An oldie but a goodie- this originally ran on August 10, 2007!
Keeping your kitchen clean may not sound much like a frugality tip, but it sure is, especially if you are out of your home a lot. I remembered the importance of keeping my kitchen clean this week, in my second week of working. Yesterday morning I left for work with the kitchen an awful mess. On Wednesday evening we had eaten quickly, left the dishes, and then stayed out late on at a function with a friend. When I came home from the function, I just could not deal with the mess. I was so tired that I simply went to bed, and left it for the next morning.
The next morning, I woke up late, left the bed unmade, and threw together a quick breakfast in my wreck of a kitchen. Since I had woken up late, I did not even have time to clean up my breakfast dishes, let alone lunch. I went and had a long, tiring day at work, then came home, took one look at the overflowing sink, grease spattered stove top, and flour covered counters, and suggested that we go out for supper.
No matter how tired you are, clean up your kitchen before you go to bed. It does not have to be showplace clean, but it is amazing how much a clean, fairly clutter free space helps you have motivation to cook. It was the thought of having to clean up, wash dishes to use, and then clean the kitchen up again after all this that helped $13 of my newly hard earned money end up at Jimmy John's on Thursday evening! Keeping your kitchen picked up can save you quite a bit over time!
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11 comments:
This is so true. I hate going to bed with dishes in my sink. It makes it much easier to get up in the morning when you can walk into a somewhat-orderly kitchen!
I agree with this completely. It is amazing how much more peaceful and restful I feel when I have a clean kitchen
Absolutely--nothing makes me want to run to McDonald's faster than a messy kitchen full of dirty dishes!
I've never thought of it this way, but that really is a good point. Keeping the kitchen clean is essential to everything in our home throughout the day, even our frugality. Thanks for the encouragement.
I have weeks like that too! I have really made an effort to have a FlyLady Shiny Sink every night before bed - since I've been doing this, I find that it takes less than 10 minutes to clean the kitchen whereas it used to take me up to an hour to clean the 3 day mess!
Great Frugal tip!
I had to leave Mr. Right's house last night with dishes in the sink (we had friends over and they didn't leave until just a few minutes before I needed to leave) and I dread doing them tonight. Maybe I'll get him to take me out to dinner ;)
J/K you're absolutely right. the quicker you get them done the less daunting they seem.
That's true. I hate cooking in a dirty kitchen. In a pinch I've asked hubby to help me clean up really quick while I figured out what to make for dinner. But, we do sometimes go out when I just can't handle the mess and dinner.
Definitely keeps a good attitude instead of dread as you look at the dirty kitchen! Great tip!
This is a great post. You were describing my life, all the reasons I don't do the dishes...sometimes I leave them so long that my husband will finally do them. I know it's the last thing he wants to do after working all day (or all week!)and I often wonder about the health safety of leaving dirty stuff around for days. You are right, the sooner you do it the better! Sometimes I even start doing it while our children are finishing up, I don't have to be alone that way, we're all still in the kitchen together.
Very wise post!
I really needed to hear this. I'm off to clean my kitchen (seriously)!
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