y’all know I have a list of monthly routines I love, but y’all also know I don’t necessarily do everything on the list every month - I just like the monthly reminder.
however, the following ten things I do make sure to do every single month. they’re ten small, simple tasks, but they pack a huge punch, ensure our household runs so much smoother, and keep us aligned with our priorities.
check our Yearly Tasks + Expenses list
are there any annual appointments I need to make this month? traditions I need to plan for? gifts I need to buy? celebrations I need to arrange? deep cleaning I should maybe do? checking our Yearly Tasks + Expenses list answers all these questions for me. it’s basically how I sleep so deeply at night - absolutely everything that is done every year during certain months of the year (health appointments, holiday traditions, family birthdays, home maintenance projects, etc) is written down.
see this quick Instagram post for more on this beloved list.
tackle The Box
basically I have this pretty box, and I keep it in the main area of my home. and in that box I keep anything that I need to deal with, but that I don’t feel like dealing with right this second - gift cards to use, paperwork to fill out, rebates to turn in, bills to pay, invitations to respond, documents to file, kid-related things to save, items to fix, etc etc etc. thanks to The Box, I know where these important things are whenever I’m ready to tackle with them. and I do tackle them at least once a month - although I organically end up doing it more often than that anyway. I swear by this system.
this quick reel shows The Box system in our home.
similarly, this reel shows what I do with all those kid-related things I want to save, and these boxes are where I file away our documents we need to keep.
update the If Haley Dies document, if needed
see the quick Instagram post on that here.
have a marriage meeting
once a month, Brett and I get together to discuss anything and everything: finances, priorities, personal goals, house projects, travel ideas, household tasks, holidays, and everything in between. i’m hoping to do a more in-depth post on this soon, but until then know that this monthly routine has really, really helped us.
brain dump onto our fridge whiteboard
Brett and I have very distinct, separate responsibilities in our household - see the Instagram post on our split responsibilities here. Which may sound like a no-brainer, but taking the time to assign which duties Brett’s in charge of and which duties I’m in charge of changed everything for us.
Of course, even after split responsibilities, there are still household tasks that pop up. Things to fix, things we talked about on a walk, things to buy, things to ask, things that need to be taken care of.
Some of these I add to my to-do list. But other things I need help. And those things I write on a little whiteboard that lives on our fridge. And Brett works on these tasks as he chooses, on his own time.
I feel heard, he doesn't feel nagged. And most importantly, it's out of my head.
PS You could totally do a digital version of this! We just learned we benefit more from a tangible list staring Brett directly in the face, in a spot he frequents multiple times a day.
prep any upcoming Decide Once gifts
see this post.
take a quick assessment of our capsule-ish wardrobes
are there any clothing gaps that need to be filled? see more on our capsule-ish wardrobes - and why a system of deciding everyone’s colors really lessens my mental load - in this post.
update our Subscribe and Save order
there are lots of differing opinions on this, but I personally love this service for reducing the mental load of running a household. the mental load of running a household can be overwhelming, and automating what I can works reallyyyy well for me - subscriptions automate a big part of our household, especially since there are many items that we use on a predictable, regular basis to run said household.
and let me say this - sometimes buying items via Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program is cheaper, yes. but sometimes, I’m paying for the convenience of automation. meaning, it may be similar in price to my grocery store, but I prefer to have it set to Subscribe and Save, rather than remember to add it to my grocery list. and I only go to the grocery store once a week, and Costco once a month (and I hardly ever go to any other stores), so sometimes I’d just rather an item arrive on my doorstep via Amazon, than seek out a separate store, online or in-person. (because a separate store takes more energy - both mental and physical - and more time. and oftentimes that separate store tempts me to spend more.) while saving money can be a perk of subscriptions, my main goal here is automation and simplification. lighten that mental load of mine.
so each month I review our Subscribe and Save order - does anything need to be added? edited? delayed? removed? see what we have in our Subscribe and Save order here.
plan a few tentative Weekend Adventures
tentatively, what do we want to do next month? let’s check our Local Places List and the Year of Beer breweries for ideas. let’s write it on the calendar, let’s invite loved ones, and let’s add to the fridge whiteboard anything we need to do beforehand.
ps our Local Places List is one of the simplest, most joyful systems in our household: a running list of nearby places we’d love to go. a list that helps us prioritize Weekend Adventures, Date Nights, and Family Time. places to go on a Date with Brett, places to enjoy with our toddler, places within driving distance we’d love to adventure. it’s our favorite way to ensure we’re exploring (and loving!) where we live, and it’s our favorite way to make sure we’re squeezing in fun and adventure in this current season of ours.
and plan a thing or two with brett
the secret sauce to our marriage is to make sure we always have things planned for just the two of us. we are fortunate to live near family, so we love to go out to dinner once or twice a month, trying a new-to-us restaurant on our Local Places List. and we just recently started being able to afford traveling again, so our new goal is to prioritize the two of us getting away once a season, even if it’s just to a nearby town.
taking the time once a month to make sure brett and I have a few things on the calendar - and taking the time once a month to make sure the logistics are taken care of, like picking a restaurant from our Local Places List and coordinating childcare - helps me prioritize us as a couple, even in busy seasons of small children.
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