Life/Time Savers

Saving money is number one and foremost on my mind right now. We have always been the "if we need it we'll buy it" people. Now we need to be the "lets really think about how much the NEED is before we buy it". It's been challenging this last few weeks but really good. Yes there has been things that I have purchased that maybe weren't a need in some people's eyes but they really have been useful tools. Two things come to mind,

1. My new watch, Wow, I didn't realize how much I needed a watch. I have used this thing sssooooo much in my daily life. A watch??? you ask, how can a watch make such a life difference. Well OK, it hasn't made such a life difference that mountains are moving BUT I have a timer now, that goes with me everywhere, I don't have any more excuses of why the laundry is still in the washing machine 6 hours later, of why my kids are still playing outside at 8:00 and they should be inside getting ready for bed (or in bed already), why I didn't get out of bed at 5:00 to go swimming since I didn't hear my other 3 alarms going off. How did I ever live life before (or at least get anything done on time) is beyond me. This new watch has been a lifesaver. So when I got a new watch, it didn't seem like a life or death need but I knew it would help with at least school with test taking and such and now I know it helps with so much more. I still have yet to use it for my original purpose, school, I'm sure it'll come in handy for that some day.

2. My new knife. I have complained for years that I need new kitchen knives but never wanted to fork out the money for a good knife that would actually cut (hmmm, what a concept). I have a friend who sells Pampered Chef and guess what, I got a new Pampered Chef knife. I can actually cut the food in the kitchen. I have recently taken up canning to save on money in the long run and that knife has made that job easiar, I cut paper thin elk steak the other day, tomatoes are actually in cubes now instead of a watered down mess of mush.

So now I have two new items that have really helped me out quite a bit and have made my life easier and more efficient. John always wants to the right tools to do his job and now I have the right tools to do my job. What has been your time/life savers????