Ultimate Guide to Housekeeping Habits

Here at Habits for a Happy Home we are not all about sparkly, spotless homes. I hope that you have seen, through our Day in the Life series this month, that we are regular sorts of people. Each one of us struggles. Just as our ‘About’ page says, “My hope is that this blog will serve to inspire all of us to replace some bad habits with good ones and keep us on the road toward the kind of home that pleases the Lord.”

Building a home that pleases Him is what this guide to housekeeping habits is about. Being a practical help for our homes so that we ultimately glorify Him. Each of our contributors keeps house with the help of different habits. So many of those are shared here in our archives. We bring those to your attention today and offer encouragement from around the web as well.

She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. Proverbs 31:27 The Message

What is a Proverbs 31 Woman? by Angie “Just Listen, obey and enjoy the blessings that will come to you, your husband and your kids because you are walking in HIS will!”

Cleaning/Clutter Busting

• Cleaning Thankfully – “be thankful for the little fingers and noses that made those smudges.” by Kendra

I’m still working on a way to be thankful while I’m dusting, but you get the idea.

• My Favorite Cleaning Products by Kim A.
• The Housekeeping Habits That Bless Our Home by Tricia. The daily habits that surely help!
• Flylady: Tools Not Rules – What makes Flylady’s habits successful in my life? Most can be accomplished in 15 minutes or less.”
• Double Up by Tricia “several of my have-tos are rolled together”

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.  ~Thomas Edison

• The Family that Works Together by Kendra
• Cleaning Schedules for Homeschooling Families by Jamerrill at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling
• Weekly Cleaning Schedule – Managing the Homeschool Home by Richele at Under the Golden Apple Tree. Details for each day of the week!
• Paula at Average Housewife shows you how to make a cleaning schedule in iCal – how handy is that?
• Amy at Living and Learning at Home has printable Cleaning Schedules! “What I did was print out pages for a month, write the date on the top, and cross items off as I go.”

• Clear the Clutter: Five Questions for the Organizer in You by Daniele at Domestic Serenity and 21 Words for Keeping Organized
• Dance with the Dishes – having fun with mundane

Chores/Training/Service Opportunities

• Chores or Service Opportunities? – which one sounds better to you?
• On the Job Training Part 1 and Part 2 My Job Chart by Kerri
• Service Opportunities Upgrade – using a chalkboard to track service
• Kendra’s Morning Routine series. Part 2 begins with racing to beat the coffee pot to unload the dishwasher. The rest of the series here.

• Jurisdictions – “because I can’t possibly follow behind five children picking up, and homeschool and get supper on the table.”
• Free Printables for Chores – to make life easier – from Tabitha at Meet Penny in her Homeschool Schedule post.
• Kathy at Cornerstone Confessions has a task notebook chore schedule. “A Task Notebook is a notebook created to help you keep track of both those day-to-day to-do items as well as annual, semi-annual and quarterly items that you often forget because they are never written down.”
• Children’s Routine Chore Chart, also by Kathy, offers free printables.
• Cindy at Our Journey Westward Teaches Values Through Chores and Jobs – complete with a chart showing age-specific chores, “From the time my children can toddle, they get the pleasure of helping with chores around the house and around the farm.” She also shares about Service and Leadership.
• Training Your Children in Home Economics – “because you don’t want to be doing their laundry when they’re 40.” An ebook by Angie at Many Little Blessings.
• Training Our Children to See at the Doorposts blog. Going on an Opportunity Hunt!
• Chores for Children: The Sweeping Game by Jamerrill at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling
• In Teaching Teens to Cook – Delicious Life Skills, Barb-Harmony Art Mom says, “Our teen has always been interested in helping in the kitchen but we took it to a new level and are now reaping some delicious benefits.”
• Plus, in her From Chores to Life Skills – Parenting Teens, Barb shares some vital skills for teens to acquire. “Daily chores become stepping stones that span from the teenage years to the self-sufficiency of adulthood.”
• Life Skills Essential For My Children by Tonya at the Homeschool Classroom. Have I taught my children the necessary life skills that will enable them to be confident and knowledgeable as they make purchases, conduct business and live their day to day life without my aid?

