Living Simply: A Cleaning Schedule that Actually Works!

Haha NOT! Image from Google Images :)

Being a successful homemaker means making everything happen from cleaning, managing finances, taking care of and nurturing your children, and being a wife to your husband. For me and a lot of other mom and housewives out there, I know I always put cleaning on the back burner to focus on something else that is more of a priority in our household. However, from looking through other mom's cleaning schedules on Pinterest and such, I have come up with a successful cleaning schedule that I can actually manage and keep up with every day. And most of my daily cleaning happens during Lilly's nap which makes knocking it out super easy. 

So here it is:

Cleaning Schedule

Takes about 1.5 hours to complete everyday

Daily

Make bed

Dishes

Organize/tidy up something for 10 minutes before bed

Laundry- one load a day wash, dry, fold, put away

Monday

Master Bedroom and Bathrooms

Vacuum

Swiffer floors

Dust

Change bed sheets

Wipe off counters and sinks

Clean toilets

Clean showers

Tidy up towels

Organize cabinets-this doesn't happen every week

Sweep floor and mop

 Take out trash

Tuesday

Kitchen & Laundry Room

Wipe down counters and cabinets

Clean out fridge

Wipe down microwave and oven

Clean off, tidy up, organize coffee bar

Sweep and mop floors

Wipe down washer and dryer

Tidy up storage baskets above washer and dryer

Wednesday

Living Rooms

Vacuum

Swiffer floors

Dust

Tidy up Lilly's toys and put anything laying around away

Thursday

Lilly's Room and Guest Room

Tidy up both rooms

Swiffer

Vacuum

Dust

Friday

(No cleaning besides daily work because this is the day 

Lilly and I are usually out of the house for a majority of the day)

Saturday

Clean out car

Clean and tidy up carport

Yard Work- Josh

Any Outdoor or Indoor Home projects

Sunday

Meal Plan and Grocery Shop

Rest

This schedule honestly works for me and I am able to do it every day and feel good even if my house isn't 100% spotless, at least it's hygienic haha :) I hope this helps you if you are struggling to figure out how to get it all done. Whatever you do, don't try and squeeze all your cleaning work into 1 day, you'll drive yourself crazy and I guarantee you won't finish everything you wanted to clean in that 1 day. And I'll be honest, some weeks we are so busy or distracted that this doesn't happen every week, but when it's time for me to really get back to it I always come back to this schedule I have created and keep in my life planner. 

Do you have a cleaning schedule that really works for you and your family? I'd love to know :)

Living Simply: Paring Down and Planning a Capsule Wardrobe

So it's no surprise that I used to be a self proclaimed shopaholic and genuinely love clothing and accessories. But as of lately, being on a budget and given my new life as a mom, shopping and trying new trends frequently just isn't in my lifestyle anymore and I find myself wearing the same things over and over again even though I have a closet full of other pieces. I have seen a lot of Capsule Wardrobes on Pinterest and other blogs and specifically discovered Caroline's Capsule Wardrobe and found myself really intrigued to create one for myself. A wardrobe of things that I actually want to and will wear. She breaks down everything you need to know about how to build a capsule wardrobe on her site in really specific detail but here are the main steps:

Image from here

Paring down one's closet can be a daunting, overwhelming, and stressful task...especially trying to focus with a toddler running around. However, when I decided to take the time and go through EVERYTHING, it wasn't that bad. I was able to say no to a lot of things and have 4 trash bags full of stuff to be trashed, consigned, and donated (basically the items that don't fit me right or I haven't worn in a really long time or plan on wearing in the future). And that was just round one which was just a very quick first run through of all my clothes in my closet and storage. Now my next step I want to do is go back through and take a little more time and analyze each piece and figure out my LOVE IT, MAYBE, NOPE and SEASONAL items. Then the third step will be to assess what I have left and plan+shop for missing holes in my wardrobe. 

Stay tuned for more updates on where I'm at with my capsule wardrobe and join the challenge!

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 :)

Weekly Food Preparation

Containers are from Dollar Tree and my mommy planner is from Staples

Yes, I have decided to courageously embark on prepping my family's meals for the entire week including breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks for me and my husband (little one is still on baby food or just eats a little bit of what we eat). It's a lot of planning and a lot of work but totally worth it so far. 

I first researched meals that I wanted to cook that both of us would enjoy. Something easy and quick in the morning, something filling and healthy for lunch and dinner and 2 snacks to enjoy. For breakfast I always keep cereal, bagels, frozen waffles, and eggs on hand so we can pick and choose what we want in the mornings. My husband gets up before me and Lilly do so something easy and simple he can fix himself when he's rushing out the door is key. For lunch I decided to fix the same meal ahead of time for the both of us to eat for the entire week. And 2 snacks that are healthy and filling. Dinner will be something different every night with Friday night being our going out or take out night. 

Links to recipes down below

Breakfast Options on Hand

Eggs

Waffles

Bagels

Cereal

Snacks

4 snacks per day x 5 days = 20 snacks for the week

Apple and/or banana

Peanut Butter

Protein Bar

Lunch 

2 lunches per day x 5 days = 10 total lunches for the week

Skillet chicken with salt and pepper and olive oil with black beans and rice and green beans

Dinner

Monday 

Spaghetti and salad

Tuesday 

Fajita Style Chicken Quesadilla

Wednesday 

Gnocchi with Sweet Corn and Arugula in a Cream Sauce

Thursday 

Summer Stew

Friday 

Go out/take out night

Food prepping is a little bit of work and a lot of planning. These recipes that I found are great and the ingredients are pretty simple, most of the stuff I already had in the pantry and just had to pick up a few key things. Preparing and cooking all the lunches for the entire week only took me an hour and half, which was not bad at all on a lazy Sunday when it's raining. I created a shopping list with everything I needed for these specific meals for the week and a few things that we were out of and kept strictly to the list while we went to the grocery store. And surprisingly enough, we spent less money buying groceries this way then we normally do when we do our weekly shop! How I saved $$: 1) Go for the store brand things as much as possible 2) Check which grocery stores around you has the most/best deals of the week. Every single thing I bought was on some sort of promo or sale so that helped tremendously as well!

It took me an entire week to research and plan what meals I wanted to cook for lunch and dinner and to put my grocery list together. It took us about an hour to an hour and a half at the grocery store. An hour and a half of preparing the lunches and boom, I was done!

I will admit I am can be pretty lazy when it comes to cooking, I always take the easy way out with frozen family dinners or semi-homemade things. But I will tell you even for this multi-tasking momma I can do it and you can do it too. If this is something you've been wanting to try with your family TRY IT! Start planning and find a system/routine that works for you. I actually feel less stressed because I know and have everything I need for food for the entire week. I'm going to keep with it and keep updating on how my food preps are going.

Oh and the meals are husband approved so far :) He loves the rice and beans recipe that I made for lunch with chicken and beans.

Happy Food Prepping!