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Gospel-Driven Encouragement for Homemakers

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Three Simple {Free} Tools To Keep You Organized in Your Homemaking

by Marci Ferrell
Homemaking Homemaking 101 Series Menu Planning Organization Printables Time Management

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These are the three tools that I've used for many years to help keep my days as a homemaker organized and running a bit more smoothly. #organization @thankfulhomemaker

Inside: These are the three tools that I’ve used for many years to help keep my days as a homemaker organized and running a bit more smoothly.

These are the three tools that I've used for many years to help keep my days organized and running a bit more smoothly. @mferrell

These are the three tools that I’ve used for many years to help keep my days as a homemaker organized and running a bit more smoothly. It’s nothing earth-shaking here, I’m sharing, but just the simplicity of a calendar, to-do list, and weekly menu plan.

These are the three tools that I’ve used for many years to help keep my days as a homemaker organized and running a bit more smoothly. Click to Tweet

I always think these are probably tools our grandmothers used back in the day.  Every business seemed to give away free calendars, and most meals seemed to be eaten at home.

My grandmother always had a list of what tasks she would get to each day, and I had a dear aunt who kept a notebook with all the things she needed to accomplish. In it, she kept gift lists and menus for various events along with her daily to-do list. She was probably my first example as a young girl of how to keep my days organized.

I’m thankful for examples because, as I always share, it can be overwhelming learning how to care for our homes and families. Anything that makes my job easier, I’m all for it! I’m just going to walk through how I use these three tools.

Calendar:

Before cell phones, I just used a wall calendar. I may have purchased one now, but in our early years, we always used whatever free one we got from a store or business. Now I utilize Google Calendar, and I’m so thankful for the shared calendar feature. Our family keeps a shared calendar, and then we each have our own personal calendar that we still share with one another.

I love knowing what my husband has going on, and he appreciates being able to see my schedule too. You can use this tool well by putting your cleaning schedule in it, and you can skip my paper menu planner I’m sharing below and even put your meals in it if you like. I just still have a personal preference for paper.

Related Post: How I Plan My Days

I love the ease of Google Calendar for recurring events and especially birthdays and anniversaries, so you can set up reminders ahead of time. I utilize the notes feature well in it for various appointments and make sure I put addresses in it if I’m heading somewhere new.

I use the Google Calendar app for my phone; I’ve tried others but keep coming back to the ease of how it works. I do appreciate the reminder feature and use it quite frequently for appointments that I may tend to forget.

Related Podcast: Planning Our Days as Homemakers

I just need to stay in the habit of checking it at night before bed and again in the morning so I don’t miss things. I still utilize a wall calendar, but it’s not as detailed as my Google Calendar.

I have a separate calendar set up in it for my blog scheduling too.

To-Do List:

My regular readers, you know how much I love my to-do list. I have a post on ten things I love about it. It’s probably going to come up on a podcast soon.

Related Post: 10 Things I Love About My To-Do List

I said “free” in the title of the post, and I’m sticking to it. I know technically you had to purchase paper or notecards, but I’m just saying you can use whatever you already have on hand. If you’re like a paper junkie and like me, you already have tons of notecards and notebooks in your arsenal. Notecards have been a favorite of mine, but in the past, before I had a physical planner, I just used a notebook as my aunt did. She took it everywhere with her, and it was a smaller 5″ x 8″ one.

But you can also write your list on a whiteboard or chalkboard at home too.

I usually write my to-do list for the next day at night before bed. It just takes so much off my mind, and I wake up with a plan ready to go. I carry over what didn’t get done that day for the next day. I like to pick at least three items as my top to get accomplished if possible.

This is the Daily Docket that has been a help in keeping my days on task. You can grab a free download here or just click on the image below:

DAILY DOCKET PLANNER FREE PDF DOWNLOAD @Mferrell

I utilize my calendar app to check appointments, and I do keep my cleaning schedule and morning and evening routine printed out inside a cupboard so I can see at a glance what I like to get accomplished each day. It rarely all gets accomplished each day, but it keeps me focused and productive.

Without a list, I just don’t function well. I get easily distracted, so for me having a plan for the day is a huge help. I’m not naturally organized or motivated, so I’ve learned tools to help me work through my day.

