Planning

It's spring! Which in my house, means spring cleaning.

For the last several years it seems, Spring Cleaning has really just been a precursor to moving, paring down, prioritizing things that stay, etc. There's nothing like picking up everything you own, packing it, and finding a new home for each and every item in your house to force you to only keep what is necessary and important. So since, we are actually staying in the same home this Spring, I want this spring cleaning to be the continuation of a lifestyle of simplicity. Appreciating what we have, passing on what's unnecessary, and maintaining where we're blessed to live.

My spring cleaning list looks like this:


One thing to do each day for the next week or so and I should be done. And by done, I mean ready for family visitors or the home-study Social Worker (whoever comes first :).

I try to keep our home in relatively presentable shape all year long though. So for me, that means doing one thing each day. Here is my list that stays on our fridge to keep me in check:
I don't ALWAYS keep to this, but if I miss a few days, it's pretty easy to do two or three things in one day and still have a clean house without becoming easily overwhelmed. (and by cleaning the kitchen each day I mean floor swept, empty sink, clear counters.)

And lastly, I'll share what meal-planning looks like in our home. Since there's just the two of us for now, and our schedule is pretty fluid, it doesn't work to plan three entire meals per day of the week. Nathan has meetings a lot in the evenings, or things come up last minute. So for us, I plan 5 to 6 full dinners for each two-week period. I follow the "cook once, eat twice" motto, leaving left-over for another dinner, for Nathan to take to work, or to store in the freezer.

I keep a running list of those 5 to 6 meals and build a grocery list off of those. That way I only have to go grocery shopping every two weeks and always have a few ideas for dinner with available ingredients.
So if you're looking to get a little for structure for your planning. Here are some great printable lists for your home: check out Money Saving Mom's free downloads here.