This Night Time Routine can help you organize your life. Mornings can often be pretty hectic and stressful – trying to make breakfast, pack lunches, get children dressed, get yourself ready for work. There is a lot to do in sometimes very little time. Taking 30 minutes or less the night before to make a few next day preparations can help make your morning MUCH less stressful. Following a night time routine can make your life so much easier every morning.

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Wondering how to keep a house clean? It can be hard especially once you have kids who seem to make messes quicker then you can clean them up. If you have had a hard time committing to a daily cleaning schedule, or sometimes feel like all you ever do is wash dishes and straighten your home, maybe you need to add a few simple things to your daily routine to cut down on housework time. These tips can become automatic and will do wonders to cut down on the time it takes to keep your house straightened up.

Simple Steps on How To Keep a House Clean

1. Clean As You Go

One of the quickest and most effective habits to create is to clean as you go! This may take some practice if it isn’t your natural tendency to be clean or orderly. But making it a priority to put things away as you use them and clean as you go is the best way to keep a clean and orderly home.

Taking those dozen extra steps to put your shoes in your room, or to hang your coat in the closet, or to put the shopping bag of items away will save so much time in the long run. It’s much easier to put things away immediately than it is to be facing an entire room full of things that are out of place at one time.

 

2. Have a Bathroom Routine – Bathroom Cleaning

Bathrooms are often the biggest drudgery to clean, but can be quickly cleaned each week if you make a simple daily habit. Chances are you have a nightly or every morning personal care routine – wash your face, brush your teeth, etc. Add a small step to that routine that will help keep your bathroom clean – wipe down the bathroom surfaces. Put a canister of cleaning wipes under the sink to grab and wipe down the sink, faucet, counter, and back of the toilet each night or morning. Or if you use disposable facial wipes, use that before tossing it to wipe everything down. It probably goes without saying, but make sure to use it for your face first. This bathroom wipe down habit will probably add less than a minute to your nightly routine, and will keep your bathroom looking freshly cleaned between actual cleanings.

 

3. Delegate Responsibilities

Repeat after me – I do not have to do everything by myself. It really is okay and a good idea to delegate house cleaning responsibilities to other members of your household. Even if your husband doesn’t load the dishwasher the most effective way possible, or if your children make a sloppy bed, it’s okay for things to not be done perfectly.

Especially with your children, it’s important to delegate tasks to help teach them the importance of keeping a neat and tidy home. Create a chore chart to help your children know who is in charge of which chore each day or week. If things aren’t getting done well, take a day to teach them a fast and effective way of completing their designated chore.

4. Beds, Dishes and Laundry

If you can only tackle a handful of daily chore habits – the three that will most likely make the biggest impact are the beds, the dishes, and the laundry. Make it an automatic to pull your blankets up and fluff your pillows each morning. Military corners and perfectly made beds aren’t necessary, but just having the blankets and pillows straightened will make a huge difference. Make it a family rule that no one goes to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. Waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes is a horrible way to start the day. Make sure to load and run the dishwasher before bed, or wash those last few dishes by hand. Then make it a morning automatic to put the dishes away when you wake up. Create a daily or every couple of days policy of finishing one full load of laundry. Letting your laundry pile up all week will most likely create an entire day of laundry and who wants to spend their weekends that way? Start a load in the morning, toss it in the dryer at lunch time or when you get home from work, and fold and put them away right after dinner. It will take minutes of your day and you won’t have to dread an entire day spent in the laundry room each week.

5. Perfection Is Unnecessary

This is the most important housekeeping tip of this list – you are not Martha Stewart and she most likely has paid help in the first place. And you know what – that is okay! Don’t allow a Pinterest-perfect world to give you the idea that you have to live in perfection as well. Keeping your home somewhat tidy and straightened will do wonders to alleviate stress and create a peaceful environment. But you can easily undo all of that serenity by having lofty and unattainable goals of a perfect home.

6. Use beautiful cleaning supplies: I know it sounds silly, but I’m way more motivated to clean and do dishes if I have nice supplies that I look forward to using. For example, Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps and dish soaps are made with essential oils and plant-derived ingredients, so they smell amazing and don’t irritate my skin. Plus, the matching set looks so nice sitting next to my sink!

 

I am a huge fan of Grove cleaning supplies and they have a great deal for the next few days! Right now you can grab your kitchen essentials kit — supplies are limited and this offer ends  February 12.

When you try Grove now and place your first order of $20, here’s what you’ll get:

• Free Mrs. Meyer’s Hand Soap
• Free Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap
• Free Grove Collaborative Kitchen Towel
• Free Grove Collaborative Walnut Scrubber Sponges
• Free Shipping & 60 Day VIP Trial

Here’s how it works:

Sign up for Grove Collaborative here. You will receive the Kitchen Essentials Set for free when you sign up!

