If you’ve never heard of the KISS Method (usually known as “Keep It Simple Stupid”), I’ve adapted this method to every aspect of my family and homemaking life except I’m not stupid. Some people might say I’m a ‘sweetheart’ but I’m here to tell you you’re not stupid and you might be struggling with keeping on top of it all by over complicating things. Let me explain.

We’re all too busy

I’m not sure our grandmothers were as busy as we are today but they were busy enough. Take away working out of the home, the internet, social media, in store and online shopping, extracurricular activities for the children, and the list goes on, we wouldn’t be anywhere near as busy as we are. I know that first hand.

Admittedly, the internet and social media is my business so I’m lucky in a way that I don’t go out of the house to work but what am I working for? If I didn’t do this for a job, would we be able to survive financially? Yes, we would.

I’m not really making any kind of major kind of money to warrant a trip to the Bahamas but it’s a dream of mine to relocate to the beach one day. I’ll probably still do that but I want to make it as affordable as I can and that’s why I’m pursuing an entrepreneur’s lifestyle.

If I stopped doing it would I be as busy as I am? No, I wouldn’t. I’d have more time to have the garden looking nice. I’d have more time for sewing or being creative but I’d still be running the children to and from school, to after school activities but I don’t need to worry about household chores or making sure I’m shopping all the time to have the latest of anything. This is where the KISS Method comes into play.

How to make your life more simple

I don’t know if it was something that was in built from a young age or just in my genetic make up but I really don’t follow trends or need to have the latest whatever. I call this JOMO, “The Joy of Missing Out”.

If I’m not keeping up with celebrities or people of influence on social media, I don’t have to waste my time watching them or see what they’re promoting. I don’t have to spend all my time worrying about rushing to see a movie because someone suggested it or finding that ‘hard to get book’ because everyone’s raving about it. (Remember the frenzy that was created when “The 50 Shades…” books came out? I’ve never read one and I don’t believe I’m missing out on anything. All that happened there was the author became very rich. Simple. Oh, and maybe you spiced up your sex life a little, I’m not sure.)

There are more ways to make your life more simple, in particular your home life. This KISS Method can work if you’re young or old, male or female, working or stay at home, a parent or single with no kids. It doesn’t matter. We can all over complicate everyday tasks and it doesn’t have to be like that. Let me explain.

Food in the House

Let’s face it. You need food to survive. This isn’t a point about cooking from scratch or buying takeaways. You do what works for your family but my point is, you don’t want to spend an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon, going through your junk mail to find out what’s on special at the supermarket, then formulating recipes and writing it all down on a menu plan. If you do that and it works for you, GREAT! But I could think of a million other things I’d rather be doing than that.

I’ve been a mother for nearly 15 years now and if I don’t know by now what my children eat, there’s something wrong. I want meal times to be seamless, without argument and a pleasant experience, all while preparing tasty, nutritious food for the whole family.

I keep it simple. My pantry, fridge and freezer is full of the food we all eat and my fortnight grocery shopping list is made up of those items I’ve run out of. That’s it! No meal planning. No reading through junk mail that might tempt you into buying things you don’t need. No being influenced by celebrity chefs who claim they can feed a family on $10 per meal which my children wouldn’t even look at let alone eat.

The other point I want to make is I do want the whole evening meal process an effortless one that’s why I’ll spend a little time, here and there, preparing meals or parts of the meal to save on time and energy.

For example, I’ll cook double or triple rice when I’m making rice for a meal and bag up enough for another meal and pop it in the freezer to use another time. I’ll have some ready made ingredients in the freezer or pantry for those emergency nights when things haven’t gone to plan and you’re either sick or just exhausted.

I don’t believe meal planning strictly allows that flexibility. If I say Wednesday is “Chicken Night”, I don’t have to worry about roasting a chicken, thawing a chicken breast in a hurry because I forgot to get it out or I didn’t have time to pop on that slow cooker chicken dish because something came up in the morning. I grab those already crumbed chicken breast fillets out of the freezer, tortillas also from the freezer, chop up some salad and serve. Keep it simple.

This also brings me to the point of ready made or cooking from scratch. There are no hard or fast rules here. Who am I to tell you that cooking from scratch is the be all to end all or the only way to do it? That’s what I love to do so I do it but I don’t feel it’s necessary to do it every time.

If I see a marked down packet of biscuits or muffins at the supermarket, I’ll buy them and pop them in the freezer. If I want to have chips in the freezer for a ready made fish and chips meal, I will. We do what works for us. If you’re working full time and want ready made, nutritious meals delivered to your door and can afford it, do it.

You don’t have to give food a thought. If you want to bake your own bread, milk your own cows and whip up your own butter, go right ahead. I think that’s a lovely lifestyle and if it works for you, go for it.

You find what works for you and your family and stick to it. But if you want to keep it simple, don’t spend a couple hours on a Sunday meal planning only to overspend at the supermarket and then still go and buy takeaway midweek because you got sick or you couldn’t be bothered.

That’s a whole lot of unnecessary work for nothing. Keep your menus simple, the food you eat simple (Europeans have made a lifetime habit out of it), and don’t waste unnecessary time baking if you don’t have time or because someone of influence shared a recipe for a chocolate lover’s dream cake that has $20 worth of chocolate bars on it when you could buy a $5 already iced mudcake that everyone loves. Keep it simple.

