Creating Systems in Your Home that Make Life Simpler as a Homemaker 

Hey friends! I think you and your kids will love CrunchLabs! Go to crunchlabs.com/allie to sign your kids up for Camp CrunchLabs today and get 2 boxes free, a $60 value!

We live on a farm too and I’ve found it’s best to only give them a few pieces of clothing and then save the extras back in a tote out of sight. Then once they’ve ruined the ones they have out you have a backup and don’t have to go buy more but you’re not dealing them with on a daily.

Allie!! I have missed you so much, I hope you vlog more regularly again soon ❤

I feel ya on decluttering. We still have to tackle the garage and my clothes but outside of that we have gotten it pretty much under control & it’s SUCH a great feeling! I didn’t realize how much anxiety and stress it actually caused.

I’ve been watching Minimal Mom. She is so good with decluttering!

I love this! I am in the same stage of life and its so nice to hear another mom has the same system issues she's trying to fix as well in her home. Makes me feel like I'm not alone!

Laundry - 5 tops, 5 bottoms and do laundry everyday! It’s been a game changer for me!!!

When I was a kid, we had a pretty minimal wardrobe. my mom created clothes categories. We had school clothes. We had play clothes, we would change into right after we got home from school so that we can play. These were the dirtiest clothes we had she didn’t care that they were dirty because that’s what they were for. Also had day clothes which were our nicer casual clothes that we would use to run errands or go to someone’s house where we weren’t gonna get dirty. As soon as we got home, we would change from our day clothes to our play clothes if we were going to go play outside or arts and crafts. we had our church clothes and these were our dressy clothes that we would wear to church or a dressy party and as soon as we got home, we would change into our play clothes. We also had night clothes which were specifically for sleeping. When codes became too worn out, they would go into our play clothes.

Definitely get books by Gloria furman. Her book missional motherhood and glimpses of grace are so encouraging. I’d also get books by Sally Clarkson and listen to her podcast. Farmhouse on boone is the perfect teacher on RU-vid for us in this season. Homesteading, homemaking, homeschooling, raising babies, being a wife…. She’s been nailing it with great content lately. Also two more books to check out “queen of the castle” and the Christian homemakers handbook book by pay Ennis. Can you tell I’ve been through this season already 😂 You got this!!

I found you through Lynette Yoder. I have decluttered our home and having less stuff is key to having the house picked up in minutes. I enjoyed your content. I love always improving my home as well and making it more functional.

There is a book called "putting down the rails" I think you would love it and it would really help with what you are trying to accomplish! Your doing a lot though! I think your doing great! Celebrate what you are getting done! I mean ...homemade bread and gardens !! That's wonderful.

Awesome! The grain mill is a goal of mine and maybe even chickens one day! Thanks for the reminders to keep working on implementing systems that work for our family in this season ❤

I have ADHD and menopause brain so I’m very easily distracted by the music in most videos…. No matter how great the content or how much I need the information I just can’t get through it but your voice and the soft music made it much easier for me…. There are so many wonderful people sharing helpful and inspiration content but squirrels like me need no music or light music like this…. Thank you 😊

I loved watching Allie! I’ve missed you friend!🥰

This video was so motivating!! I’m pretty organized, but there is always room for improvement. 😊 In reference to clothing, my mom used to thrift shop a lot. We would have specific clothes for play and non-play clothes. After church on Sundays, we had to change into play clothes. My mom would do back to school shopping via layaway and we would always change from school clothes to play clothes.

I’ve been watching your channel since Emmy was 2. Boy has your content changed! But I am here for it!! I’m low key super jealous, but mostly so happy for you. The homestead is my goal and has been since just before the pandemic. What a blessing and a joy to be able to have full control of what you feed and teach your children. Even though I have always lived in the city, I am a country girl at heart. I’m so excited about the pink garden stand! I’m moving soon or I would get it now! Thanks for sharing!👩🏻‍🌾🌿🍃🌾🐄🐖🐓🍅🥦🫛🥬🍉🫑🌽🥕🌶️🧅🧄🥚🍞

Thank you, Allie - wonderful video! I’m a huge advocate for thrifting little kids clothes. This works for us, as, like you, I don’t want to manage a whole lot in our house all at once.

I don't have children yet, but the traditional way to save clothes in France was to have the children only wear old worn-out clothes at home, so that they could play rough, and keep some "Sunday clothes" they were not allowed to wear without permission.

A huge help is when you “shop” your freezers have a place you put all your meat that you’re thawing for the week. Keep a dinner bin in your fridge if things you’ll use for dinner that night or the following. I’m in the process of decluttering and revamping our systems too because my kids are getting older and can do more so delegating things to kids is HUGE. We don’t have to do it all. We manage and run the home with the help of our family.

I am 48, going through menopause and my organizational skills are shrinking just like my ovaries! 😅I feel so overwhelmed at times that I don't even know where to start from. I yearn for a simpler life. This is so inspirational.

The crunch lab thing sounds great! Kids are kids and they love learning and having fun at the same time

Flour in a shaker is absolutely brilliant!! Why have I never seen anyone else do this?!

Where hv you been?? Missed you! Glad to see you n that you are back!!!! ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!

I'm in the same boat as you! This video was inspiring to me. Thank you!!

