Great question! I would love to know tips as well. I’m so disorganised. I try hard, but then life just happens!

I’ve never been an organised person, I’m sure it would help with life, but just never get round to it. I just plod along and do what I can when I can in order of importance. At least you’re slowly getting back into work, so you can adjust

We can all relate to the overload!

Little by little. Don’t try and organize everything at once. Work on gettin one thing organized then move to the next

I flick through magazines before I throw them out and cut out any good, easy recipes and stick them in a scrapbook for inspiration when I’m stuck while writing my meal plan.

Diary always helps for me

make your own on excel so you have the columns you need and you can add and take things off week to week with out writing out re occurring schedules like sport practices etc.

I think others have mentioned Kikki-k.com, which I rate very highly. I love their weekly meal planner and monthly organiser pad. For meals, what works for us is seeing what’s left in fridge and pantry, online recipe searches using those ingredients, online shopping of specials for the rest of ingredients, having your seven dinners planned that way and putting it on the fridge and sticking to it. And picking meals I know the kids will eat, nothing fancy and just good basic wholesome cooking that doesn’t use a heap of special ingredients. And one other tip, I used to struggle as a single parent to cook dinner while also supervising outdoor play (kids still too young to play outside alone), until I started preparing meals during the day that can just be stuck in the oven in the evening. That has been a big help rather than trying to stand at the stove as well as duck in and out of the house all the time. Hope this helps a little

Go to your news agents and get one that breaks down the hrs into 15 min blocks

If you have extra money. Light and easy. They do all the cooking for you. Even if its just while you have a new born. Its a life saver. You know your getting a good meal and takes all the worry out of cooking.

Like many others have said magnetic whiteboard planners are excellent. At home we use two s we can plan fortnightly (Plus I have an old fasioned diary for planning events well i advance.) Each week has the seven days plus a section for the shopping list. Next to each week day I put the meal I plan to cook and then split the rest of the area into 3 sections, appoints for me, hubby and bubs. It gives you an overall idea of how busy you are on any gven day and then I try and pencil in various clening etc around when I am home/ out having people visit etc. Having two planners means you can always see what s happening next week and if you are doing any big meals that you can have as left overs, they won’tbe forgotten in the changeover from week to week, just swap the two magnets over on the fridge.

You can get great magnetic whiteboards for the fridge. Then write the menu up where everyone can see it. I add the ingredients to it for nights hubby cooks.

it is tricky. you really do need to sit down & map it out.

I yet to get it right! My plan is to have a range of recipes and pick from them fortnightly and write it on the fridge so i have a plan and know what groceries are in the fridge! Takes a lot of organising and sticking at it!

pick the meals you want to eat for the week then search through your pantry for non perishables. Any items you haven’t got, write down on your list. Try not to stray. Make larger size meals to use for left overs or freeze for those nights you will be home late.

I write down a few recipes when I have a cooking day. All of these recipes have ingredients in common so I’m not over spending and can get the most put of my cooking. I then freeze all of my dishes for the weeks to come.

I keep a whiteboard in my kitchen and write our weekly meal plan on it. I have a ‘shopping list’ notepad magnetized to the fridge. I also have a family planner magnetized to the fridge (I got from a Phoenix Trading rep) which is really handy! You can write each family members name on the chart and all their activities/commitments for the week. I have a ‘to do list’ pad on the fridge too to jot down odd jobs that need doing. I also keep lots of notebooks around, I’m a huge list-keeper.

Oh and do a couple of big cooks up before you go back to work so you can have a heap of meals in the freezer for those nights that you are feeling very tired.

Sit down and plan a couple of weeks worth of menus and shopping lists and then you can rotate them. It may take some time to set up but in the long term it makes life a lot easier. In terms of housework, I have one day a week dedicated to it and then just constantly pick up and put things in their places as you go. I also aim to dust 2 rooms per a week and clean out one area every week too

sit down and plan ahead you can even freeze things for a leftover night also