Can you do OS and work full time too?

Agapanthus

Try another tack. I went back to work full time when my youngest was 10. We instituted a regime where each of the kids (three of them) prepared a meal for the family once a week. They came to the supermarket and I helped them to choose their ingredients - checking the sell-by dates to see that they would last until their chosen day.

We had a few indifferent meals to start with - and frozen pizza and oven chips were permitted - especially to the youngest. However, before long they were competing to produce the best meal from fresh ingredients and developing individual specialities - my son made excellent curries from scratch.

They've all grown up and left home now, but they're all very good cooks!

ChocClare

Chickadee, if your main problem is clutter (and goodness knows mine is), then visit https://www.flylady.net
Shine your sink, set your timer for 15 minutes, and before long your house will be back in order!!
Joking apart, I've recommended Flylady before and I think it's great, although it is American and therefore not to everyone's taste. However it does have advantages: 1)it's free; 2) it's full of workable ideas; 3) she bombards you with emails which you delete immediately (she sends about 30 per day) and these act as a ready-made checklist for you. She divides the house up into zones, and then every day there's a 15-minute task in one part of the house. It sounds like it's nothing, but it's amazing how quickly it starts to make a difference. Anyway, have a look and see what you think. It might not be for you, but I know it's helped loads of people (and my bathroom is now always clean, even though I never consciously clean it!).

Savvy_Sue

If you cook double quantities, then you have to be organised and 'hide' the extra before the gannets see it in this house! Or there will be NONE left.

Mind you, cooking freeflow mince from frozen doesn't to my mind take a lot longer than heating it from ready cooked.

Ironing - what ironing? If it's too too crumpled, I'd run it through the washing machine on a rinse programme and dry it smoother this time - shirts on hangers, trousers with their creases in. Then look at it: by the time my sons have worn this for 10 minutes, will it still look as if I ironed it? No? Not worth ironing it then. Fold and put away. Or get them to.

chickadee

:rotfl: Ha ha Chocclare, I tried flylady. It seemed OK but unfortunately when I got home and looked at my e-mail it only made me feel worse, as not only had I not shined my sink, I hadn't done a 15-min blitz, checked my home journal, cleared away 27 things, etc, etc. I deleted about 50 e-mails and unsubscribed, feeling even more of a failure.

However, I'm sure that it would work for some people so I'm not saying don't give it a go, it just wasn't for me!

On a positive note, however, we had eaten by 7pm this evening. This isn't bad as I only picked up DS at 6pm. Knowing what we were eating as soon as we got home was a distinct advantage and I just got on with it. This left us with a full evening of quality time and I managed to make some phone calls and have a chat with DS.

OH is out tomorrow so I will defrost some cottage pie from the freezer (only two portions left). The freezer is nearly empty so I think a defrost is in order this weekend, then a Lidl shop I think.

Oh well, it is late. Nighty night all.

carpool72

Yeah, I tried flylady too, but I thinks it works best for people who can check their email every day - I just got really annoyed with having an inbox rammed full of reminders whenever I got round to logging in. I did get a couple of tips though that make things a bit better - I've finally got dh to wash up / hide his dishes (he eats later than us) so the kitchen looks tidy when I come down in the morning, I try to make tidying up a part of my toddler's bedtime routine, I give the sink / shower a quick wipe with my flannel before I chuck it in the wash, and I use those Parazone wipes to give the loo a quick onceover whenever I can be bothered so I only need to deep-clean one room a week rather than spending hours every weekend gutting the house.

My biggest problem is clutter too, and after months of grand plans about selling it on ebay / amazon / car boot I've finally decided to cut my losses and offload to the charity shop.

Baby steps is definitely the way to go, and don't worry if it all goes pear-shaped every so often. There's plenty of us around with more good intentions than anything else!

moggins

There is a far better way of doing Flylady. You don't have to opt for the e-mails. I bought the book Sink Reflections from Amazon. It's the way I have always done Flylady and when I think I need a reminder I just stick the book in a very prominent place. It's like Pavlov's dogs with me now, I only have to see the book to check my shoes and sink

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Routine is the key! If you use something-put it away. Wash up after dinner so its not double the next day-it will become easier.