1. Answer 4 quick questions about your home that Grove Collaborative will then use to customize your first basket — this takes under 30 seconds!
2. Once you’ve answered the questions, you can finalize your basket of products to suit your household needs by adding or removing items.
3. To receive this offer, your order needs to be a minimum of $20. Choose the combination of products and scents you love and receive in your first box.
4. You made it! Click Finish & Pay and place your order.

What are some ways that you make housework easier? What seems to be your problem area where cleaning is concerned?

Next check these tips on home to stay organized at home. 

and get a free printable task list for each month with the Clean & Organize challenge for 2017. 

 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All opinions are 100% mine.

Nationwide provided me with information regarding its In The Nation blog post.

One of my goals for this year is to get more organized and prepared for emergencies. One easy way to do that is to have a home inventory. I am embarrassed to say that we currently don’t have one. If there was a fire or theft, I doubt I could remember all of the items we have in our home and I know I don’t have a good list of serial numbers for electronics.

The whole process of making a home inventory seems overwhelming but in the article An Inventory of Your Life, they give easy steps to get you started and complete a home inventory.

I love their tip that you should consider making three copies of the inventory: one to keep at home; and one each for two trusted sources. This increases the chances that at least one record will be easily accessible when you need it. You should also make paper copies of documents such as warranties and receipts.

I am a huge fan of using Google docs to access items on the cloud and I found a home inventory template that makes it easy to get started.  You do need a Google account though to use these templates. It is free though to set up and has some free cloud storage.  You will want to make sure you have a hard copy you keep off site, as well, though.

You can also look into smartphone apps or websites like knowyourstuff.org, which are designed to take a home inventory, complete with photos and detailed descriptions. There is a “Know Your Stuff” smartphone app as well.

Once you have a way to record your information, you can just start going room by room to gather all the information you need.  One great hint is to take several photos of each room, from different angles. A good way to go about this is to stand in the doorway and slowly rotate clockwise, taking overlapping frames that eventually take in the whole room.

The next step is to scan or copy receipts, appraisals and other documentation about each item. For electronics and appliances, you will want to make sure to include warranties, receipts, repair bills and serial numbers. You can keep this information in the cloud, on a thumb drive and have an off-site hard copy.

A good home inventory will include a detailed list of your belongings, including descriptions, photos or video, receipts, serial numbers, date of purchase, and the value. You will definitely want to inventory all big-ticket items this includes electronics and furniture. Don’t forget though to take inventory of smaller things that could need replacing in the event of a disaster and should include items like clothes and dishes.

You could complete a home inventory in just a few hours and provides you with a safety net in case your valuables are lost, stolen or damaged. Getting a home inventory complete is on my list of must-dos for this month. What about you?  Do you have a home inventory?  If you have completed one when was the last time it was updated?  Once you get your inventory made you should add to it whenever you purchase new big-ticket items. My bet is most of us get busy and need to make this a priority. I hope that these tips are helpful for you when you make your home inventory list.

Be sure get more easy tips and directions to make your own home inventory from the article An Inventory of Your Life. You can learn more about Nationwide by visiting their blog, In The Nation.

This post was sponsored by Starbucks as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received compensation and complimentary products to facilitate my review.

 

 

In winter, the girls and I love to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa. Now making yummy hot cocoa is easier than ever with Starbucks Hot Cocoa K-Cups.  We saw these at our local Kroger store and had bought a box before we even were sent some to try.  We loved them so much that the box was quickly used up.

 

Starbucks Hot Cocoa K-Cups

The Starbucks Hot Cocoa K-Cups come in two flavors Classic and Salted Caramel and both are made with real cocoa and non-fat milk for rich, creamy, chocolaty taste. The Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa K-Cup^® pods also have a dash of natural caramel flavor. These taste so  indulgent and I love that they are just 90 calories. They taste great on their own but to take it up a notch you can add whipped cream, marshmallows and or other yummy toppings.

 

You can find these k-cups at your local grocery store or Target. I will say that I had a bit of trouble finding the Salted Carmel ones but found them at my local Meijer.  I bought a few boxes since they seem to go quickly at my home. I love that is such a simple and easy indulgence. You just pop a  Starbucks Hot Cocoa K-Cup in your Keurig and in just a minute you have a treat!

 

You can also find some  hot cocoa recipes using the Starbucks Hot Cocoa K-Cups  and how to set up a hot cocoa bar on their Pinterest account.

 

Win a Starbucks® Cozy Collection

We love the Starbucks® Cozy Collection we received and the exciting thing is you can enter to WIN a Cozy Collection of your own!

This collection includes:

• A special blanket, perfect for snuggling, cuddling or snoozing
• A mug to fill with cocoa for a tasty, cozy treat
• Starbucks^® Classic and Salted Carmel K-Cup^® pods, made with real cocoa
• Marshmallows and shortbreads to put the finishing touches on your cocoa
• $5 Starbucks Card and exclusive offer on Starbucks^® Hot Cocoa K Cup^® pods