Household Management/Organization

• Household Notebook by Kerri. She details the key for planning to be spontaneous and gives us a peek inside her notebook.
• Evernote App by Steve – it even holds the family drive thru list.
• Fight Fire with Fire by Kendra – using technology for reminders.
• My Coupon Binder by Heidi “One of the things that keeps many people from couponing is the clipping and sorting and organizing.”
• Spring Forward: A Seasonal Assessment by Tricia “You can do it. Invest planning time now so you are free to enjoy Easter and those pretty spring afternoons. Just chunks of time. Bits of brain power here and there. Short-sleeved weather will arrive and you’ll have your family ready.”
• What if you work and homeschool? Joan at Our School at Home is sharing an Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling as a Working Mom
• How about some Time Management Tips. Kathy at Cornerstone Confessions has those too. “Look carefully then how walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16) Plus she offers some general organization tips for many parts of the home including the family automobile.

Taste and see the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8

Menu Planning and Feeding the Family

• Our Recipe Box – all the recipes our contributors have put in the box.
• What’s For Dinner? series by Kerri. Do not miss these information packed posts from a mama of eight! Kerri shows you how to plan menus, make a grocery list, organize coupons so you will use them, double recipes, and pull in your helper for a wonderful presentation of a meal!

Realization: Frozen dinner – homemade by me – equals a weeknight vacation!“

• Back to Basics series by Tricia – simple suppers, using the slow cooker, frugal living and more.
• Celebrate Every Day – taking turns with the You are Special plate.

Laundry

• Changes Are a Comin’ by Kendra – everyone gets a laundry basket
• Laundry Management is also part of Kendra’s Surviving Life with Boys: Managing the Dirt
• Toss Your Laundry by Tricia –  a homemade laundry chute
• Toasty Warm – warming clothes to bring smiles
• 10 Laundry Secrets by Jill at Blessed Beyond a Doubt – how to get those stains out!
• Overflowing – encouragement when everybody is sick and laundry and all are overflowing.

Atmosphere/Decorating

• Surviving Life with Boys – a three part series by Kendra – managing the dirt, surviving the noise, creating a sanctuary
• Yard Sales – The Frugal Way to Decorate by Kim A.
• The Word Within Sight by Tricia. Bible verses within sight throughout the home.
• Pinterest Boards with wonderful ideas from around the web: My Homemaking and DIY Pinterest board and my Practical/Organization.

Websites for Housekeeping Helps

• Flylady

• A Slob Comes Clean
• Mama’s Laundry Talk

Habit Formation Help

• Help for Making Habits Stick
• Help! I’m Organizationally Challenged! Guest Post by Vicki Bentley of HSLDA and Everyday Homemaking.
• 21 Days to Becoming {Habit Forming Printable} from Jenn at Mama Jenn. “I often find myself wishing that I was more diligent in so many areas of my life! I’m talking big things like daily prayer and Bible reading to little things like flossing my teeth regularly. I have decided that NOW is the time to stop wishing and actually start making some changes!”
• Jenn also shares a free Mama’s Mission of the Month Free Printable checklist.

• Life Never Stops Therefore Habit Training Shouldn’t Either by Angie
• 10 Days to a Peaceful Home from Amy at Raising Arrows includes a greet the morning checklist, meal planning and even a hospitality list. Amy also has a Keeping the Home section which includes a whole page of helpful habits.
• It’s More Than Just Changing Sheets by Kela at Pursuing What is Excellent  As the woman of my home, I’m in a pursuit mode. Learning new things everyday about loving my husband and taking care of my dwelling place.
• Our Household Habits Pinterest board

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This post is linked to 40 Ultimate Guides and Lists at iHomeschool Network. Be sure to visit and pin them these great resources!

You are invited for a visit! I am sharing two other guides you might enjoy: The Ultimate List of Easy Slow Cooker Recipes at Hodgepodge and the Ultimate Guide to Choosing Homeschool Curriculum at The Curriculum Choice.