10 habits of a highly effective housewife
Whether you're just starting out as a homemaker or you’ve been at it for years these highly effective habits will have you homemaking like a pro.
In a world where skills related to homemaking are not often taught, there is no shame in not knowing where to start or feeling like you need some refining of your daily habits and skills.
First let's address what a homemaker or housewife does.
house·wife
a woman whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs, and doing housework, while her husband or partner goes out to work.
A housewife is defined as a woman whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs,and doing housework, while her husband goes out to work.
Let's unpack this, if we want to know how to be good at a job we must first know what the job entails right ?
So let's talk about household management, what does it mean to manage a household?
Now this will be different for every homemaker. You may have kids to take care of, or animals to look after. Looking after the ways of your household will be different for each individual.
Although there are some universal tasks that fall within a homemaker's responsibility.
Such as; cooking nourishing meals, meal planning, looking after pets, childcare, grocery shopping & housework.
These are just some of the basic tenants of homemaking, making a house a home is a daily practice that involves cooking and cleaning, but also caring for those who live within the home.
There's so much more to this list and I could go on, but then I'd never get these highly effective habits. Now that we've discussed some of the basics, let's move on to what you're really here for.
10 Habits of a highly effective housewife
1)Know your responsibilities
Hands down the most important habit to start with is knowing your responsibilities.
How can you be a great homemaker without knowing what you need to do every day? You just can't.
What are your main responsibilities?
Do you have kids? Is the household budget your responsibility or your husbands?
If we can narrow down exactly what your top priorities are as a housewife then we can set ourselves up for homemaking success.
Write down your goals as a homemaker. What priorities are at the top of your list?
This way you can get an idea of what you're doing right and where you may need to adjust.
2)Know how to cook
The amount of people who don't know how to cook is mind-blowing!
As a homemaker this is one of those universal tasks you need to know. Cooking from scratch will save you money, which we all could benefit from.
More importantly though, you will be able to nourish your family with homemade whole foods & the health of your family will be blessed by it.
Plus you get to feel a sense of pride in having this skill. Just by knowing how to cook you will be a better homemaker than 53% of people.
I wish i were joking when i say that but alas i'm not ....
According to a new survey, which you can read about here, more than half of Americans, 53% to be exact, feel they have less knowledge and fewer cooking skills than their mothers and grandmothers had in years past.
Sad, but you don't have to be one of them, developing cooking skills will bless your family and save you money. Its easier than ever before to find recipes (hello pinterest) and there are many tutorials on youtube for amateur cooks
3)Budget and meal plan
This goes hand in hand with the skill above, knowing how to meal plan and budget will be crucial to success as a housewife.
Meal planning is an essential skill, and so is knowing how to budget. Meal planning does not have to be complex or overwhelming, if you learn to cook, creating meal plans is an easy next step.
I personally love Frugal Fit Mom on youtube, she has some amazing recipes, and meal planning ideas. You can check out her blog here
When it comes to budgeting there are some great financial tips out there on how to set up a budget. I personally budget check to check, with a monthly budgeting system.
But that's a post for another day, I cant take all the credit either, the king of finance and budgeting has been a huge help in my budgeting and debt free journey, maybe you’ve heard of him.
Dave Ramsey's baby steps, this isn't the first time I've brought him up on my blog because he truly has a wealth of knowledge on the topic, no pun intended. Check him out!
4)Do a load of laundry every day
I feel like this is a piece of advice that (almost) every seasoned homemaker knows well and good.
If you haven't tried it , save yourself the stress of “laundry day” and do a load every day.
It keeps you from experiencing the overwhelm of a whole day's worth of folding and out of control piles. It's a super simple way to reduce your workload and keep the clothes in the closet, and off the floor.
5)Make your bed everyday
This is another “cliche” piece of advice, but as they say it's cliche because it's true.
Making your bed everyday is not only a good way to start the day off right. It also means a fresh cozy bed when it's time to hit the sheets.
