Piggy-backing on Real Simple’s women and time survey (blogged about here), the magazine’s website has launched a “Women & Time” web feature where readers can create charts about how they spend their time. You can do a “typical day” or a “fantasy day” and then compare your answers to others. In that sense, it’s like Bundle, which lets users input how they spend their money, then compare to others with similar incomes and family situations.
There’s not enough data to draw any conclusions from the charts. Plus, time is far squishier than money. You know how much you spent on utilities last month because you had to write the check. We don’t know how many minutes we spend “swilling Chardonnay” (yes, that’s an option for a weekend activity) because no one really keeps track of that. We just feel it’s probably not enough.
But what this survey reminds me is that sometime, I want to do a large scale time diary study. The CEO Time Use Project is looking at executives. I’d probably look at parents, particularly those who are also in the workforce, because I find these changing patterns of time use fascinating. It will probably involve an app. And a researcher/statistician who can help me with number crunching. And I need to get off my butt and do it. Anyone know a motivational book on time management?
Other cool stuff:
You tell your kids bedtime stories, but when’s the last time you gave them a bedtime math problem? Go over to Bedtime Math and sign up for a daily email of math problems for preschool and elementary school aged kids.
Over at Money Saving Mom, Crystal articulates more of her minimum wage philosophy (read the comments for her explanation). For any frugal practice to be worthwhile, it needs to save at least $20/hour. Judging by how popular that blog is, I think she should probably raise her wage, but the blog also needs fodder 🙂
KJ Dell’Antonia is on a roll over at Motherlode (NY Times). This week, she blogged about the $180,000 nanny — a fascinating thought experiment in choosing one’s reference group. Paying for full-time childcare puts you in an elite group in its own right, but you can look at that number and feel incredibly cheap. She also blogged about one of my pet issues, the idea that it’s school lunch that’s making American kids unhealthy. School lunches have to meet certain nutritional standards. Food consumed at home does not, and there is no correlation between family income and sugar consumption. Middle-class parents giving their kids seemingly healthy granola bars may be shoveling just as much sugar into their offspring as anyone putting Coke in a baby bottle.
Well Heeled Blog writes an ode to her favorite black pants. I’m going to have to say goodbye to a pair of high-heeled sandals I love, and I know the feeling. It’s hard to find stuff you actually want to wear a lot.
photo courtesy flickr user basheertome