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The Number One Secret to an Organized Life

I’m known for my frankness, so I’m going to give this to you straight.

I am not a naturally organized or “totally together” person. I’m pretty good now, if I do say so myself (and I do! Image may be NSFW.
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But I didn’t start out this way.

These are LEARNED skills that I have developed over the past two decades as a wife and mother, and that’s why I get so excited to share them with you.

The same way I wasn’t born with this hair color (shhhh! don’t tell anyone!), I wasn’t born knowing how to keep my family and house organized.

Truth be told, if I lived all alone, I very well may be the kind of person who never gets dressed, and lives on the couch surrounded by pizza boxes.

BUT. I know that I am a role model for my kids, and I want them to be better than me. 

and you know what? It is VERY easy to become the kind of calm, collected, and organized mom you want to be.

I promise.

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You’re going to be surprised at how easy this is.

It’s actually a tiny bit embarrassing at how easy this “life management” thing is when you remember the number one tool every successful family should absolutely use and implement regularly:

are you ready?

it’s:

The Crock-Pot.

Seriously. I explain what I mean in this video —

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I’ve been at this “Mom Thing” For Quite a While

I’ve got a high-schooler, a middle-schooler, and a kindergartener. Which means I have a lot of systems in place NOW.

But when I first started out as a mom, I was scared. Petrified, even.

Because here’s the thing: the nurses only really cared if we had a carseat installed in the car before I was handed my brand-new baby girl.

They weren’t able to sit down and chat and see if I really had what it takes to be a full-fledged parent, or even a full-fledged Adult.

The first day I was home alone with my fragile little infant I remember looking around our apartment tremendously overwhelmed and downright frightened.

This was it.

I had to figure out how to DO ALL THE THINGS.

Because there was no Fairy Godmother or Nanny or Au Pair who was going to bail me out.

I was the mom. I was in charge.

It was truly time to Adult Up.

I Needed to Get Organized

and it really all boiled down to getting to know my Crock-Pot.

Because the thing is, when you start using your slow cooker regularly, you are FORCED to plan ahead. You really can’t put the food on early in the morning unless you already have the groceries in the house.

And once I started planning out my dinners and grocery shopping from that list, my weekly and monthly food budget shrunk SUBSTANTIALLY.

So not only was I saving tons of valuable time and brain-energy because I no longer needed to frantically worry about dinner, I was also saving LOTS of money that we desperately needed to pay off debt and start saving for the future.

It sounds silly, but it truly (for reals!) helped me get on the right Life Path.

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Meal Planning Basics

If you are brand new to meal planning, don’t worry — this most certainly is not rocket science. The first thing to do is to get out a piece of paper and write out 10 Dinners you know your entire family will always, always eat.

For us, these are the meals I know that all three of my kids (and my husband) will eat each and every month, no matter what: taco soup, rotisserie chicken, lentil and sausage stew, honey garlic chicken, Parmesan Tilapia, sweet and sour tofu, lemon salmon, brown sugar chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast and veggies.

I only plan for and shop for groceries for five days worth of dinners because usually one night we have leftovers and usually one night we end up eating out or picking up Take Out.Image may be NSFW.
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Once dinners are mapped out, fill in the blanks for breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

So The Number One Thing is to Meal Plan. Then What?

OH good. I’m so glad you asked! Image may be NSFW.
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I want to share with you the Exact Things I do to keep the family and the household running in a smooth and organized way. I promise that these are simple, easy, and very achievable — no matter if you popped out of the womb organized or need to learn (the way I did).

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Thank you for your support and good luck on today's giveaway! Remember, my books make wonderful gifts, and so does the Ninja Cooking System!

Click here to see all books, and click here for the special Ninja Cooking System offer. Have a great day!

The post Could the Secret to an Organized Life Really Be This Simple? appeared first on Stephanie O'Dea.