it’s a healthy practice!

  12. That’s smart to check in with the sitter. SHe may have htings going on that are changing her schedule and she doesn’t want to tell you (which means she might quit when things could just be adjusted).

  13. Such great tips to stay organized and on top of things. I also love the tip about writing in a journal once a month. Daily gets overwhelming at times, but once a month is very doable.

  14. I think these are all great tips! I am all for anything that requires you to plan ahead or to journal.

  15. Thanks for the great tips. I need to start cleaning out my closet. Doing it at the first of the month will make it easier to remember. I also change the air filter on the 1st of each month.