Housework

If you hate housework, join the club. It’s not one of my favourite past times but I must admit, I do love a clean and tidy home. It’s a bit hard with kids in the house, no matter how hard you try to get them to pick up after themselves but it doesn’t have to be hard.

Having strict housework schedules in place is just fruitless, for me anyway. Why tie yourself down with Monday is dusting day, Tuesday is cleaning floors day etc etc? That commits you to doing that on those days but what if something comes up? How will you cope? I prefer the most easy method and that is CAYG “Clean As You Go”. You create a routine that you clean as you go.

For example, when you wash the dishes at night (or load the dishwasher), cleaning the sink, the fridge handles, the stove and splashbacks is all part of the routine. You can also add sweeping the kitchen floor to that and in about 20 minutes, the whole lot is done. Same as brushing your teeth at night. Wipe down the bathroom vanity when you’re done. Clean or wipe down the shower while you’re in it. Not every time but at least once a week.

The extent of my housework efforts is left to once a fortnight for 2 hours on a Saturday morning. I get the kids involved. They clean their rooms and help with other chores. It’s helping them develop good habits and routines and it’s helping me.

I can overlook the dust on the coffee table during that time because I know it will get done on that Saturday morning or, if it doesn’t, guess what? It doesn’t and it’s no big deal. There are more important things, or should I say, people in the home that need your attention as a parent than worrying about dust on the coffee table. Keep it simple.

Finances

If you take the steps to have a very basic budget for your household finances, you’ll always be in control of your spending, your bills will be paid on time and you’ll have a roof over your head.

Three of the most important, and I believe the only important things to worry about in life a food, clothing and shelter. You need money for those and no matter how little or how much your income is, if you don’t have enough for those, you’re living beyond your means.

Forget about that shiny new object that everyone else has. Forget about that new food craze that everyone is on about it. If you can’t afford it, don’t worry about it. No one is going to think any more or any less of you. Do what is right for your family.

They won’t care that you only spent $10 on that piece of junk from KMart because it’s in the catalogue and someone else made it look pretty in their house. How do you know what that person’s house really looks like? It’s probably just staged.

Be realistic about your spending. Always save a little for yourself and save towards an experience that the whole family will enjoy. Create a simple budget with incomings and outgoings and stick to it. No fancy software required. No fancy spreadsheets or journals. On the back of an envelope will do. Keep it simple.

Style

Who doesn’t want to feel good about the clothes they wear, the makeup they have on or the shoes they buy? I know I do but I don’t let it consume me.

I wear what makes me feel comfortable. I might look at the latest styles online to see what this season’s colours are or what the latest fashion is but it doesn’t bother me if I don’t get the look. What might look good on someone else may not look good on me. I’ve had my own style for years and it doesn’t really conform to anything in particular. Gosh, I’ve still got my Levi’s denim jacket I bought when I was 17 and it’s never gone out of style.

Think of your style as one that will never go out of fashion. Know what colours suit you and stick to those. Keep a few good basic items in your wardrobe that you can accessorise to change the look.

Wear make up or don’t wear makeup. It’s entirely up to you. I don’t. Maybe a bit of lipstick when I go out but that’s it. When I was younger, of course, I wore a bit when I went out but it was never the latest must have because someone suggested it. I wore what tones suited my skin type and colouring and kept it simple. (I can always remember my Dad saying that we looked like hookers when we went out with “all that makeup”. That might’ve stuck more in my head than what the current girl’s magazine said I should’ve been wearing!)

Your feet are, hopefully, going to be carrying you around for a long time so wear footwear that is comfortable. Sure, I wore high heels when I was younger but I may be regretting it now. Corns and bunions and not so attractive feet are the result of keeping on top of the latest shoe styles. I would’ve been better wearing a pair of runners for the amount of dancing I used to do rather than wearing 4 inch heels! Keep it simple.

Home Decor & Furnishings

What’s the point of trying to achieve that certain style that someone has suggested? You’re only going to worry about how you’re going to achieve it on your budget. I love interior design and decorating and like to change the look in my home often but I don’t go and buying all new furniture and decor to change it.

I use other pieces from other areas of my home or keep an eye out at secondhand shops. If not successful there, I’ll DIY a project. Spray paint only costs a couple dollars a can. Sewing a cushion or a new curtain isn’t all that difficult (if you have a sewing machine). Make do, recycle or ‘shop’ from your existing home decor.

Remember, the more you fill your house with stuff the more you’ll have to clean it and then you’ll be worrying about what you’re going to do with all that stuff when the next style comes out or that new shiny thing that you just have to have. Find your own style, keep your knick knacks and home decor to a minimum, keep your home tidy and keep it simple.

I hope these couple points will help you to make some minor changes to your home life so you can ease any stress in your home. As homemakers, we don’t want to be tied down to strict schedules, inflexible menu plans, staying on top of trends or other people’s styles and not having the money to do all that. We all work hard for our money and we want to use it to the best of our abilities. Keep it simple sweetheart and you’ll see your life become a lot easier.