Keeps Me Organized: Errand Day

I have planned today to be an errand day. I have several places I need to stop, and several of them are on the other side of town, which depending on where I need to go is a 20 to 30 minute drive. It simply saves me time to do all of these errands on one day rather than making a trip every other day. This doesn't mean I have never been to Super Target twice in one day. I have. In fact the record could be more than three times!!

My errands include returning an item to a store, dropping off library books (and possibly finding more), a drop of winter coats to the dry cleaner, and a donation to Goodwill. I think I also need to stop by a retail store for some binder clips. :) And on my way home, I may get a car wash and gas. The truth is these errands won't take me ALL day, but I have designated this day to run all the errands so I'm only out of the house for a chunk of the day once this week.

I will make sure to plan my route and go in order. I usually go in a circle of sorts, but sometimes I go to the farthest point away and work my way home. Other times I stop at the closest place first! :) The main idea is to be efficient with my time and the gas used by driving to these locations.

Before I leave the house, I usually make a list of where I'm going. I then make sure I have any items needed for the locations on my list. I stack the library books by the door, I find the receipt for the item I'm returning and often put them both in a plastic (or reusable) grocery bag. Today, I have to actually remember to load the winter coats in the car so they can be dropped off at the cleaners! The Goodwill donations need to be grouped together in the car so I don't accidentally give away the item I want to return for cash!

I don't have an errand day every week. Some weeks I just don't have any errands to do, or errands that need to be combined because they are a distance away.

Do you group your errands together? How often do you have an errand day?