My problem is that, as much as I love having a tidy house, I’m not great at putting in the time to do the housework itself. I have managed to develop a bit of a system over the years to help me keep my house looking tidy with minimal effort though, it just takes a bit of delegation and a little routine.
Here’s the five things I think you should be doing each day if you want to have a tidy house with minimal effort….
Hoover or sweep your floor
I always think the house looks tidier if the floor is clear so every day after school one of Master Frugal’s daily job is to hoover downstairs and one of Miss Frugal’s jobs is to give the kitchen floor a quick sweep. It takes them two minutes each to do and I think it goes a long way to helping me keep on top of the housework.
Sort the post out
Rather than have piles of post everywhere until I get chance to sort through it, I usually open it and unless something needs doing straight away I’ll pop it in a basket in my bureau until I file it away. My filing system is super simple but it helps me keep on top of it without having papers everywhere.
Get everyone to put their own clutter away
After tea the kids usually like to go and hibernate in their rooms for an hour or so but before they go upstairs, they have to put all of their things away. You couldn’t even imagine the things I find lying around here after the kids have been in from school for an hour or so – everything from sweets to stationery and from footballs to hair curlers. I also make sure that everyone puts their own clothes in the wash basket every night before bed.
Make sure your toilet is clean
I know, not the most pleasant thing to point out but I’ve been for a wee in many a house where the toilet has been dirty and it makes me really conscious about my own. We have three toilets and each night before bed, I pop a little bleach down each one to make sure it’s clean and fresh. My Mum always taught me that the one thing you didn’t scrimp on was bleach in the toilets so whilst I know I could use more frugal methods to keep my toilets clean, I prefer doing it this way.
Clear your sink and wipe the kitchen worktops down
This is something that Mr Frugal does as he does all of our pot washing (mainly because he’s the one who says we don’t need a dishwasher) so he’ll wash the posts after tea and put them away just before bed as the dogs having his wee and sniff about the garden. While he’s doing this, I’ll wipe the tops down and give the dining room table a wipe if it needs it.
These are our main daily jobs and as you can see, we all chip which means it genuinely takes no time at all to make sure that our house stays clean and tidy. In fact, I’d say that if you turned up on my doorstep without warning, you’d be pretty impressed with my tidy house – as long as you don’t open a cupboard or a drawer that is!
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