All comparisons How can I lighten the family week? Compare two ways to organise meals, shopping, journeys and family commitments.
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The initial figures are editable examples, not estimates of your situation.
Currency: GBP
Enter weekly minutes, adding up the time of everyone involved. If one person spends 30 minutes cooking and another spends 20, enter 50. The result is the family's combined effort, not 50 minutes off everyone's calendar.
Option A · Current week Food and shopping costs per week Other costs, transport and paid help per week Preparing meals (minutes/week) Count hands-on time: preparing ingredients, cooking and clearing up. Exclude unattended cooking time. Grocery shopping (minutes/week) Time spent planning and buying groceries, including online shopping. Enter journeys under family travel. Family travel (minutes/week) Journeys for shopping, school, appointments and other family commitments. Count each person's time once. Essential commitments (minutes/week) For example, essential care or appointments that must be covered. Moving them to someone else does not remove them from the family's total. Commitments you can move or cancel (minutes/week) For example, optional outings or activities you can reschedule or choose to skip. Enter the time you expect to keep in each plan. Household chores you could delegate (minutes/week) For example, cleaning and laundry. If you pay for help, enter the cost above and only the time still spent by family members here.
Option B · Alternative week Food and shopping costs per week Other costs, transport and paid help per week Preparing meals (minutes/week) Count hands-on time: preparing ingredients, cooking and clearing up. Exclude unattended cooking time. Grocery shopping (minutes/week) Time spent planning and buying groceries, including online shopping. Enter journeys under family travel. Family travel (minutes/week) Journeys for shopping, school, appointments and other family commitments. Count each person's time once. Essential commitments (minutes/week) For example, essential care or appointments that must be covered. Moving them to someone else does not remove them from the family's total. Commitments you can move or cancel (minutes/week) For example, optional outings or activities you can reschedule or choose to skip. Enter the time you expect to keep in each plan. Household chores you could delegate (minutes/week) For example, cleaning and laundry. If you pay for help, enter the cost above and only the time still spent by family members here.
Use your saved menu to estimate preparation and shopping time, then compare the totals here. This comparison does not change your planner.
Open the existing meal planner ↗ Consider your own circumstances Do you have children or others to care for? Prefer not to say Children Other people to care for Children and other people to care for None of these commitments Optional: helps select relevant reading. It does not change the calculations.
Results update as you change the fields. Use the button to jump to them.
Show my comparison ↓ Your comparison Option A · Current week Option B · Alternative week Weekly cost £130.00 £150.00 Total family hours per week 7 5
Your choice at a glance There is a trade-off: the cheaper option, or the one leaving more money available, also takes more time.
Weekly cost £20.00 With “Alternative week”, you spend £20.00 more per week than with “Current week”.
Total family hours per week 2 hours With “Alternative week”, you spend 2 fewer hours on family activities per week, adding everyone's time together than with “Current week”.
What this means for you In “Alternative week”, you have allowed 0.5 hours for essential commitments, 0 for commitments you can change, and 0 for household chores. Meal preparation, shopping and journeys are counted separately in the total above.
Where the weekly time goes
Preparing meals (minutes/week) Option A: 300 min · Option B: 180 min
Grocery shopping (minutes/week) Option A: 60 min · Option B: 60 min
Family travel (minutes/week) Option A: 30 min · Option B: 30 min
Essential commitments (minutes/week) Option A: 30 min · Option B: 30 min
Commitments you can move or cancel (minutes/week) Option A: 0 min · Option B: 0 min
Household chores you could delegate (minutes/week) Option A: 0 min · Option B: 0 min Agree who will do each activity and check that essential commitments remain covered. Fewer combined family hours do not necessarily mean the same amount of uninterrupted free time for each person.
Consider your own circumstances Something to consider beyond the comparison figures.
Look at who will do each task and when: saving time on paper only helps if the new plan is manageable for everyone.
Sharing household tasks fairly ↗ UNICEF · Article in English
Money and time are separate: choose the trade-off that works for you.
How the comparison works Count active person-minutes across the household: two people working for one hour equals two person-hours. Do not count overlapping activities twice for the same person. Enter the same cost scope for both options.
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