Household Management Tips

Being on top of your household tasks saves time and money.

Household management may seem like an antiquated art left. Many of us are too busy running from work to daycare to school to even begin to think about airing mattresses, rotating area rugs and similar mundane tasks. Fortunately, an effective house management plan will save you time and money. Instead of a never-ending cycle of minor and not-so-minor household disasters, you'll see the problems coming and deal with them proactively.

Efficiency

Minimize chaos by making a calendar of tasks and sticking to it. When holidays or other occasions come around, you'll be able to enjoy them instead of trying to do everything at once. You'll save money because you will have attended to problems regularly.

Calendar tasks throughout the year at appropriate intervals. Most people can take care of one or major household task per week, but taking on more can be onerous.

Tasks that should be calendared include inspecting furniture, cleaning upholstery, washing windows, removing cobwebs, changing furnace filters, polishing silver, laundering drapes, cleaning chandeliers, washing walls, cleaning the oven, cleaning underneath the sink, scrubbing out kitchen cabinets and shampooing the carpet.

Cleaning Principles

A few general principals for cleaning will speed your efforts. First, clean from the top down. Clean the upstairs before cleaning the downstairs. Get rid of cobwebs and dirt from the walls before vacuuming. Do the dishes before scrubbing the floor. Dust the furniture before shampooing the carpet. The last thing you clean should always be the floor. Let gravity be your friend!

"Reader's Digest" suggests "think dry, then wet." One of their 10 "golden rules" for cleaning is, "when you're cleaning a room, start with the cleaning jobs that require dry methods (dusting, sweeping and vacuuming, for instance). Then move on to wet methods (using an all-purpose cleaner and glass cleaner, mopping and the like). This way, there will be less dirt floating around in the room to cling to wet surfaces." Obeying this overlooked rule will save you work in the long run.

Carry supplies with you to avoid wasting time and tracking dirt from room to room.

Use appropriate supplies. You wouldn't shampoo your hair with laundry soap, so don't try to cleaning your bathtub with dish detergent.

Finally, wear protective gear such as gloves and a protective apron as needed.

Paying Bills

Taking care of regular household expenses such as paying utilities, cleaning staff, gardeners, news carriers and the like is an important part of maintaining your home. Taking a morning to investigate how much of this can be done electronically will save you time and money.

Make sure all the bills come to a central location. Establish an unbreakable weekly date to take two or three hours to go through all the mail, pay bills and tend to household finances. By making a firm commitment, you will have peace of mind knowing there aren't any problems that you are not seeing.

References

• Reader's Digest: Ten Golden Rules of Cleaning
• Reader's Digest: The Ultimate House Cleaning Calendar
• Home Comforts : The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson
• Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook, Revised Edition: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home, ed. Good Housekeeping Magazine
• Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management