Getting my Act Together

I mentioned in my list of home goals for this year is to have a reasonably clean & organized home. And I decided the best way to do this is to have a plan, written down, to look at every day. So I started by doing a little research to find out what works for others. Then I started to put ideas together in a way that (I think) will work for me. I'm sure I'll tweak things as I go, but this is my starting point! Woot!

image via pinterest

I really like the idea of an organizing system like this one on pinterest. I don't have the full set together yet, but I decided a homekeeping journal was a good place to start. So I pulled out one of the white 3-ring binders I found at a yard sale last summer for $0.25 and some plastic page holders to do the job. I wanted to use the plastic pages holders because I figure I'll be using this while cooking and cleaning and I don't want anything ruined if I accidentally spill on it. Also, I will be able to mark on the pages with a wet erase marker if I want. And I love to cross things off of lists! Since I want to make home keeping as enjoyable as possible, I used some pretty cardstock to cover the binder.

Oooo, much better! I started my journal with a general homekeeping schedule to keep myself organized and make sure everything gets cleaned! I made this page pretty too, since I'll probably be looking at it every single day.

The top section shows my cleaning schedule which is broken down so I have only one large chore each day to keep the whole house clean! I based my schedule largely on the plan by The Free or Cheap Queen (and also took some tips from The Time Warp Wife's cleaning schedule). In the end this is how my cleaning schedule ended up:

• Sunday - Day of Rest! No cleaning for me!
• Monday - Laundry & wash the sheets, tidy the house, & sweep.
• Tuesday - Clean the bathrooms & change the towels.
• Wednesday - Clean all the surfaces.
• Thursday - Organize/Clean out something.
• Friday - Tidy they house, clean all the floors.
• Saturday - Do something outside.

The second page of my binder is actually a printout of this plan which has more details on each task. Check it out if you want more info! I also have a list of daily tasks (make beds, dishes, 10 minute tidy x3, 10 minute junk shed, garbage, and working out), weekly tasks (sort pantry, wipe fridge & microwave, groceries & errands, and wash diapers as needed), and monthly tasks (clean inside stove, clean garage, clean basement). I think one task per day seems really doable and much less stressful than trying to do it all at once. We'll see if it actually is. :) I also plan to put cleaning tips & recipes for homemade cleaner I want to try in the binder.

The bottom of the page is dedicated to my meal blueprint (see my inspiration by The Nester here). I'm just not a hard core meal planner, but this seems doable because it is so flexible! Here is the general gist of my plan:

• Sunday - make bread dough, make salad
• Monday - cook dinner (chicken)
• Tuesday - cook dinner (Mexican)
• Wednesday - cook dinner (meat/veggies)
• Thursday - leftovers
• Friday - pizza
• Saturday - make soup

I also have a list of staple foods to keep on hand. If you want more info on the meal blueprint, the Nester gives lots of detail here. And you should definitely check out the bread recipe for fresh bread in only 5 minutes a day!

That's as far as I've made it so far, but I also plan to include things like staple food recipes, phone numbers, and anything else that helps me stay on top of this homemaking thing! I'll keep you posted as my system evolves and I add things to my binder. Do you keep any kind of homekeeping journal? How do you stay organized around the house?