Homemaking Tips For A Simpler Life
I want to share with you some homemaking tips and ideas on how you can run your home smoother too. When you stop and think about homemaking and everything that encompasses running a home, it’s a huge job! F
rom grocery shopping and cooking the meals, to the endless piles of laundry, the never-ending cleaning and so much more! While there are always things to do when running a home well, there are many ways you can simplify life.
While I will never say I have everything down pack, I do think after 9 years of homemaking that I have gotten some systems in place that make it feel easier.
It takes time to get the feel of the home and to learn the skills needed to make it run smoothly. I hope you find this post useful and can get some valuable tips out of it! So, let’s get started with the biggest part of homemaking, which is making the meals!
Cooking From Scratch
1. Keep Staples Stocked
This is an important homemaking tip! I have to say it’s pretty hard to make meals if you don’t have certain staples on hand. This is probably my top homemaking tip! Making sure your cupboards, fridge and freezer stocked with certain essentials really makes a big difference.
Even if you are running low on food, you can still whip up a meal with a bag of pasta, pasta sauce, a can of tuna and some spices!
A lot of time if you have the space you can bulk buy certain items and keep them in food grade storage containers. You save a lot of money this way and it’s a pretty good way of always having your most used essentials on hand.
Here is an example of some staples you might want to have on hand!
Pantry Staples
Spices, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, canned vegetables, cooking oil, canned tuna or salmon, sugar ect.
Long Storage Vegetables
Onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and garlic.
Fridge Staples
Dairy products, cheese, fruit and vegetables.
Freezer Staples
Variety of meat, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit. I like to have extra homemade frozen sourdough bread, wraps, garlic bread as well to take out when needed!
2. Take Out Meat Ahead Of Time
The worst thing is having all the essentials, but no meat thawed and ready. Either take out your weeks’ worth of meat and place in the fridge if you have the space and let it thaw.
Or just take some meat out the night before. Even if you don’t have an actual plan at least there is meat dethawed and ready for cooking the next day.
3. Grocery List On Hand
If you don’t already have a notepad and pen on the counter at all times. Whenever you run out of something or notice something is getting low put it straight on the list. This helps a lot when grocery shopping to make sure you get everything you need.
I have found having a notepad and pen either on the kitchen counter or another convenient bench space to really help make sure we are never out of the things we need.
4. Quick Go To Meals
Sometimes our days can just get so busy, and we come home and need something quick. Either that or end up going for takeaway which is never the healthiest and can add up quickly!
Having some quicks go to meals that you are comfortable making is life changing.
For example, I always have pasta, pasta sauce, tuna and spices. I can literally put these all together to make a tuna pasta in about 10 minutes! I shred some cheese on top and voila a dish my kids absolutely love!
Another go to quick meal for us is making tuna or salmon patties and just chopping some fresh veggies and cheese as a side dish.
You can always have breakfast for dinner as well!
5. Pre-Prep Meals
If you have some time during your day or even one day a week, try and use that time to pre prep for meals later on. Some things you can do is prechop vegetables and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can pre chop onions, carrots, mushrooms anything you plan on using for dishes that week.
You can also pre shred cheese and keep it in containers or resealable freezer bags in the fridge or freezer for a later date.
I like to keep pre shredded chicken either in the fridge or freezer to whip out as well. The little things really do add up and help a lot. Your future self will thank you!
Laundry Tips
1. Start The Night Before
This is something I do whenever possible. I’ll load the laundry machine and even add the laundry detergent the night before so all I have to do the next morning is turn it on.
It’s a great start for a productive morning. Starting the night before doesn’t take a lot of time but gosh does it make a difference for the next day. You won’t regret it!
2. Do A Little Everyday
Instead of trying to do 3, 4 or 5 loads of laundry in one day, just do a little every day. Do one or 2 loads a day is way more manageable than all the laundry on the same day.
As not only are you washing and hanging this laundry but then you have to fold it all and put it away! That can be so stressful to have a huge pile!
Towels and bedding get alternated, and I wash them every other week. One week I’ll do the towels the next week I’ll wash the bedding. Then 3 days a week I’ll be washing general clothes. It really does keep it more manageable and easier to handle.
Preparing The Night Before
1. Close The Kitchen
One of the biggest things that has changed my days is closing the kitchen at night. After dinner and any snacks that is kitchen is closed, no more dishes are to be used, no more going into the fridge.
A lot of times kids will help me with drying the dishes while I wash up. Cleaning the counter tops and making sure it’s ready for the next day is a huge help to your future self.
Believe me starting your day with a dirty kitchen does not lead to a very happy day. It just feels like all you are doing is cleaning and dirtying all day long! Starting the day with a clean and tidy kitchen seems to put the mind at ease for a good successful day.
2. Quick Tidy Up
You can do this with kids or by yourself but taking 10 minutes at night to do a quick tidy up makes such a difference. I personally like to make sure counter tops are wiped and clean.
The kids pick up all their toys and I’ll quickly fix the cushions on the couch, and make sure the dirty clothes are in the laundry basket. It really doesn’t take very long and it’s nice knowing you won’t step on anything if you get up at night.
3. Get Laundry Ready
You can sort out your dark colour laundry from your lighter laundry to help make laundry the next day easier. Or you can take it a step further and actually load the laundry machine, even add in your laundry powder so it’s ready to press start the next day.
Honestly this is really easy to do and makes such a difference to the next day!
4. Meal Plan
I don’t meal plan for the week, but I do a quick meal plan for the next day at night. I quickly think of what I’ll make for breakfast and potentially prep that if I need to.
For example, if I’m going to make sourdough pancakes or sourdough waffles, I’ll make sure my sourdough starter is well fed. I’ll think about lunch and do the same for dinner so I can take out whatever meat to defrost in the fridge or even on the counter. Just having a rough idea really helps the next day go so much smoother!
Cleaning Tips
1. Cleaning Schedule
Having a cleaning schedule or even a cleaning rhythm in place really helps when it comes to getting the cleaning done. I actually have a whole post dedicated to creating your own flexible cleaning schedule.
You can check out that post HERE if you like! But this ensures you get all the tasks done that should get done without the overload or stress. Doing a little bit every day will ensure you have a tidy home without you going into burnout.
Seriously check out the post if you’d like to figure out how to create a peaceful homemaking schedule that suits your needs!
2. Quick 10
For this one I get the kids involved every time. My 2-year-old is my best helper yet! We do several 10-minute clean ups during the day. Where everything has to go back where it belongs. Because everything in my home has an allocated spot it’s pretty easy for us to do these clean ups.
10 minutes is all you need to make a serious change in the way your home looks! Lots of hand make light work is so true. But even if it’s just you cleaning, you will be surprised how much can get picked up and cleaned up when you give yourself 10 minutes of focused, dedicated cleaning time.
3. Declutter
If you really want to change your life and your home start decluttering now! You don’t have to do your whole house today but just start with a cupboard, or a drawer.
Honestly, getting rid of things you don’t want, use or need any more clears up so much space in your home and on your mind. Having less is truly more. It’s easier to keep a home clean when you have less, it’s easier to tidy, and easier to make sure everything has it’s one designated spot.
If you want to declutter your home but don’t know where to start, I have a blog post here, just for you! How To Successfully Declutter Your Home Quickly
Conclusion
I hope you found these homemaking tips helpful and will find more peace in your homemaking journey. There is always more to learn, more to explore and more growth to be had.
This is the joys of homemaking. Things change, and the more you learn the more comfortable you will become running your home smoothly! Hope you have a lovely day and I’ll talk to you again in my next post!
