Tips please! What can i get away without doing?

[Goosegettingfat]

I am houseproud but a slattern at heart . I love a clean house but due to having 3 small dc and enjoying sitting around reading mn I am always keen to cut down on unnecessary work.

I have long since abandoned ironing- I shake and hang skillfully and DH does his work stuff. I menu-plan and always prebook my grocery delivery (over a week in advance by bagsying my preferred slot and checking out with a couple of bottles of champagne, then adding groceries throughout the week as we run out via the app on my phone, then cancelling the champagne-sadly) as I find this a time/money/effort saver. And I clean everything apart from wood with white vinegar - cheap and much quicker than having a million and one products.

So if anyone else has any tips for appearing as goddess while being slattern, please share.

[DelurkingAJ]

Easy homemade cakes! I recommend Mary Berry’s lemon tray bake.

[BreakfastAtSquiffanys]

I'm with you on the shaking and hanging, following by judicious smoothing and folding Kondo style

[Givemethebiggestslice]

• de -clutter ruthlessly - the less stuff you have the easier it is to keep clean & tidy
  

• deal with post as soon as you receive it & don’t let piles mount up
  

• everything should have a ‘Home’ and once you’ve finished using it return it to its home straight away

[chloechloe]

I'm watching this with interest as with two little ones I feel like the housework is never ending.

I agree with the decluttering tip - the less crap stuff you have, the less there is to tidy. I'm going to try and start getting rid of at least one item a day.

Get a handheld Hoover so you can whizz around the table after meals to avoid the kids tramping squashed food round the house.

And whilst it's a complete ball ache, fill and empty the dishwasher each night before going to bed so dirty dishes go straight into it from the table rather than lying around.

[Youcantflosstomonkeywrench]

Cutting the grass, I have found a very reasonably price freind who does this.

I agree with the Marie Kondo, further this by not letting the crap into the house in the first place! I always have a bag on a hook in the understair cupboard, I put things in as I go and once it's full I transfer it to the boot of my car where it rides around with me for a few weeks before being deposited at the charity shop it goes to the charity shop.

I also use the online shopping (Ocado) kids party presents, cards, wrapping paper and odd bits of make up.

Use stick on labels for school clothes.

Once a week is ready meal or takeaway night, DH cooks on Sundays and most Saturdays.

[Goosegettingfat]

What is Marie Kondo? Have I been living under a rock?

[Youcantflosstomonkeywrench]

It's de-cluttering like you've never de-clutterrd before!

The book is ever so slightly crazy, but if you hang in there it really works. It ditches the 'shoulds' when deciding what to keep and tells you to lay your hand on an item, if it sparks joy it stays...if not it goes. It explains why you should do it this way too, and a lot of it makes sense.

I have regretted throwing stuff out in the past but car loads went with the MK method and no regrets.