Menu Plan:

My family modeled this one for me as a young girl, so it just became a habit for me. Flylady drilled this one in my head too. As a new bride, I used to menu plan monthly and still grocery shop weekly. Now I just plan my menus weekly, and I do save old menu plan sheets to work from for quick ideas.

FREE PDF Weekly Menu Planning Schedule

I still love my lists. I’ve made one of our favorite breakfast, lunch, dinners, and snacks to draw from. This is a handy list to have on hand and one I encourage you to sit with your family and put together. Mine is just typed up in Word documents and printed out and kept in my Homemaking Binder. That way, everyone gets their favorites in there, and you have easy ideas.

Related Post: Menu Planning 101

I calendar and menu plan on Sunday afternoons or evenings, so I just sit with my weekly menu planning sheet and start plugging meals in and working on leftovers too.

Related Podcast: Simple Menu Planning Tips

I always keep an emergency dinner on hand for those nights when things don’t go well. Ours tend to be rice, beans, and salsa.

Related Posts: Favorite Breakfasts Ideas, Favorite Lunch Ideas, 31 Favorite Dinner Ideas, and Snack Ideas

My menu plan has not just saved me time but money too. We do a better job of getting rid of leftovers, and we are also more intentional in getting others over for dinners during the week. I keep my schedule up on the fridge so everyone can see it, and I give it a quick glance in the morning to see if there are things I need to prep ahead of time for dinner. It’s good to check the day before, too, in case you have to set out meat in the fridge to thaw.

Free Weekly Menu Planning PDF @menuplanner #freemenuplanningpdf #weeklymenuplan

Keeping Organized:

There is no way around it to be organized with your days. You’re going to have to take some time to plan. I do know the time you take will be well worth it. Remind yourself always that we can plan all we want, but the Lord ordains our days. This doesn’t mean we don’t ‘t take the time to plan, though and be good stewards of the time He has given us.

Your family appreciates you more than you can imagine, and I know that as I now have grown children who realize what it takes to care for a home and family. It is work. I know we don’t do it for their appreciation, but the hope is that we always have hearts that desire to do all our work as unto the Lord.

One last thought to leave you with, and it’s from Elisabeth Elliot reminding us only a few things are important and what are on our to-do list. I don’t know where this quote is from, but it’s been a keeper and a good reminder for me:

“I have been thinking of something that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of greed—the greed of doing, being, having. When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, his bait was intended to inspire the lust to do more than the Father meant for Him to do—to go farther, demonstrate more power, act more dramatically. So the enemy comes to us in these days of frantic doing. We are ceaselessly summoned to activities: social, political, educational, athletic, and yes—spiritual. Our ‘self image’ [deplorable word!] is dependent not on the quiet and hidden ‘Do this for My sake,’ but on the list the world hands us of what is ‘important.’ It is a long list, and it is both foolish and impossible. If we fall for it, we neglect the short list. Only a few things are really important, and for those we have the promise of divine help: sitting in silence with the Master in order to hear His word and obey it in the ordinary line of duty—for example, in being a good husband, wife, mother, son, daughter, or spiritual father or mother to those nearby who need protection and care—humble work which is never on the world’s list because it leads to nothing impressive on one’s resume. As Washington Gladden wrote in 1879, ‘O Master, let me walk with Thee/In lowly paths of service free…'”

~Elisabeth Elliot (emphasis above mine)

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Related posts:

  1. Helpful Tools for Your Homemaking & Walk with the Lord
  2. Homemaking 101 Series: Simple Ways to Get a Jump Start On Your Day
  3. 4 Simple Steps to Stress-Free Homemaking
  4. FREE Weekly Menu Planning PDF


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Welcome to Thankful Homemaker

So thankful you’ve stopped by for a visit. Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit a bit. I hope to remind you that contentment in our role as homemakers begins with finding our satisfaction in Christ.