I find that by doing a 20 min blitz each morning helps set the day up. Our 20 min blitz includes:

Clear all sides-so clutter free, put stuff on stairs to take up, plump cushions, flick duster if needed around tv, wipe kitchen sides down, sweep floors, washing load on, load/unload dishwasher, clean toilet.

Also means that downstairs is tidy and clean the majority of the time. Anyone going upstairs takes items that have been left on middle landing.

If you need to make packed lunches-do the bulk the night before (fruit, crisps, drink, biscuit, yogurt etc) and the sarnies if you want. I use to make a batch of sarnies up for daughter (normally jam, cheese, ham, marmite, choc spread) at weekend then freeze them and get out daily. They would be fully defrosted by lunch.

Meal planning is another major key andcan be simplified easily.

Delegate jobs for your kids to do. Flicking a duster around, sweeping, hoovering, skirting boards, putting dirty clothes in washing bin, putting clothes away, etc etc.

Wish you well.

PP
xx

se999

Hi,

I think de-cluttering was the best time and money saving technique I found. We had a ban on buying cleaning products until we'd gone through all the odds & ends of bottles of cleaning stuff crammed under the sink, the same went for the bathroom, we used up all the odd bits of shampoos/conditioners etc.. Cleaning is so much easier when you only have the items you normally use around. Once you've organized & de-cluttered your freezer and food cupboards, it's so much quicker and easier to see what you need. Making lists for shopping works, and is a means of gradually de-cluttering as long as between making the list and shopping you double check if there is one hidden in one of your cupboards already!

We kept a couple of boxes near the front door for amazon/ebay/carboot/charity, we'd add freecycle now. When they were full enough to make it worthwhile, we'd do a batch clear-out and list/dispose of.

Whilst de-cluttering we saved money by using up food, cleaning products, toiletries, DIY kit, clothes etc.. We also made money by selling items that we no longer needed.

With washing/ironing I've tried a number of tacks!

Firstly do I really need to iron it - so towels, tea towels etc never go near the ironing basket.

Secondly, everyone who is old enough to iron does their own share. Also everyone puts their own clothes away. They do tend to look after them a bit more if they've just ironed them themselves too!

Thirdly, when you need to get new clothes look at labels when you buy, buy clothes that go through standard wash cycles, and preferably don't need ironing.

Before you shop for new clothes go through your wardrobes, do you really need it? When we de-cluttered we did find we bought nearly no clothes for 18 months, and we actually weren't that bad in the first place i.e. not like the rooms full of clothes you see on TV programs!! I did find relegating 'best' clothes to normal use suddenly freed lots of space, I didn't really need that many of that type of clothes anymore. Also we had tons of old shirts for DIY etc., but you only need a few, so made space that way. More space in the wardrobe is supposed to make the clothes look better, but we found the biggest saving was that we could actually see what we'd got, so realised we didn't need to buy more.

Hope these ideas help.

AussieLass

se999 wrote:

Hi,
Firstly do I really need to iron it - so towels, tea towels etc never go near the ironing basket.

Who would possibly iron a towel?
Is that Math's hand up I thought so.

kaznelson

Some great Posts to help us all. Im working full time with hub & 2 kids so time does get limited.

I tend to have 15 mins in the morning (when my energy is higher) quick vacuum & dust or what needs doing.

I have a couple of stair baskets and make the kids put their stuff in there and take and empty them when they are full. Stops junk being all over the house.

Kids also have their jobs to do every evening depending on their age.

I find freezing a god send,I chop a couple of onions a week and freeze them cos they are needed in most meals. Slow Cookers are great, throw it in in the morning and meal is ready when you walk in the door.

I grow my own tomatoes and other salad items as well as saving money I find it calming when I go in the garden, plus its rewarding & the kids enjoy it.

Hope this helps