Simplify Your Life: Step 6 Set Up Routines

**This post may contain affiliate links which help to support our blog and our family.

This post is part of a multi-section post in honor of National Simplify Your Life week which is the first week of August. The original post wasn’t as short and simple as I had wanted it to be so I decided to break it down into a few shorter posts.

6. Set Up Routines

This goes without saying for us here and maybe I should have included it in Step 5 but I  felt it deserved its own post. Simple routines for morning, afternoon, and evenings have been the key to making life so much easier and simpler for us. Everyone knows what to expect and what is expected of them and when.

We also have a routine for bill paying, laundry, and our homeschool. The important to remember is that you probably don’t need all of these. Focus on what you need to accomplish and set up a routine. Work on that one routine to simplify it and make it as efficient as possible. This make take a little time but it is so worth it.

Having a hard time getting everyone out the door in the morning? Maybe you should make a routine for the night before. It could include everyone placing their bookbags, briefcases, bags, and things they need at the door or other designated location. Many times our lives are stressful and chaotic because we don’t put a lot of thought into our plans but routines can change that.

Check out Make Over Your Mornings LIVE for some great ideas!

You can read more about all of our routines here. Remember that you need to base your routines around your life and not based on other’s. Routines have been proven to help make people more successful! Check out these books here and here for more ideas!

You can also check out Make Over Your Evenings for more tips on evening routines.

Meal Planning

Part of your routines can include Meal Planning.

This is an absolute necessity in our house. Meal planning is really not as difficult as it may seem and it can be done in so many different ways. There are several posts and article written about meal planning that you can find by searching with Google. There are services and courses you can sign up for too.

You can also check for books on the topic at your local library. A couple of my favorite books are ‘Complete 30 days meal plan: Meal planning ideas including weight loss resources and weight loss recipes‘ and ‘Meal Planning on a Budget: Save Money on Groceries, Master Meal Prep, & Reduce Food Waste to Reach Financial Freedom’. I also like this little meal planning pad I found on Amazon, it looks so simple!

Are you tired of spending too much on groceries? Check out Grocery University to learn everything you need to know about making the best of your grocery budget.

Not only can meal planning make your life simpler it can also save you money! You can read more about how we meal plan here and check out some of our previous meal plans here.

Click here to continue to Step 7.

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Making Memories: Campfire Day

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Campfire Day is the day we can set aside to relax and unwind by a campfire! Click here to learn more about this holiday. It is celebrated on the first Saturday in August.

I think I might be the perfect time to plan a Weenie Roast! We might need some of these for roasting our hot dogs and marshmallows for S’mores. It might also be nice to have some campfire songs and stories too.

Campfire Meals

Hobo Packets

Weenie Roast

Continue reading “Making Memories: Campfire Day” →

Back To School Giveaway!

Cover photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Continue reading “Back To School Giveaway!” →

Simplify Your Life: Step 4 Declutter Your Closet (and your house)

**This post may contain affiliate links which help to support our blog and our family.

This post is part of a multi-section post in honor of National Simplify Your Life week which is the first week of August. The original post wasn’t as short and simple as I had wanted it to be so I decided to break it down into a few shorter posts.

If you are really wanting some motivation to make these changes check out 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life.

4. Declutter Your Closet (and your house)

Go with the ‘less is more’ philosophy and get rid of those clothes that your don’t like and the ones that just don’t fit. This simple task will make life so much easier… trust me, I know as I just did this last month and I’m so happy I did.

Kids always complaining that they have nothing to wear? Declutter their wardrobe as well. I try to make sure everyone has enough clean undies and socks for a couple of weeks and at least 10-20 bottoms. They also have about the same number of tops and a few sweaters. That way they have plenty of things to mix and match and always look like they have a new outfit.


If your don’t mind them wearing the same thing again and again you could get rid of more, just make sure that the laundry stays caught up. You can also buy ‘uniform‘ style clothing. My special needs son actually prefers this as he isn’t really big on changes and I have found that the uniform pants and polos seem to hold up better than other things he has had in the past.

After you’ve decluttered your closet take a look around your house and see what else you might want to get rid off. Make sure everything you have in your home is useful and has a purpose. Decluttering can save you time and money in regards to cleaning, maintenance, and repairs not to mention how much time we spend looking for things that we can’t find because of all the clutter. Remember — Less is More!

Be sure to check out the other post in this series for more simple ways to simplify your life.

Click here to go to Step 5.

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Is Your HomeSchool Area ‘School Ready’?

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If this is your first year homeschooling this is an important step to making sure you get your year off on a good start.

You don’t need a huge Pinterest perfect school area as I’ve talked about in this post but you do need it to be organized if you want to be successful. Having stuff here and there is a surefire way to get overwhelmed in a hurry. Trust me, I know this from experience.

Our main area is our dining table. We have some bookshelves which hold the majority of our books plus I have another shelf with the books I am using that are specific to our curriculum for this year. Continue reading “Is Your HomeSchool Area ‘School Ready’?” →