I know some of you readers, especially in southeast Michigan, have been forced into a frugal lifestyle because someone in the family was laid off or the paycheck / commission / overtime / bonus is not what it used to be.

If a parent is able to, or for now is, staying home, it is a natural inclination to adopt the traditional breadwinner / homemaker family dynamic. The person who stays home to keep house and raise the kids typically ends up taking on the time-consuming tasks and appointments that the employed parent can’t schedule into his or her day.

But what happens if you have to “do this frugal living stuff” while you are also working? Or, in a related scenario, while you are participating in a retraining program so you can land that next job?

You have to get very organized. You have to set up routines. You have to plan ahead. You have to get all of the family members involved with as sharing as many tasks as possible. You may need to make lifestyle tradeoffs – my example is that I couldn’t keep up with all my responsibilities when I had to include an-out-of-town commute.

You can find practical tips for working parents at the Frugal Village blog (many of which I’ve used myself). You can also find a system for setting up household routines at FlyLady.