Tools for 2013:   Keeping a Clean House

We’re continuing our “Tools for 2013” series with a topic today that I dread – housekeeping.  I love a clean house but gosh I hate all involved in getting it that way.  And don’t get me started on actually KEEPING it that way – ha!!
I grew up with three other siblings so we had a full household of six.  My mom worked most of our school-aged years and our house always stayed clean.  How she did it, I will never know!    It’s easy to let things slide a little each day and then before I know it the work has really added up.
I wanted to share three resources that have been helpful to me over the years and hopefully you’ll find one (or more) that might be helpful to you too.  

Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule by iDreamofClean

My friend Christine Satterfield is the author of the popular cleaning blog iDreamofClean and also a brand new blog SpringCleaning365.   Christine authored a great cleaning guide e-book called, “Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule“.  This isn’t a set cleaning schedule, but rather a guide to create the ideal cleaning schedule for you & your home.
The best thing I like about this resource is that it provides five easy steps to help you determine the “perfect” cleaning schedule for you rather than following a guide created for someone else.  Every home is different and every cleaning personality is different too.  You may prefer to clean all the bathrooms in your home at once or you may hate the idea of running throughout the house & instead you’d rather clean everything in one room or on one floor at once.
This resource helps you think about your weekly chores, monthly, quarterly and annual chores & then walks you through the process of creating a schedule to clean them all!
The e-book is currently available for just $5.99.  Click here to visit Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule.

Motivated Moms

Motivated Moms is brilliant!  It offers a “Printable Chore Planner” (and now an app).  Choose from an iPhone / Droid App or the popular e-book that you can print off the first of each week (or all 52 weeks at one time).  Each day gives you roughly 6-7 chores to complete & check off.  One day you might get all the bathrooms cleaned & the next you might change the sheets.  The point is trying to do a little each day so that you’re not doing a whole lot all at once.
The Motivated Moms Chore Planner is filled with simple tasks and then some bigger tasks too.  Have you ever thought about spraying & cleaning out the big garbage can?!  I hadn’t!!  I complain often that it stinks, though!  So twice a year it’s on my list to clean {full disclosure I’ve skipped this every time & am just hoping our service will bring us a new one soon – ha!!}
For just $8, you can purchase the 52-week cleaning schedule & you’ll be on your way to a cleaner home in 2013!   NOTE:   All products are the same, but when browsing products make note of the way the information is displayed – that’s the difference in the different purchase options.  It’s a little confusing at first.
The book is currently available for just $8.  Click here to visit Motivated Moms.

 A Slob Comes Clean

How can you NOT like a title like that??  Dana White, author of the popular blog A Slob Comes Clean has authored two extremely popular e-books – “Drowning in Clutter” and “28 Days to Hope for Your Home“.   I’m reviewing “Drowning  in Clutter” now.  Because.  Well.   I’m drowning in clutter!!  Just yesterday alone we purged four bags of clothes from our Master Closet.  That is both ridiculous to me (at the amount of close we had that we didn’t need) and also encouraging (that we purged four full bags).  Not only is the book helpful but I find myself laughing a lot too – because I know what she writes is true!!
Both books are currently available as a bundle for just $6 through January.  So be sure to snag that one quickly.
The e-book bundle is currently available for just $6 (through January).  Click here to view more details.
UPDATE:  Get the set for as little as $3.90 one day only – 1/22/13 with code BIRTHDAY
So, those are just two resources that have worked for me and maybe they’ll work for you too. 
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