Tips to Tame Housework

Cooking, shopping and cleaning are activities you can't live without. But there are ways to manage these essential tasks so you can spend more time with your spouse and children. Here are some tips to help you tame housework.

Schedule Your Time

Make weekly schedules for laundry, shopping and cleaning. Divide chores among family members. Use a daily to-do list to prioritize tasks and family commitments. Keep track of the time you spend on various household tasks. When you understand where your time is going, you may be able to exercise better control over it.

Shop Smart

Do your grocery shopping once a week. Shop at one supermarket to eliminate time-consuming stops. Buy nonperishable items in large quantities. Shop for furniture and large items at stores that deliver.

Use Grocery Lists

Make a grocery list of standard items. Leave room for special write-in requests. Post it on the refrigerator for a week. Your spouse and older children can help fill in missing items during the week.

Rethink Your Appliances

Use a microwave, cordless phone, answering machine, frost-free refrigerator/freezer, self-cleaning oven and a food processor to help you save time.

Tame Clutter

Use a common clutter basket at the foot of the stairs or in each room. Then make a family rule to stash away all the clutter before leaving a room.

Slash Cooking Time

Keep food simple, easy and nutritious. When cooking a main dish, make enough to freeze in meal-sized portions for heat-andserve dinners another time. Prepare dinners with leftovers for lunches in mind. Even pasta and soup can be safely carried to work or school in airtight containers. Make and freeze a week's worth of sandwiches to pop into lunch bags in the morning.

Laborless Laundry

Ask younger children to help you sort and fold laundry. Ask older children to assume laundry duty once a week. To save sorting time and avoid mismatched socks, buy children's socks in only one style and color.

Take Your Family Out

Eat out once a week. Don't force yourself to cook if you don't feel like it. Order a take-out dinner or have it delivered occasionally

Conquer Cleaning Chaos

Organize and store your cleaning supplies so you don't have to hunt for them when you need them. Avoid cleaning something unless it really needs it. Use a cleaning service once in a while when you can afford it.

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