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thankfulhomemaker

Marci Ferrell
Patience is our ability, under the control of the Patience is our ability, under the control of the Spirit, to persevere and endure in times of suffering or hardship.⁣⁣
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Come listen in (or read) EP 118: Cultivating Patience with One Another at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
By affliction, Christ . . .⁣⁣ shows us our em By affliction, Christ . . .⁣⁣
 shows us our emptiness and weakness,⁣⁣
 draws us to the throne of grace,⁣⁣
 purifies our affections,⁣⁣
 weans us from the world,⁣⁣
 and makes us long for Heaven.⁣⁣
~ J.C. Ryle⁣
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Read more of Trusting God in Your Trials at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
I know we can all relate to self-pity as women, wi I know we can all relate to self-pity as women, wives, and mothers.  How many times do we focus on our needs that aren’t met?  Unfair situations or circumstances?  Self-pity is a selfish tendency that takes our eyes off Christ and puts them on ourselves. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
We forget that “God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” Are we able to give God “thanks in all things”?⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Come listen in to EP 105: Practical Steps to Overcome Self Pity at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)⁣
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#rootedinChrist #rootedintheword #christian #christianity #thankfulhomemaker #bedeeplyrooted  #christianblogger  #christians #treasurechrist #joyinchrist #inchristalone #deeplyrooted #martynlloydjones #selfpity
Grab a free copy of my weekly planner 🥰⁣ ⁣ Grab a free copy of my weekly planner 🥰⁣
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Weekly Menu Planning Free PDF is at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"God's written Word, the Bible, is God's greatest "God's written Word, the Bible, is God's greatest earthly gift to his people, second only to the living Word, Jesus. And because the living Word perfectly lived out the written Word, we are blessed beyond measure. Jesus fulfilled every precept found in Psalm 119, keeping the principles and commandments of this psalm, and he did so on our behalf.⁣
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Our failure to live wholeheartedly is covered by Jesus, who lived it perfectly for us. Ultimately, he is Psalm 119 in human form, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14)."⁣
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~ Taken from Sing a New Song: A Woman's Guide to the Psalms by Lydia Brownback⁣
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With my whole heart I seek you;⁣
let me not wander from your commandments!⁣
I have stored up your word in my heart,⁣
that I might not sin against you.⁣
~ Psalm 119:10-11
Accept the cost of good deeds in time, thought, an Accept the cost of good deeds in time, thought, and effort. But remember that opportunities for doing good are not interruptions in God’s plan for us, but part of that plan. We always have time to do what God wants us to do.⁣
~ Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness⁣
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Listen in to 10 Things Helping Me to Manage My Days as a Homemaker at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
I’m sharing a walkthrough of various tools and s I’m sharing a walkthrough of various tools and systems that help me to get things done. It’s a practical episode, and I hope to encourage you, if nothing else, to take a look at how your days are going and ask yourself some simple questions like:⁣
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What is working and what is not working?⁣
Where do I find myself wasting time?⁣
Where can I make better use of my time?⁣
Can I simplify my days or various tasks or automate them?⁣
⁣
These are just a few questions to ponder, and there are many more you can ask, but the main one is to seek the Lord and ask him, are you a good steward of your time? Is your desire to honor Him amid your days and in how you spend your time?⁣
⁣
Many more than ten systems or tools help me manage my days, but these items top my list. I’ve shared more in detail on some of these in past blog posts or podcast episodes, but I wanted to put together an episode that walked through how I use each one.⁣
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An episode like this one is more helpful to me than you because it helps me to think through my days and systems and tools and determine what is working for me and what isn’t.⁣
⁣
Listen to 10 Things Helping Me Manage My Days as a Homemaker at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
Who doesn’t want to save money, time, their sani Who doesn’t want to save money, time, their sanity, reduce stress, eat healthy and avoid the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?” It sounds great, right, and we’d all love to do it, but how do we get there?⁣
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Menu planning is the answer to all those questions above. We have a jam-packed episode today filled with tons of tips, examples, and ideas, so stick with me, and I know there will be something that will appeal to each of you in some way.⁣
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Listen in at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
Though gradually, though no one remembers exactly Though gradually, though no one remembers exactly how it happened, the unthinkable becomes tolerable. And then acceptable. And then legal. And then applaudable.⁣
~ Joni Eareckson Tada⁣
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Come listen to EP 70: Finding Forgiveness After an Abortion at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
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