It's no surprise that an evening routine will help you prepare the next day. But there are many ways an evening routine will save you money as well.

When I was a momma working outside of the home, I never went without my evening routine. I learned that an evening routine kept my life organized and my house clean. But it also had an added perk. It helped us save money. A lot of money, actually.

Here are five ways an evening routine will actually save you money.

1. An evening routine will help you avoid spending money on lunches

In the evenings, prepping lunches the night before makes it super quick and easy to pack your lunch for the day. My daughters have a basket of healthy snacks in the pantry and a tub of fruits and veggies already bagged in single servings in the fridge. Before going to bed, they make their sandwich, place it in the fridge, and lay out which lunch box they want the next day. I prep my food as well. In the morning, you throw everything together and you have lunch ready to go in as little as 30 seconds.

If this wasn't ready the night before, I would be tempted to let the kids eat a hot lunch at school or I might splurge and eat out. But that all adds up. A decent price for lunch is $9. My girls would spend three bucks each at school. That's $15 a day, or $75 a week, which adds up to $300 a month. Yikes!

2. An evening routine will help you save money on your morning cup of coffee

I'm not a coffee drinker. I know, I know. I promise I'm a real human. But if you are a coffee drinker, set your coffeepot so it's ready to go as soon as you wake up. Buy one that starts on a timer.

Avoiding your morning coffee run will save up to $4 a day. That's $20 a week and $80 a month!

3. An evening routine will help you avoid an expensive breakfast on the go

I also think about everyone's breakfasts the night before. I pull anything out of the pantry so it is easy to put together and saves us time assembling it. Cereal, granola and yogurt, fresh fruit, breakfast bars, muffins. All of those are easy to grab on the go.

If your family prefers a hot breakfast every morning, search on Pinterest for easy ready-made breakfasts. Make a batch of something over the weekend that can be frozen and heated up in the microwave. Pancakes, sausage biscuits, waffles, egg and cheese bagels, breakfast burritos.

By making your own breakfast on the go, you could save up to $10 a day or $50 a week. That adds up to $200 a month.

4. An evening routine will help you leave the house on time and avoid arriving late to work, missing any pay.

After my meals are planned out for the morning, I take a few minutes and gather everything I need before leaving the next morning. We lay out all our clothes. This includes clothing, undergarments, shoes and socks, even jewelry. Backpacks, sweaters, extra bags with anything extra needed, and my purse are also gathered.

Anything and everything that goes with us out the door is placed all together, ready to grab on our way out. This ensures we don't rush around trying to remember everything or needing to run back into the house because we forgot something, making us run late.

Is it just me, or does it seem like everything goes wrong when I'm running late? It never fails there happens to be more traffic or an accident which slows your commute to a crawl. If this happens you might be late to work. If you are paid hourly, this might mean a dock in pay. This is easy to avoid by simply laying things out the night before.

5. An evening routine will help you save on gas mileage

I don't know about you, but when I'm running late I tend to put the pedal to the metal and rush. Not that I speed. I NEVER do that, Officer. But speeding up quickly and slowing down quickly is terrible on your gas mileage. And gas isn't cheap, people.

So do yourself a favor. Do everything you can to set your mornings up for success. When everything is ready the night before, you are more likely to actually leave the house on time. Your gas tank, your wallet and your sanity will thank you.

Maybe only one of these areas is a frequent struggle for you. Maybe you can benefit from all of them. Being intentional with planning ahead in the evenings can literally save you hundreds of dollars each month! And my evening routine only takes five to 10 minutes. Those few minutes are such an investment for our family.

Figure out what is costing you in the morning. Find something you can do the night before to help alleviate that stress and avoid wasting money because of it.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on Simple Finance Mom. It has been republished here with permission.

The post 5 ways an evening routine can save you money appeared first on FamilyToday.

As I write this, I'm sitting next to the sleeping form of my youngest. Soft wisps of silky hair frame her face. She has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on another human being. With the sweetest button nose, her little silhouette is just perfect.

She is silent, quiet, still. If I'm being honest, it's actually the only time she's ever still. She is my runner, my mover, my doer. She's always busy working on something. But as soon as her head hits the pillow, her brain does exactly what it should do at bedtime.

It is still. And she crashes.

I sit here next to her, and I envy her the stillness. How easy it is for her to go from 60 to 0 in the space of a few minutes. My mind can't seem to shut off these days.

You see, I am a doer. I cook, I clean, I organize, I have various responsibilities with my church family. And chances are, if I don't have something to keep my hands busy, I FIND something to keep my hands busy. I'm addicted to busy!

I never sit still.

And when I actually find, no, MAKE time to sit - to be still - my brain is not still. It is still thinking, planning, running through all of the things left to get done. I can't seem to make it stop!

Recently, God has brought my little family through some very difficult times.

Even now, He is leading us into another scary season of transition. I'm finding myself overwhelmed at all of the questions and what-ifs. What if we make the wrong choice? What if we miss what God is really trying to say? How can we logistically make this work?

My thoughts are getting the best of me. And if I'm being honest, I'm having a really hard time just being still. Being still and knowing He is God, and He's got this.

I do trust Him. I hated the things we went through, I don't understand why He allowed them, but I trust Him.

I KNOW He's God, I KNOW He's in control, I KNOW He's ordered our steps

But transferring that heart knowledge to my head has been a struggle at times.

You've heard the verse in Psalms 46 where God commands the Israelites, "Be still, and know that I am God." It is a scripture that is inspirational, well known, slap-it-on-a-coffee-mug good! But what you might not know is the context of this verse.

The verses before describe some pretty massive destruction that God brings His people through. Wars raging, mountains moving, utter desolation. THEN He says "be still."

When all is not well, He is sovereign. When our world is falling apart, He is in complete control. After the storms have finally passed, He is still there.

"Be still, and KNOW that I am GOD." We know this verse. But do we walk in it?

Or do we try to play God? Do we subconsciously think that our measly attempts at righteous living should be enough to live a life free from trial, from persecution, from suffering?

When we are overwhelmed with our job or our kids or our other responsibilities, do we rest in the knowledge that God is our peace?

When we have more month than money, do we trust that God is our provision?

When hardships come, when our faith is tested, when relationships fail, do we choose to be still? To know - really, truly KNOW - that He is God?

Today, no matter what is going on in your life, I pray you make the time to sit, to be still, and KNOW that He is God. To acknowledge He is still good and His ways are perfect. To walk in the confidence that He is guiding your steps.

May we take our thoughts captive, truly be still, and find rest in His sovereignty.

God's got this.

What is something you will intentionally NOT do today? How will you choose to "be still" today?

Editor's note: This article was originally published on undefined. It has been republished here with permission.

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