Bobby and I are up to "Insurance" in our Quicken categories for budgeting. I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to seek outside help for housecleaning, so what I've been doing the past few weeks is just driving on. I'm following my old weekly chores schedule and do you know what? It works pretty well when I follow it.
Monday - Laundry
Tuesday - Kitchen Chores
Wednesday - Laundry, Library Prep
Thursday - Enter Receipts, Empty Inbox
Friday - Laundry
Saturday - Meal Plan, Food List (Bobby does the Food Shopping)
??????? - Cleaning
Now, let me explain...
LAUNDRY - This is started in the morning. I fold if I have time throughout the day. If not, I fold it all around 3:30 or 4:00. The goal is to have it finished before it's time to prepare dinner.
KITCHEN CHORES - I have divided my kitchen into four sections. I clean one section a week. The goal is to clean the whole kitchen each month. Sometimes the stovetop needs to be cleaned more often, or an explosion in the microwave might need immediate attention, but usually I can wait a month to revisit most areas. Here are the divisions:
- Clean the Stone Fruit wall - including cabinets, drawers, the microwave, the stove, the toaster oven and countertops.
- Clean the island - including the light fixtures above it, cabinets, drawers, the dishwasher, the sink, countertop and end panels.
- Clean the desk area and nook - including cabinets, drawers, desktop, door, windows and light fixtures.
- Straighten and clean the fridge and pantry, wash the floor.
LIBRARY PREP - I go online to see what is due. I either renew the items or go around the house collecting them and putting them into a tote bag. I may make a list of items I want to pick-up or make online requests.
ENTER RECEIPTS - I enter any expenses from the week into Quicken. In this season of our lives, Bobby is doing the reconciling and bill paying.
EMPTY INBOX - I go through my paper pile and trash stuff, file stuff and hopefully deal with things to do.
MEAL PLAN - I check out the plans for the week in my planner, then I plan our meals for the week. If Bobby is going to be out for dinner, we may have a pancake night. After about three or four nights, I plan a leftovers night. I write the meals in my planner along with a cookbook page number if necessary.
FOOD LIST - I look at the meal plan and I circle any ingredients that we need to buy on my food shopping Excel spreadsheet. It needs to be updated because I've been writing too many notes on it lately, and also because Bobby said the store is rearranging some of the aisles.
CLEANING - Right now the cleaning isn't done at a specific date and time. It's a floater. The goal is to get it done at the end of the week, maybe Thursday, Friday or Saturday morning. It depends on the week. I alternate, doing the downstairs one week and upstairs the next. For example, this is the downstairs week. This morning I cleaned the half-bath before my Bible Study friends arrived, and I cleaned the master bathroom after Quiet Time, while the kids played outside and Sweet Pea slept. I'll try to have the kids help me clean the rest of the downstairs either tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning. Last week it was raining Friday night, so the whole family cleaned the upstairs in between dinner and special cookies that Bobby brought home from his office. That method wouldn't have worked if it was a beautiful spring evening and might not have worked without the cookies. Another week I cleaned on a Saturday morning with Snuggler and Helper, while Bobby and Worker did the food shopping.
I've found that the chore schedule works if I get off my butt and move instead of lying down with my nose in a book, or sitting in a chair staring peacefully into space (which I seem to be doing a lot these days).
