Lately I’ve been feeling a little ho-hum about all the ‘stuff’ I need to do to keep this house and family running.
The lists of things that need to be done seem to get longer every day and the time to accomplish them gets shorter. Add to the fact that it is a never ending cycle – just when you think you are on top of the laundry, or meal prep, or cleaning, you have to start all over again.
It’s enough to drive anyone bonkers!
So I’ve been wondering, perhaps I am making all this harder than it needs to be?
Perhaps there is an easier way to manage all the tasks involved with running a house?
If I could just simplify things a little…
Spurred on by a recent cleaning revelation (which I’ll tell you about soon) I’m on a mission to “Keep it simple, stupid!”
I’m looking for simple tips and tricks for running a household. I’m scouring pinterest, I’m asking my friends and family, and I’m asking you, for your best, simple ideas.
I’m going to try out some of these ideas, find out what works, and share them all here over the next few weeks in my Keep It Simple tips for families series.
You’ll find simple tips for all kinds of household chores and management:
Laundry
Cleaning – including a free printable weekly routine.
Getting a Meal on the Table – including a free printable meal ideas planner.
Meal Planning – with new meal planner printables and a shopping list.
Sticking to a Budget. – including a free printable monthly budget tracker
Getting organised and staying that way! – including a new weekly planner printable.
Organising kids and all their stuff. – including a free printable bag tag reminder system
Being a better parent.
Birthdays and celebrations – include a free printable party planner.
Lunch box ideas – including two free printable lunch box planners.
Growing a veggie garden – including a free printable garden planner.
I am determined to come up with some ideas to make running this house a lot more manageable!
What about you?
What household management tasks are you struggling with right now?
Cooking Dinner in the slow cooker is life changing. The stress relief of having dinner sorted, sometimes as early as 10am, is life changing!
I love small and simple. A different coloured tub for every bodies laundry. The clothes get sorted as they come off the line and that way even if they don’t get folded and put away it is still easy to find what you are looking for.
Looking forward to hearing new ideas! I think environment is huge for kids behavior. So toys sorted into baskets by type means you don’t get the toy box dump out. Get beautiful baskets very cheap at charity shops. Baskets and big toys on shelves if possible. Only put out as many toys as you can face putting away. So, I also put a small basket of blocks out for my 1 year old as it is all about dumping and refilling containers at the moment.
We have just recently shifted to a house which is dominated by hanging space in cupboards rather than chests of drawers, so we have had to stock up big on clothes hangers. I have moved to a system where all wet washing Is put into a coat hanger to line dry, then Brought in and sent straight to the cupboard. No more clothes folding. Simple.
I am still trying, but these seem to be working:
Spray Cleaners – of all kinds, everywhere. If i need to walk across the flat to wetten a sponge to wipe a smear wherever and then walk some more to rinse said sponge and put it back, i rather welcome the smear to the family, to eventually freak out ’cause kids are living in dirt etc. An all-purpose spray cleaner + old cloth in a 3-step radius works miracles. I just try to get them non-toxic, the kids are still little.
Boxes – i keep them everywhere, of all kinds of sizes. Makes it easier to move stuff around as well as put it away, everything looks neater if in a box. Also it removes things not frequently used, they just stay in some box :D
Loving this series Kate – just a constant effort to declutter not only stuff but all the household chores that grind us down.