The following post is reprinted with permission from LoudounMoms.com

If you’re like most moms I know, you’ve resolved to (1) put healthier food on the dinner table, (2) reduce the outflow of household dollars, and/or (3) be more involved with the kids.   Luckily, I have one tip that will allow you to do all three.  It costs less than a nickel, and will take only a moment.  Too good to be true?  Read on, but before you do: make a Post-It like the one below and stick it in your underwear drawer (yes, your underwear drawer…)

This one Post-It changed my life… and it can change yours too.  I read that most Americans haven’t decided what is for dinner until 6:00 on any given night.  This lack of planning leads to unhealthy decisions, unnecessary expenses and wasted time.  But if you think about dinner when you’re getting dressed each morning (because you, uh, had a Post-It tucked behind your panties) you’ll make good choices for yourself and for your family.

Let’s return to those three resolutions and see how planning ahead supports each one.

Eat healthy:  There’s a reason why fast food restaurants are frequent targets for consumer health advocates.  The tradeoff for getting it “fast” usually entails getting it packed with calories, fat and sodium.  [Even a McSalad with dressing tops out at 560 calories, 38 grams of fat and 1470 mg of sodium – more than you’ll find in a Big Mac].   But if you’re thinking about dinner as you’re getting dressed, you’ll have a better plan.  Even if there’s nothing in the freezer, sometime during the day you’ll be near the grocery store, a farmer’s market, or your local Let’s Dish!.  By 6pm, the only thing between you and the dinner table may be a greasy drive-thru.  Your Post-It keeps you from falling into that trap.

Save money:  OK, OK.  There is healthy fast food.  Yup, we call it Whole Foods. In fact, before I came up with the Post-It strategy (and the US economy tanked!), you often found the MarcotteMobile parked at Whole Foods around 6:15pm.   But who can afford to be a  WF regular these days?  Sure, their prepared foods are wonderful, but a family of four is liable to spend $50 there are still be doing dishes at the end of the night.  While salmon, steak, pork and chicken are getting more expensive every day, you can afford them a lot more often if you have a plan and buy in bulk.  In fact, Japanese Miso-Glazed Salmon and Vegetables is on this month’s menu at Let’s Dish!. It’s delicious, convenient and meets heart-health standards set by the American Heart Association. As part of a 12-meal package, it costs just $3.50 a serving—$2 less than a McSalad, and half the price of anything at Whole Foods..  Chalk up another win for the Post-It!

Be More Involved with The Kids:  To be more involved, you need more time.  And while that Post-It note won’t add more hours to the day, it can make the moments you do have more productive.  Let’s go back to the Miso-Glazed Salmon from Let’s Dish!  Here are the at-home cooking instructions for that meal: “Remove salmon from freezer.  Place alongside vegetables on baking sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes”.  Hmmm… 40 minutes.  What could you do with 40 minutes you might otherwise be chopping, sautéing and stirring?  How about asking your kids how their day went, or playing a game of cards?  All the while, your healthy, affordable dinner is taking care of itself.  Thank you, Post-It.  And thank you, plan.

Whatever “help” you get with your resolutions, it won’t change the fact that being a mom is the hardest job around. You can’t expect to do all of it well.  But put a little Post-It in your underwear drawer and you may find yourself making smarter choices every day —and that may give you more money, energy and time to handle the hard stuff.

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