We had a great time watching the Solar Eclipse even though we didn’t experience totality. The kiddos did their Morning Circle Routine and then watched a couple of lessons about the eclipse. Then they had a quick lunch as they were so excited to get out and watch for the eclipse.
I’ve definitely been trying to streamline things around here… in some ways, we need to look at our homes as a business and try to find ways to make things run a little smoother. I’ve had a master shopping list for a while although I’m not sure if I’ve shared it here. I might’ve been a little inspired by these vintage-style grocery boards**:
The problem with our previous shopping list was that it was outdated and our diets/tastes have changed quite a bit. I wasn’t quite as health conscious when I first made my grocery list so I did have things like Koolaid and Bisquick on there. We’ve also been growing some of our own veggies and making some of the convenience foods like ranch seasoning and onion soup mix so we don’t buy them anymore. We really want to try to grow some of our own herbs to make them even better!
I took a little time one evening while Mr. Awesome and the kiddos were out to look through our grocery purchases over the past year… yeah, it did take a little time to sort through the orders we have placed but it was worth it. I know the orders I went through didn’t show EVERYTHING we bought over the past year but it did give me a good idea of what we are buying regularly and how much we are buying. Some of those things were quite surprising!
When we did our pantry makeover, I really wanted to see just how much space I needed to dedicate to certain items before getting too happy with my organization.
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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.
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.
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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