Simplicity

Before anyone says it, I realize the irony of this post. I am about to ask my readers for advice on how to simplify life...while at the same time I am about to bring home a newborn. Well, hopefully I will be bringing home a newborn very soon. Anyway, I have been on a personal mission to simplify my life and I am open to suggestions. However, any and all ideas must be practical. I can't afford to hire a maid or have my groceries delivered or dry clean all our laundry. What I need help with is how to make life's daily tasks easier.

For example, one of my recent attempts at simplification included buying cleaning supplies to be stored both upstairs and downstairs. Or, I'm waiting for our washer and dryer to die and then I will buy stackables and put them in our main floor bathroom. (Matt doesn't know about this last idea but it will happen. It must happen.) I also thought about buying a second vacuum to store upstairs so I no longer have to haul one vacuum all over the house...but this one probably won't happen due to the expense. Anyway, I hope you understand my request. And don't limit your ideas to cleaning. I also need help in the areas of grocery shopping, meal preparation, extra clothes storage, getting myself ready for the day and so on.

I am lucky to get one comment per blog post these days so I'm obviously hoping for a better response. If you can't or don't want to comment on my blog, then just email me at craft@netins.net.

I'm waiting!!

Comments

glsgls said…
I'll take care of Kate. This way she can learn about the Hawkeyes.
August 20, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Courtney said…
I've been sitting down on Sunday afternoons and planning out all of out meals for the whole week. I write out a grocery list and go to the store then. It cuts down on trips to the store, just to think ahead a little bit. I also make a point to NOT cook anything at lunchtime. We do different kinds of sandwiches or wraps for lunch. Then I save the cooking for the evening meal. It takes away so much stress just to not have to worry about what we are going to fix to eat.

It gets easier when your kids get a little older and they can help a little more. Emma is 7 now and she is such a big help.
August 20, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Julie Ulven said…
A friend and I were on a simplicity kick and still are. I have done these things to simplify:

A vacuum, Swiffers and cleaning stuff on every level of the house and you don't have to spend a lot of $$ on a decent vacuum. I invested in those micro fiber mops heads and wash them.

I use my own cleaning solution: 1 cup white vinegar, 2 gallons warm water, 4-5 drops of Dawn and a squeeze of lemon to clean my woodwork and floors.

Meal planning for the week and then shop.

Use my freezer more --buy meat once a month and freeze it.

Keep a stash of diapers and wipes on first and second floors.

Assigned each family member a laundry basket and wrote our names on them. Makes sorting and putting away easier. It was cheap! and it works.

Put Mieke clothes in a hanging shelf thingy and now I can see everything all at once in the closet. She doesn't have a dresser. Keep a plastic bin in the closet and drop clothes in it as she outgrows them. Keeps them organized and ready to hand down.

I went through every box we have and purged stuff we did not use or need and gave it all away. Basement is almost done. Taken me 3 years to do it.

Stopped giving lots of presents at holidays and just focus on one item and having more time with people.

I just re-purposed my china cabinet to hold office supplies and craft stuff for Mieke. I can close the door on the stuff and she can't mess with it.

I could go on but won't.

Julie
August 21, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Julie Ulven said…
Oh! I have all my groceries on a list in the computer and print, circle and take the list to the store with me. I am hoping to get an iTouch and use it for my lists.
August 21, 2009 at 3:52 PM
glsgls said…
Make a double meal and either have leftovers or freeze the second half for later use.

Crock pot or slow cooker. It cooks while you do something else. Another benefit is it makes the house smell very pleasant.
August 23, 2009 at 7:07 AM
Life of the Lorenzens said…
I hope I didn't come across as psycho or overbearing when you asked the question the other day. :o) I say "ditto" to most of what Julie wrote. She's amazing! My big things are probably the following:
--Weekly menu plan and grocery list. I, too, try not to "cook" much at lunch besides chicken nuggets/fries or mac & cheese. Saturday night is frozen pizza and Sunday night Austin makes popcorn, so I really only ever cook once a day. Plus I don't usually cook if Austin is gone at night. We're good at leftovers and scrounging together random meals. When you do finish a meal at night, repackage it into leftover quantites right away. We use a lot of Gladware type containers.
--Buying large quantities of meat (ground beef, ham for dicing, chicken for shredding) and prepping then freezing it. I just did that the other night and can give more details if you want.
--I just got my cleaning caddy put together, but if you have storage space I would put cleaning supplies on every floor.
--Daily cleaning schedule, which I don't always follow these days. However, I'm pretty religious on the laundry days (Mon/Thurs) mostly b/c I have to. Monday's are sheets & towels along with the regular laundry.
--I now have a diaper changing station on each floor.
--I'm going to find a cute basket to set on the bottom stair landing to throw stuff in that needs to go upstairs so I can take it on my next trip up or at the end of the day. Eventually it will be the kids' responsibility to put their stuff away out of the basket or it will "disappear" each night. Thought of that one while laying in bed this morning. ;o)
--Pre-measured "snack cups". I got a bunch of the small Gladware type containers and will sometimes measure out different kinds of dry cereal or crackers so when I need a snack to take along for Emily I just grab a container. I did the same thing when she was a baby with baby cereal so all I had to do was add water.
--I have designated diaper bag burp clothes. The 3 nice blue ones always go back in the diaper bag after washing while all the neutral yellow & white ones go in the nursery so I always have one along with me.
--Emergency diaper supplies under the seat in the van. I've been caught without them before. Try to remember to change them out when diaper sizes go up.
--Toy basket in van. I have a small basket with a few small toys that "live" in the van. They are easy to pull out and hand to Emily when she needs some entertainment. Also, there is a stash of books in the pocket on the back of the front seat.
--We have a designated instruction manual box. Anytime we have any type of instruction manual it gets thrown in there. I kept the "baby items" ones in a separate manilla envelope. I've dug through it more than once and just had to do a major sorting when we moved and had to leave some behind for the new owners.
--Kid labels. I had my artistic sister make labels with illustrations on note cards for just about everything in Emily's room (clothing items, toys, books, hair accessories, etc.). I'm going to put them on her drawers & tubs so everything has a designated space and she can learn where to put things away (Daddy too!).
--I bought a small canvas tote for Emily to use as a laundry basket in her room. She is in charge of putting her clothes in it every night after her bath. It's small enough that it won't be too long before she should be able to carry it down the stairs herself.

I'm sure I will have to come up with more of them as I go--let me know what you find works for you. I'm always up for new ides. Good luck!
August 26, 2009 at 10:13 AM
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