This paper examines the time linked consumption practices of professional dual career families, examining the kind of consumption practices these families use to manage their lives. The study found that rather than being slaves to time scarcity, professional dual career parents actively ‘speed up’ and ‘slow down’ time through particular consumption practices to take more control of their family lives and times. This paper utilises these empirical accounts to develop theory on time and the family in consumer research which not only enriches understanding of families and familial consumption but also provides a theoretical development of the concept of time within consumer research. |