Homemaking apps

I mentioned a while back that getting my homemaking on was one of my New Year’s resolutions. For the past little while, I was trying more of a Zen Habits inspired approach to housework, where the main point was to stay aware and not get to structured, but it wasn’t going well. I haven’t learned to focus enough on homework and need to work through some bad habits of distraction (Facebook, blogging, reading, whatever) to get to a place where I feel that I can use an unstructured approach to housework.

I got a new iPhone for Christmas (link) and I figured that I could combine my love of useful apps with homemaking and hopefully make some improvements. While I still try to focus on being in the moment and being flexible to the demands and desires of the day, I have found the added structure really useful, and I think I have improved a lot in my homemaking recently and I think Cait would agree. I still have a long ways to go to be the kind of homemaker I would like to be, but I’m sure there are plenty of readers of our blog that are in the same position (I know there are some who are great homemakers already), so I thought I would share what has worked for me.

This is not an advertisement for these apps (although, if you do get them, use the buttons in each description and I get some money, I think), I'm just sharing what has helped me.

Homeroutines ($4.99)

This one is my primary housework app. It is a little pricey (I got it on sale) but still, I would pay $5.00 for how much it has helped me. In concept, it is pretty simple. I break down tasks into morning, afternoon, evening and night and then daily and weekly tasks.

And then there is a monthly rotating deep cleaning schedule, where you focus on a different area of your home every week. I have a hard time keeping up with this schedule, but I am certainly doing more deep cleaning than I used to.

I have probably 100 tasks total that I aim at getting done every day, but I don't ever really get close. But  getting everything done is not really the point. I've found this app especially useful in just keeping me motivated and focused, not having to wonder to much about what to do next in the seemingly endless list of household chores. It is rather sad, however, to see the app so full of stars at night and then be empty in the morning.

Astrid (Free)

This is a really great app that everyone should have. It is seriously one of the best free apps I've found, and I can't believe I haven't had it for longer. It is basically just a really well organized to-do list, with the ability to organize things into lists. The kicker is the voice control (for those of us without Siri, at least), which works really well. Pick this one up if not any of the others.

Mealboard: $1.99

This is the one app I want to be using more. I don't use it as much because I am not as good at planning or cooking meals as I am at some other aspects of homemaking, but I want to get better. You can either use this as a simple meal planner, or you can get advanced and use it as a recipe book and even as an automatically updating grocery list. I think this has the potential to make me into a much better organized cook.

iPad link:


iPhone link: