Meal Planning Tips and Tricks you Need to Know to Avoid Making Boring Food PLUS Free Meal Planner!

Say it with me: I will not eat the same boring meal 5X a week.

This is exactly what tends to happen when your grocery shop is poorly planned, and it probably means that you are shopping without any plan at all.

As a busy homeschool mum who not only had a home to look after but children to teach, and each with their own extra-curricular activities to keep up with, I learned early on that to avoid wasting money on take-out or having to cook meals that were quick but boring, I had to implement a meal planning system into my homekeeping routine.

This became a little monthly ritual which I looked forward to (and still enjoy today) and which saved me countless moments of angst at wondering what to cook for supper. 

It also helped me to be a better steward of our financial resources. My husband worked hard to support us as we followed God's calling to homeschool our two young children and it felt good to be dilegent in my role of managing the home and our resources.

Meal planning will not only help your family save money but it will also keep your fridge, freezer and pantry well organsied and reduce waste.

I have created a pretty, meal planner for you to download and use. 

Download Your Free Meal Planner

There will be an autumn meal planning page coming out later this year as I love to keep things seasonal.

Don't forget to subscribe to my blog - it's a great way to keep in touch and to get the autumn meal planner when it is published.

Now, if you are new to meal planning this isn't a post on bulk cooking - that is an entirly different post. I'm not going to give you some strict and over-organized plan. I mean, who needs that! 

This is a post on making a few small changes that will not take great swathes of time and effort - I don't want to overwhelm and burden you. 

I aim to give you tried and tested tips and tricks that have worked for me over the years and that you can impliment right now, before your next grocery shop. 

Hopefully it will set you on a path to being a bit more organised and having fewer moments of horror when you open the freezer door and realise that you have nothing for dinner which everyone is expecting in an hour!

Now, grab your grocery shopping list (I have a little notebook that lives in my handbag) and gather your cookbooks/pinterest boards etc. Oh, don't forget your cup of tea or coffee!

Grocery Cupboard Staples

I like to begin my monthly meal planning by doing a quick stock take - this is a glance over the shelves of my pantry to see what running low or I am out of. 

There are certain products in my grocery cupboard that I always keep in stock. These are things that typically can be thown in to the slow cooker that make up a good base to a myriad of dishes. They are also things that I like to have on hand should I want/need to throw together some muffins or need to bake bread etc.

Here's a list of what I stock:

• Canned chopped tomatoes
• Baked beans
• Tinned soups for casseroles (chicken, mushroom, chicken & Mushroom)
• Pouched or canned tuna - perfect to add to all sorts of things for a quick lunch
• Popcorn (the type you pop yourself). This is a great quick snack option with not too many calories.
• Rolled Oats - I use oats in baking (so many yummy things to make) and to make porridge for breakfast.
• Peanut Butter - apart from it being a traditional toast topper, I use peanut butter in baking (cookies and puddings) and cooking family favourites such as Chicken Satay Noodles.
• Have a dedicated baking shelf: Strong all-purpose Flour, Self-raising Flour, Baking Powder, Bicarb, Eggs, Sugar, Vanilla Essence, tins of peaches, condensed milk, evapourated milk, caramel and golden syrup. You will generally be able to whip up something sweet and delicious if you have these staples on hand.

If I see I'm running low or run out on any of these staples - it goes on the grocery shopping list.

Getting Down To Planning - My Top Tips

Alrighty, lets get stuck into this. Youv'e got your free printable meal planner in front of you and all your cookbooks whether online or hardcopy. I would recommend grabbing your daily planner too.

• Look at any upcoming events in your daily planner. What events are coming up this  month where cooking won't work with your schedule? You will want to plan something super easy for these meals. I like to do 'take-out at home'. This is something like crumbed chicken, oven chips, and a salad. I can make the salad the night before and the chicken and chips can be cooked from frozen.

• Choose the day of the week you will do your grocery shop - pop that in your daily planner.

• Now fill in your family favourtie meals on your free printable meal planner. In my home we have homemade burgers every Friday - so that's all Friday's sorted. We also like to have either homemade pizza or a comfort meal like mac & cheese on a Saturday, so those are plugged in. Sunday's is always a roast lunch so I fill that in.

• Next I plug in all those meals I know that go down really well and that we like to eat on a regular basis such as lasagna, sausages & mash etc. I try not to repeat meals within a two-week time period so as to avoid falling into the boring meal trap.

• Update your shopping list with the ingrediants you need for your regular family favourtie meals.

• Plan in a 'Left Overs Day'. I always find that there is a lot of meat and veg left over from our Sunday roast. So I like to plan to use that food and prevent wastage. I may plan a roast dinner quiche and salad for the Monday. Or a roast dinner pie perhaps. Plug in your left-over days into your planner.

• Now go through your cookbooks. Are there any new fun recipes you  have been wanting to try? How about an old favourite recipe that you totally forgot about - this happened to me just this week! This is the perfect time to try out one of those seasonal recipes that you pinned on your Pinterest board! Yes - we all have them...hoards and hoards of delicious looking seasonal meals that we never every cook. 

• Plan for Treats. I like to plan in a baking afternoon. I would rather bake all at once than weekly because I am not someone that really loves to bake for the joy of baking. I like to indulge in it periodically. So I will make a traybake cake, various muffins, a couple of dozen various cookies and then portion them out and freeze them. They freeze and thaw well. My grandmother told me that she used to bake and ice cakes and freeze them just like that. When she was expecting company she would take a cake out of the freezer the night before.

• Schedule a baking day into your daily planner.

• Update your grocery list with the ingrediants you will need to make some of your favourite cookies and cakes.

Tip: I keep one or two months of meal plans for each season in my master homekeeping binder. That way I then have a rotating stack of meal plans so if I go through a difficult life season, I can simply work from a tried and tested plan from my archives.

The Grocery Store

We now have our meal plan and our grocery list and it is time to go shopping. 

When my children were small they would often come shopping with me as I didn't have anyone to watch over them while I was out. I chose a time when they would be their freshest. I would task each of them with things to find within the same grocery isle which made shopping a lot quicker and because they were involved, we avoided any shopping meltdowns.

If you are able to slip away and do your big shop on your own, here are a few things I try to bear in mind with regards to my meal planning.

1. Number 1 top tip - do not visit the grocery store on an empty stomach. I'm sure you are well aware that when you do this - all manner of unplanned yummy convieniance foods find their way into your shopping trolley.
2. Avoid Pre -Prepped vegetables unless you are insainly busy. They will always cost more and have a shorter shelf life. 
3. The exception to this rule is frozen veg. Frozen veg is fantastic to throw into a stew, casseroles and slow cooker recipes.
4. Follow a 5,4,3,2,1 pattern:

• 5 different fruits and veggies - These should take up the bulk of your plate so your shopping trolly should reflect this.

• 4 protiens that you really like - for me it's chicken, salmon, minced beef (mince, meatballs etc), and sausages. 

  TIP: buy meat in bulk if you can and process/portion it all at home. This will save you a huge amont of time and money in the long run! Plus - there is nothing nicer than seeing your chest freezer lovely and full! You will always have something on hand should you need it for unexpected visitors or life events!

• 3 carbs - We like potatoes, couscous/rice and pasta.

• 2 Healthy fats- I use olive or coconut oil for cooking and we love avocados so we always have them in the fruit bowl.

• 1 indulgence whatever that is for you. It may be chocolate or crisps etc. Everything in moderation and it is nice to sometimes have a treat that we didn't or cannot make at home.

Preperation & storage

Very briefly, part of succesful meal planning is having your planned meals as prepped as possible. This will save you time and energy at the end of a busy day. 

I have recently come across The Batch Lady on Instagram. If you have not heard of her do check her out! She has so many great time and money saving tips when it comes to meal planning.

I purchased her new book which is full of really delicious freezer meals to pre and freeze ahead of time. I've worked my way through 2 weeks of meals and every single one of them has been a hit with my family.

It literally took me an hour to prep the meals and we have had an interesting and varied menu - it feels like we have been eating in a restaurant withouth all the time consuming prep that you would expect to go into preparing such interesting meals.

She also has some fantastic FREE summer meal plans for you to download and use. So if you feel that your life season simply does not allow you to take this time to meal plan then just download one of The Batch Lady's prepared meal plans. She has about 12 weekly meal plans in her summer list. That's 3 months worth of plans!

Honestly, you will want to bookmark her website! She has other seasonal plans too!

The time spent prepping these meals was so worth it. Plus - my nerdy nature just loved standing back and gazing at all the neat, full freezer bags once they were all in the freezer. 

My Recommeded Meal Planning Purchases (Pictured Above)

1. The Batch Lady Grab and Cook Book (Best cook book I've bought in years)
2. Resusable Food Storage Bags (20 bags)
3. Adjustable Food Prep Bag Holding Stand (not entirely necessary but very helpful).

Have a Wonderful Week and I'll See You Back Here Soon!

Well lovelies, I hope that this post is in someway useful. I'm sure that most of you are seasoned meal planners but I am always reminded to be a Titus 2 woman and to pass on what I have learned through my years of motherhood, in running a home and being a Christian wife.

Download This Scripture Card

If you have any meal planning tips please do leave them in the comments for others to pick up and use. 

If you found this post helpful and would like to read posts on Christian homemaking, homeschooling and lifestyle posts then please follow me on Bloglovin - Follow

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Looking Ahead and Setting A Course

It's at this time of year that our thoughts naturally turn to ponder on our lives.

Re-evaluating:: Assessing:: Planning. 

Now that Christmas is behind us and we only have a few days to go before the new year kicks in, I'm looking forward to taking this significant date in the calendar year and setting it, as billions of others do, as a benchmark for implementing my 'new start' (well, I've actually already started on a few of my goals). 

I thought I would share my process with you, show you how I go about assessing areas in my life and setting a course of action. 

I am a great believer in the process of evaluating and setting life goals, as the saying goes, 'Fail to plan then plan to fail.' I also believe that there is very little point in whining and complaining about things in your life that you are unhappy with - things you can change I mean. If you don't like your job - then look for another one. If you there are relationships that suck the life out of you - address them.

 Of course we all have circumstances in our lives that are beyond our control and for those circumstances, while we may not be able to change them or where change will take a period of time to take effect, we can choose the attitude with which we face and deal with those situations - so we still have a choice.

If you are ready to get your life on track in 2017 then grab a cup of tea or coffee, a pretty journal, your favourite pen and let's get started.

Step 1: Establishing Areas For Change and Improvement

In looking forward I have looked at each area in my life and evaluated how the past year went, what worked well and what didn't, things I want to change and improve. Here are some of the areas I have brought under consideration, addressing 'easier' areas before delving into the more complex areas of one's life.

* Attitude and Mental Well Being
* Physical Well Being and Appearance
* My Environment
* Our Homeschooling
* My Business
* My Dreams and Goals
* My Blog

Action: ~Make a list of the areas in your life that you feel could do with a bit of a make-over.

Now your list might be shorter or longer than mine and probably different - we all lead different lives.

Step 2: Explore It

Action: ~Choose a category to tackle first.

I chose to address the less complicated, easier-to-action, bits first. For example, I picked 'Homeschooling' first. Our homeschool runs fairly well but is constantly being tweaked according to what is happening in our lives and what goals we need to achieve.

Action: ~Write down all your thoughts about this area of your life in your journal bearing the following in mind:

~Think and ponder on how you feel about it and why you feel that way.
~ Look over what worked over the past year and what you would do differently going forward.
~ How has this area affected other areas in your life? How has it affected the people you love and care about in your life? Has it had a positive or negative influence?
~ Has this area contributed to your (and others) general well being or made you feel sad, anxious, angry etc.

Step 3: Define It (set goals)

Now that you have fully (emotionally and practically) explored this area you are ready to set a tangible goal. For example, when I was looking at my health and well being, one of the things I really am not feeling great about is how unfit and lethargic I often feel. So my goal here is 'Get Fit & Toned.' I'm also carrying a little extra weight that has got to go as it makes me unhappy in myself and gets me down when I go clothes shopping. So this goal is added to the Get Fit and Toned one to read ...'and lose 3 kg's'.

Action: ~Define what it is you wish to achieve - this is your goal. 

Do make it realistic, for example, I really don't think that I could realistically lose 10 kg's and keep it off. I am a woman in her 40's and biologically it would mean having to maintain a food and fitness regime that I don't think would make me happy. I want to feel strong and healthy and to wear my clothes well without them feeling snug. I'm quite content with being a British size 10 (US 6). It's achievable and most of all I am able to maintain it while still enjoying good healthy food and the occasional treat.

Step 4: List It

Now here's the part where you turn your thoughts and discoveries that you made in step 2 into a working plan to achieve the goals you set in step 3.

Action: ~List the steps that you need to take in order to achieve your goals.

For example, in order for me to achieve my goal of getting fit and toned. Here's my list of the steps I will take in order to achieve my goal.

1. Get on the exercise bike at least 4 times a week, slowly building up the time I spend on it as my fitness levels improve.

2. Spend 10 minutes after each exercise session doing toning exercises as per those set on my Pinterest board. Slowly increase the time spent or reps done on toning as I get stronger.

3. Be strong and firm with yourself! Don't give in to laziness and shrug off your exercise session. Remember how much time and energy it took to build up your fitness levels and how quickly you can lose that fitness through laziness.

Reward: You will feel strong and healthy with more energy. You won't get out of breath while participating in outdoor activities. Your toned body will look slim and trim in your clothes, you will be able to confidently pull a size 10 off the shelves without getting that despondent feeling that the item looks better on the hanger than on you. Shame will no longer be a part of your shopping experience :)

Action: ~ list a reward at the bottom of your steps. This could be something that you will actually buy yourself or a natural consequence reward. 

This process is less about setting 'New Years Resolutions' and more about looking at your lifestyle and life goals and then re-calibrating in order to achieve the life you want to live. 

We all have within our own power to be all that we can be and live the best life that we can. It's knowing the destination and making choices that are in line with that goal or vision that is the difference between whether or not we achieve our goals. 

So set the course. Layout your plans. Discipline yourself into action and achieve your dreams!

Thank You!

Wow! Thank you to every one who participated in my blog survey! I am so SO grateful to have received your feedback. It was really interesting to read, and it made me really happy to see that most of you are happy with the current content of my blog.

I was really thrilled to see what you want to see more of and it gives me a much better idea on what to share. Interestingly three topics were the most popular, Travel and Days Out & Organization posts scored tops followed very closely by more homeschooling posts.

Anglophiles unite!! In the comments section quite a few of you mentioned that you wanted to know more about living in England and seeing more of our countryside etc (Travel and Days out category). I TOTALLY relate to this. You see I'm as big an Anglophile as you seem to be LOL. As many of you know I am South African. My whole life was spent with a yearning and longing in my heart for England. It has been a country that has always captured my imagination and my heart.  When we finally moved here 5 years ago I felt like I had finally come 'home'.

I'm STILL wildly, madly and deeply in love with this land. Everything about it makes me happy. When we drive around visiting new sights, the countryside continues to totally capture my attention and my heart. The beauty is so astounding that it can bring tears to my eyes - honestly! I know it probably sounds lame but I have never felt so strongly about a country as I do about this one. There is NOWHERE I would rather be than in Britain.

So you can expect to see more of our country-side, villages, seasons and cities.

Manage Your Time and Home:: Under An English Sky

Organization took top place alongside Anglophile posts! I think I must take for granted how it is to have a well-established routine in place, or even to be able to put systems in place that aid in running a home, family and homeschool with ease. Truthfully this is one of my strengths, it is something I love doing. But I know that for many this is not the case and therefore tips and practical 'how-to's' are always helpful.

I was so happy that 'homeschooling' featured right up there too. As you know I started this blog to document our homeschooling days. With my blog being as old as it is, I often wondered if my readers were still homeschooling mums - I know it's not exclusively homeschooling mums but I was wondering how many were still interested. And it turns out quite a few of you want more practical homeschool related content. 

So once again - THANK YOU for your input. It has been invigorating for me as this blog's author to really get your insights and opinions. I should have done this years ago! LOL. Tomorrow I will kick off with a new series of posts called Crock-pot Chronicles.

Starts Tomorrow!

 Once a week, for the next 6 weeks, I will share one of our families favourite crock-pot recipes. A few of you have asked for me to share some of my crock-pot favorites over the past 6 months or so, and I keep forgetting. So with this little series of posts coming up it will help me to be more intentional about sharing :)

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday and I look forward to meeting with you all tomorrow again :)

The Organised Life :)

If you have been reading me blog for any length of time you will know that I looooove planning :) I also love for it to all be very pretty - and why not? I have to use these tools all year round and look at them every single day, so I want to enjoy doing so.

These three little lovelies is what I will be using for 2016. Ideally I would have loved to have everything in one place, but the truth of the matter is that it would just be too big and cumbersome. So my planning tools are split into three. School Lessons, Day to Day, and Homekeeping.

At the bottom of the pile we have my Well Planned Day Homeschool Lesson Planner. I love this planner. It has a myriad of things that pertain to homeschooling AND the home. You can take a peek inside here. This is probably the last year I will be using this planner as my eldest graduates homeschool this year and I really am not going to be needing such a big planner for one child. I'll go back to making my own homeschool planner from September. My youngest will more than likely be taking two outside classes from September so even less space needed for planning her lessons.

In the middle of the pile we have my day-to-day planner. It's an Erin Condren Life planner. It's the first time I've had one and I have to say that it is beautiful! The quality of the paper, the personalised features, all the additions you can add. It's gorgeous. I love the size - A5 - which is perfect for what I need. Apart from noting down appointments, I also list my daily To-Do's, so I need space to write. My planner also needs to be light enough to pop into my handbag if need be. It needs to be durable and functional but pretty at the same time. 

I really do love it, not sure I will purchase it again as the postage from the States made it really expensive. I may actually buy it again but have it sent to my sister-in-law in Canada and get her to post it on. Hmmmm, we'll see. I may just purchase another A5 Filofax to use as my day-to-day next year and really only use it for that purpose to eliminate the weight factor that can creep in with having a ring-bound planner.

The last planner you see in the photograph right at the top is my beautiful A5 Malden Filofax. I LOVE this Filofax. It's so soft and smells so good (It's real leather). It also has so many pockets and even a zippered pouch for extra pens, or whatever it is you want to keep in there. 

In this Filofax I have everything pertaining to the smooth running of my home. 

*List of Service Suppliers

* Home Blessing List (maintenance, projects etc for the home)

*Menu and Meal Plans

*Entertainment Section (this is where I plan any social get together's we are hosting)

*UK Visa's

 (This has notes on what was needed, where we could write the tests we needed to write and the costs related, all sorts of general info and research that it took to get to the point of posting off our application. I'm keeping this section as our next step in 12 months time is naturalisation.)

*Finance

 (budget, expense tracking forms etc)

*Etsy Store 

(successful products I've made, brainstorming new ideas, costing, supplies etc)

*Gifts 

(list of birthdays, anniversaries etc and gift ideas etc that I want to give)

*Password List

(Oh my gosh - I just hate the amount of different passwords you need for various online things. This list stays at home in this binder so no chance of it getting out there)

*Contacts

Numbers and addresses of friends and family :)

As you can see my Malden Filofax holds ALLOT. I really could not include daily diary pages too, it would be so heavy to lug about. But I'm really warming to the idea of another A5 binder. I know you can pick up some really pretty ones at Paperchase for a fraction of the price of a Filofax brand. I might have a look at that and use the Malden as my daily (I can put my EC pages into it) and use the cheaper Paperchase one as my Home Control Binder.

BUT ... before I make any changes I think I will just live with the way things are at the moment. It's working, it all looks pretty and is not costing me a penny at the moment - and that's important LOL.

What do you use to keep organised? I would LOVE to hear if you have a moment to leave a comment. I'm terribly nosey when it comes to planning and planners - it's a weakness I'm afraid ;)

Happy Monday to you all. I hope that your week is off to a FABULOUS start!

Etsy Shop News

This week has seen lots of restocking of our Etsy shop. My daughter has worked hard on putting together the cutest little planner charms...

and paperclip sets...

I have managed to sew up three more planner pouches. Initially I listed three just to get a feel of the market. Well they all sold out so there must be a market for them. I know that I personally use mine all the time. If my planner is in my handbag then it's in it's pouch.

I love the autumn Horse Chestnut and British phone box fabric. I have a few more great British print fabrics that I will sew up into pouches, they are just gorgeous - I love them :)

Wishing you all a wonderful day :)

Homemaking Monday - Running a Small Business

How many other homemakers combine keeping home and family with a small business?

On Saturday the house was rather quite. Our girls travelled down to Oxford to take part in the National Young Ringers competition (they came second btw), so DH and I had the whole day to ourselves. 

I spent just over an hour in the morning finishing off some Filofax protective covers and listed them in my Etsy shop. I'm really happy with how they turned out. Such cute fabric :)

Under An English Sky's Etsy Shop

 We then tootled off to town together to indulge in our weekly coffee at Cafe Nero. I love this time. We sit chatting, sipping a great coffee, and watch the world pass by.

Once home I set about making a few Dashboards - actually, I made 6, for my shop. Dashboards (if you are not in the know) are protective front pages that are generally cheery and add a bit of pretty to your planner. They are also quite useful for sticking sticky-note reminders onto which saves you having to page through your planner to see what it was you needed to get at the shops (for example).

This is what I'm talking about...

So 9 items in my shop! My next goal is to get some more bunting made up. Last year I sold all my autumn bunting so clearly that product is a hit. I thought I would get a head start on my autumnal products as August is our move month so I won't have too much time for working on my products then. But this whole thing is quite fun :)

Anyhoo, please do visit my little shop and pass on my link to anyone who you think would be interested in what's available there.

Updates as always will be posted on Under An English Sky's Facebook page :)

Under An English Sky

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A Coat For...

....my Filofax. I know - how ridiculous! I have seen people 'babying' their planners in the planner community. Insisting on putting their Filofaxes into fabric covers and then into their handbags. "WHY???" I wondered. What a pain to have to get it out every time you needed to use it.

Up to now I have been using a Filofax Finsbury. This Filofax is tough and stands up to quite a bit when tossed about and hanging out with some sharp objects in your handbag (thinking keys here). It never picked up any scuff marks, transfer marks or any other sort of marks - which would drive me mad BTW.

For ages I've had my eye on the Fluro Pink Filofax Original. It's so pretty and bright - perfect to use in the summer. (Yip! I'm one of those who uses planners like handbags swapping them out according to season and how I feel at the time). After scouring the web for a decently priced one (despite my planner fetish I cannot justify spending £60 plus on a planner - no matter how cute. It has to be a bargain :), and selling one on EBay that I wasn't too fond of, I managed to bag a brand new Original for a cost of £8.00 to me.

It arrived and I wasted not time in 'moving in' (planner talk for taking the inserts out of one planner and popping them into another one lol). Yesterday I took my planner out of my handbag and found a transfer mark from my purse on the back of it. It looks like a faint black stamp. I tried to clean it off but alas this particular leather cover seems to be hard to clean. The mark has not budged. I now had insight as to why people slip their more 'delicate' Filofaxes into a protective cover when popping it into their bags.

So yesterday afternoon I took out my sewing machine and made a dent in my fabric stash. I wanted my fabric sleeve to be simple in design but pretty - of course. The sleeves are reversible with no fussy zippers or closures, a simple folded down top makes for a nice decorative feature but still being practical in the way of easy access. 

I made two sleeves, one to hold my Fluro pink and another to hold my Christmas planner - which also happens to be an Original.

The design seems to be working as popping the Filofax into the sleeve is not as tiresome as I thought it would be. It slips in and out quite easily without having to be manipulated and fiddled with at all.

I've decided to make a few more and put them in my Etsy shop and see how and if they sell. If they don't, well then I guess I'll have a variety of sleeves for my planners - the shop is currently on a break while I restock ;)

Now I had to squeeze this final picture into this post - it's not in any way planner related but I do love it...

While cooking supper last night I looked out of the kitchen window and noticed that a soft summer rain was falling. I took a moment to appreciate my kitchen- window view, I do love the rain. It makes one feel warm and cosy if you are indoors and I love the fresh smell that it brings.

I thought I would try and capture the moment so took out my camera and headed out of the conservatory door. Immediately my eyes fell on three pigeons sitting on the fence. They were all puffed up and patiently waiting for the shower to pass. rain drops dripped from their beaks and feathers - I have to say I felt rather sorry for them.

The shower was soon over then they perked up and flew off.

Today is a bit brighter which is just as well as I am taking a friend who is out visiting from South Africa sight seeing today! Small mercies :) 

On that note I shall bid you farewell and a happy Thursday to you all!

Homemaking Monday - Home Keeping Journal

Good Monday morning my friends :) Today is Homemaking Monday and I'm going to take you on a little trip through my Home keeping Journal.

I use this journal/binder every-single-day. It lives on my kitchen table and I refer to it throughout the day as I go about my tasks.

I have used the Malden A5 Filofax as my Home keeping Journal. I love it so much, it's soft, smells gorgeous and looks so pretty :)

If we open up the cover you will see that right in the front I have my cleaning schedule on brightly coloured index cards. The first card lists my daughters' chores, behind that I have my weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning cards. 

On the left, you can see that I have a couple of binder clips, postage stamps and post-it notes. Inside the zipper pocket, I have a few extra pens and pencils.

The first section holds my daily appointments inserts. I have a year-at-a-glance insert onto which I highlight the school holidays, bank holidays, and birthdays.

 This is my main planner, I have a personal size which lives in my handbag and is synced to this one once a day. But when I'm at home this is the one where all the appointments and arrangements are made from.

The next section is all to do with my home.

If we flip this divider over you will see 6 more dividers. These split up the general 'Home' category into micro-sections. I have a little laminated 'key' to the sections as I've just re-shuffled things. I'm sure that I won't need it once I am completely familiar with it.

The first section is 'Service Suppliers'. If you remember I have a section in my Master Binder with the same heading. In that section, I store information leaflets and contracts. In this section, I have a list of all our suppliers, their contact details and our account numbers. I also have Emergency services numbers for our bank, water supplier and the AA. At the bottom of this page, I have important annual renewal dates for our insurance, mot etc.

I also have a 'contact sheet'  behind this list so that whenever I speak to them about my account I record the date, who I spoke to and notes on the conversation.

Section 2 is for 'Home Blessings and Move'.

I have a list of things that I would love to do, make or buy for our home (home blessings) I also have a list of 'move' related things like areas that we should avoid in Plymouth, areas that are great, pet transporters, cattery details to check out when we go down on a 'scouting' trip to find our new home etc. I have a list of people that will need to be contacted and informed of our address change, a deep cleaning schedule to get our current house into tip-top condition and I even have a list of things that we are wanting to find in our new home.

Section 3 is all about food. 

I have a household, pantry and freezer inventory. I can't tell you how many times I've 'thought' I needed an item, bought it only to find that have two or three of the same item stashed away. So by keeping an updated stock sheet, I can avoid that. 

I have a copy of my month's menu plan in this section and I keep a running shopping list here - if I run out of something while cooking I write it down straight away so I don't forget.

Section 4 is 'Entertaining'. this is where I plan the menus etc of any entertaining we do. I keep these as they often remind me of something that was a hit or other things that I might not want to do again. I have a note of who can or can't eat what so that there is no awkwardness when entertaining.

Section 5 is 'Travel'. This home keeping journal comes with us on any long trips we make. It fits into my suitcase easily and I always have bits of paper relating to our trips. For example, on our recent trip to Scotland, I had two separate hotel reservations, our boating holiday reservation and map giving directions to the boatyard and I took along a pamphlet from our cattery so that I could get hold of them if I needed to (and I did). I knew exactly where everything was, there was no scrabbling about suitcases for mislaid reservation details etc.

The last section under 'Home' is 'UK Visas'. This year we put in our permanent residency application, but there are lots of requirements that we need to take care of first like English tests and the Life in the UK test, both of which needs to accompany our application in December. I have a list of costs, exam centres etc. It just keeps me on top of this very important part of our lives right now.

Leaving the home section behind I have a 'Financial' Section

In this section, I have a copy of our months budget. Once a week I check the bank account and mark off what's gone off and payments made.

Behind our budget, I have an Expense Tracker sheet. Everything that I spend that is not budgeted for and thus comes out of our disposable income is noted down on this sheet. That way I get to see where we are spending our money and I am able to keep a running account of where we are at. When I check the bank account once a week I update the balance on this sheet.

Next section is 'Etsy' or my business. This section has plans for what I want to make for my shop, plans for the what, when and where of growing my business.

Sadly although all my year's plans are noted down, not much has been happening. My mind is too taken up with the move preparations and studying for our Life in the UK test.

The section after 'Etsy' I have 'Seasonal'. This where my current seasonal planning notes are stored. If there is a feast day, holiday, the seasonal occurrence that I want to mark in a special way I have it marked in the daily appointments section and the actual written out plans or recipes etc. are in this 'seasonal' section.

And las,tly I have 'Contacts' which is all our friends and families postal address and telephone numbers. 

Next week I will show you my Personal size diary which travels with me where ever I go. Today's post is linking up with Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth's The Art of Home Making Monday link up.