I’m writing this newsletter from the beautiful shores of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Saadiyat Island is a natural 27-kilometer island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, home to the Hawksbill turtles. We are here for a short break of sunlight and sea breeze; to relax and rejuvenate after a hectic year.

My almost two-year old son is a cracker, loving every minute of island life and entertaining whoever he passes with a funny walk and a big giggle.

My daughter has been down with gastritis, so lots of cuddles with her. She is almost back to normal so we should be able to enjoy the pool and beach with her soon. My parents are here with us, so everyone is getting some much-needed downtime.

As the year comes to an end and I continue to dwell on time and the value of it, here are some tools that I have been using this year that have been game changers for saving time:

Instashop: An app through which I order groceries and things from the pharmacy.

This is a genius of an app. It lets me order from numerous supermarkets, butcheries and pharmacies in my neighbourhood, and delivers within the hour of ordering. Since we do not live near a supermarket or pharmacy anymore, this has been gold for me.

For those of you wanting to see and touch the vegetables / fruit you buy, the online grocery market is so competitive now, rarely have I received bad quality produce. For the odd bad banana I’ve received, the time I have gained in return has really made using Instashop a no brainer. If you haven’t attempted buying your weekly groceries online, I highly recommend trying it. Even if you start with buying cleaning products and packaged food (rice / bread / milk etc), you will realize the time it saves you.

I reckon Instashop saves me at the minimum, 1 big grocery run per week, and one small one, that’s at least 5 hours of my time. Add to that 1 pharmacy run per week; even if I go to pharmacy near the supermarket, that’s at least another 30 minutes to 1-hour time saved per week.

Where ever you are in the world, I’m sure there is a similar app. Try it!

Hello Chef: A service that delivers ingredient boxes with chosen recipes for the week. It takes less than 5 minutes to choose your recipes every week.

With a full-time job and no supermarket close by, I need to plan family meals so that we are not spending time having the “what do you want for dinner” chats every day and then running around for ingredients, in case we don’t have any parmesan left to top the spaghetti bolognese we just decided to have for dinner.

You can choose from 20 recipes and filter them by any dietary restrictions you may have. You can also choose recipes based on time it takes to cook them (I always choose the 20-30 minute ones), calories and macros. You get given very easy to follow recipes, which means me or my home help can easily cook it. At AED385 per week (just over $100), for 4 dinners for the family, I think it’s really reasonably priced. I think this service saves me at least 5 hours per week of decision making and food planning time.

No matter where you are in the world, if you are in a city, odds are there is a similar service. Worth trying!

Here is my referral link that will give you AED350 (about US$100 off your first 4 boxes)

Namshi: An online shopping service with over 700 local and international brands, offering 24 hours or less delivery time, and returns collected and refunded within 24 hours. The prices they sell at are better than in-store prices too.

I am not a shopper at all and I really do not enjoy mall visits. So, when I found Namshi, a particularly good shopping app, it made me so happy! I can browse hundreds of styles and brands on my phone. The brands are affordable, the service is excellent. There have been times I’ve ordered a box of clothes, nothing has fit; they came the same day to collect the return items and the money was back in my account. This app has saved me hours of shopping time, especially postpartum when I was ready to start buying new clothes, and for presents when I don’t have the time or energy to go to the mall!

Although a Gulf based company, they now deliver globally. Here is a code to enjoy 25% discount at Namshi. Use coupon code RFISRVL on your first purchase. Use this link.

What tools do you use to save time and money? Please share!

Working Mums Club

Tools that save me at least 12 hours per week