There's nothing worse than having to make the bed when you're sleepy. This habit will also save you that sinking feeling of realizing , you just busted your butt all day and yet you couldn't even get around to making the bed. Cue sad sigh..
6)Clean kitchen and bathroom often
This is one of my favorite habits. Your kitchen and bathroom are the most used rooms in the home. They see the most bacteria too.
If you truly want to be an excellent homemaker, the obvious goal is to keep a sanitary home, where your family is protected from dust and germs. If your kitchen or bathroom is dirty the whole house starts feeling kinda gross.
Plus, most homemakers spend the majority of their day working in the kitchen, which means keeping it clean will not just protect your health and make you feel better, but will be necessary for cooking.
Now when it comes to the bathroom I don't know about you, but one of the cringiest feelings comes from going over to someone's house, and having to use their dirty bathroom... yuck,
Even worse, having someone come over to your home, and having to use your dirty bathroom, yikes...embarrassing.
Moral of the story: clean your bathrooms and kitchen often.
7)Put your kitchen to bed every night
This advice comes from the queen of homemaking Mrs.Midwest, so i can't take any credit, check out her blog . She has a lot of great homemaking tips.
Let me tell you though I went years as a homemaker, not doing this.
I can't tell you how much of a difference this habit makes to my home. Not only is my morning routine a breeze.
I also get to wake up and feel a sense of peace as I make my morning coffee, instead of feeling like the sink full of dirty dishes is staring me down as I try to ignore it and enjoy my first cup of coffee.
8)Decorate intentionally and functionally
The key to a beautifully decorated home is intention, if we decorate with intention we can create curated homes that not only look good but represent you as a person.
Your home should reflect who you are, and who your family is. Don't rush in collecting pieces that reflect your personality and style,rather be intentional and remember that curating a home takes time.
Functionality is a huge part of this. For your home to flow well it needs to be set up so that it functions at the highest capacity.
You don't want to have your dining room set up in a way that makes it difficult for guests to sit down, or have too much decor on the table that gets in the way of you being able to see and talk to your family over the dinner table.
If you bake in one area of your kitchen use the above cabinets for your baking supplies so they are within reach. These simple changes will make your home flow easier. Every item you own should have its own “home” but that home should make sense.
9)Declutter often
If there's one mistake I made as a new homemaker was holding on to things that no longer served me.
When me and my husband first moved into our home we didn't have alot of stuff so we collected whatever we could to fill our home. We got a lot of hand me down items, as well as thrifted finds. The only problem was that I grabbed whatever caught my eye and I wasn't intentional about what I was curating my home with.
I took in any second hand items people were willing to give me. It wasn't long before my home started to look mismatched, unintentional, and cheap. I went through our home and decluttered cheap furniture and took my time finding just what I wanted. I still scour Facebook Marketplace and buy the majority of our home goods second hand.
This time around I was intentional with every piece that I let into my home. I knew what I wanted, and now I'm proud to say my home looks much more curated and intentional than before.Don't be afraid to declutter the items that you dislike or that you no longer have use for, you can even make a little money by selling those unused items.
10) Make due with what your given
This habit is the most difficult but ultimately the most rewarding. As a homemaker it can be easy to compare your home to what others have.
We are all working with a different set of life circumstances and budgets, make sure to look around and see what resources God has already given you, and create from that space.
God has given you those specific resources because you are the one who is meant to steward them
Don't get distracted by everyone else's life, or home. While it's okay to gain inspiration from other peoples spaces, and styles, we don't want to become complacent or ungrateful for the blessings we have been given.
I hope these habits will give you some inspiration, to improve your daily homemaking and really embrace the stage of life that you're in. Remember the most important part of being a homemaker is serving others, and stewarding our home to the glory of God.
We were blessed with this role to make a difference in the daily lives of those around us. Whether it's you and your husband, or a full family with many children.
Your responsibility is to care for and nurture the people that God has placed in your life.
