Adventures in Mommyhood: Living Simply

Since I left my job a few months ago and am now a full-time stay at home mom, I have been determined for us to live a more simple life as a family, especially since we don't have the extra income.  From meal planning, to starting a garden, to having our own chickens, to now becoming a very good financial planner and budgeting every single penny....beginning a simple life isn't that simple. Yes, in the long run things will be much simpler, some things already are, but at first when you try and de-clutter your life if you will, it can be a challenge. It takes a little bit of work to get things in order, but oh so worth it.

We started a garden and grow a few vegetables and now they are starting to be ready to eat and we love it, saves us so much time going to the store. It took my husband a whole day to build the garden and get things planted, but one hard days work and a few weeks of of tlc and now we have an abundance of fresh veggies. Same thing with our chickens, one hard days work putting the coop together and a fence and getting supplies and a few months later, our chickens are  producing eggs, we are not eating the chickens, just using them for eggs :)

Now on the the cleaning and managing of the household part. I work off of schedules and lists constantly. I think I have a pad of paper in every room, even the bathroom, when I get an idea or see something that needs to be bought or done. Lists are everywhere in my life. I invested in a planner from staples and am using that to stay organized. This planner has made my life so much easier, everything is organized in one place and I love it. It keeps me on track with everything.

Here's how my planner is organized:

Monthly and Weekly Calendar
Meal Planning
Routines
(Lilly's Daily Routine and House Cleaning Routine)
Blog Stuff
Personal
(Shopping lists, wish lists, ideas, etc)
Finances
(Bill Payment Checklist, Monthly Calendar)
Notepad

Things are going a lot more smoothly lately and the planner is really helpful! There are tons of weekly cleaning checklists you can check out on Pinterest and find great planner printables on Etsy to fit your planner and your style :)