When our kids were younger we had a small section of play clothes in its own drawer. After school they changed into to play clothes. . anything they wanted to wear from the play drawer was fine because it was play time:)

I like to go to Salvation Army/Goodwill/yard sales for my kids’ clothes. You can find neat, clean stuff for so much cheaper than even Walmart!

Always love watching your channel Allie, keep up the great work. God bless from New Zealand 🇳🇿 😊

Mom of five 👋🏻 We also live in the country and I have specific items that are outside play clothes and they only wear those when we play. Really helps keep the other clothes they have clean. I also do a load of laundry every day so we can keep our clothing items on the minimal side.

Thank you Allie - have found your video very enlightening - clicked on your link due to Lynette Yoder mentioning it

Tip for kids clothes: Strategic shopping:) My kids are still fairly young so I pick most of their clothes. My daughter wears lots of floral patterns with a darker background, and navy or black leggings/pants/shorts. I add some bright colored warm layers for on top. My son wears darker pants/shorts and plaids or t-shirts with patterns on them in different colors. And nice solid color sweaters. Choosing clothes that won't show stains as easily really lengthens their lifespan. They still pick out some stuff for themselves, and usually go for things that are easily stained and hard to clean, but it's a balance haha. Can't be toooo practical I guess haha.

Your kitchen is beautiful!! 😍 I think I used to watch your channel but had forgotten about it somehow. I came over from Lynette’s channel and subscribed immediately. Looking forward to binge watching your recent videos!

glad to see you making cleaning videos more frequently !

Have a few good outfits for each kid when you go to town. But keep 7-10 outfits to get dirty around the homestead. I recently reduced my own closet by 50%. This has been life changing.

I’ve missed you!! Love seeing you pop up on my feed again ❤❤

I definitely keep minimal clothing. We consign extra nice clothes(we get a lot for gifts) and use that earning to purchase clothes as we need, but definitely the key is to have one or two nice outfits and at least 2 at home outfits that can get dirty and a load of laundry every day to keep up with them.

I’ve missed your videos Allie, hope you vlog more soon!!

Could you link the baskets you have for your eggs?! I live this system!!!

I actually don’t keep a “minimal” wardrobe. We homeschool and live in the country. We have a rotating clothing system with a couple of my SILs then we fill in the rest as needed (mostly secondhand and sale racks. A few things have been bought on Amazon because it’s harder to find where I’m at). I do want my children to feel to play hard outside without fear of ruining clothes. For my preteen, I also want her to start figuring out what she likes / doesn’t like, what looks good on her body build, what colors and patterns look right on her, etc. She’s going to need options and room to try things for that to happen. I don’t want to hinder that for her. Once my children hit their teen years and aren’t dirtying things up as much plus know their style more, we will work towards teaching them about minimal wardrobes. It’s the same thing with deodorants, under garments, fem products, hair products, makeup, and all that other stuff. They should have room to find what works best for them in their preteen and teen years. It’s just a cost and time thing we need to accept as parents in order to help our young people mature and thrive.

Hi Allie. This is the first time I watched your channel. I love the country lifestyle. I know it may be hard sometimes nonetheless, nothing beats being one with nature. Your video was so engaging, too short for me since I enjoyed it so much, but understandable since your life is very busy as I was when I was your age, eons ago, lol

To keep kids clothes fresh, you may want to have some clothes that are just play clothes that they wear outside and at home and if they end u a little dingy it's not a big deal. Then you have clothes for church/going out when they need to be more presentable. My mom had a play clothes draw and a pair of play shoes for each kid. Play shoes were often hand-me-downs or thrift store finds. Kids go through clothes so fast, it's not worth having an abundance. Each season they often need new sizes.

We have minimal clothing because things that were dirty would get thrown in the dirty clothes and I was just washing more than necessary. My kids have specific outfits that are only to be worn out to nicer things we are doing then they have play clothes that honestly are pretty dingy but when they are playing outside and we aren’t going anywhere I’m not going to put nice clothes on them. Same thing with shoes. We call them church shoes but they can be worn for anything where I want them looking decent lol.

Thoroughly enjoyed this video

I’m introduced to you by Lynette Yoder. Great video thanks for sharing

I grew up milling flour and the finer the grind, the fluffier the bread. If the grind is too coarse, the bread won't rise well. Store bought flour is really fine ground, almost a powder. I'm not sure how various tabletop mills compare unfortunately. Hope that helps!!

❤ Lynette Yoder sent me over! 😊 good video. You seem so sweet!

Yes! Please people stop buying meat from the grocery store! Even if you have to go in on it with your friends do it! When I started buying meat from somewhere else I was shocked that it actually looked and tasted different I had no clue I thought I was getting meat from the better place

Kids clothes: I get heaps of hand me down which is awesome. But it is a lot to manage. My girls are rough on clothes, but I wanted to declutter to make it easier to manage. But I don't have a clothes dryer and in winter it can take sometimes 3 days to get clothes dry where I live and a friend said to me she decluttered her kids clothes to 4 outfits each but then went on a week holiday and really regrets it, as there was no where to wash clothes. And she went back to getting her kids 8 outfits each. So for us I have found having about 8 outfits in my kids drawers. Half good and half old for around the house works best. Only have what easily fits in drawers. And I box all the extras up and save for when some thing wears out. I find that by the time the clothes have gone through my first child, that my second normally easily wears them out, and I can pick up good replacement for the 2nd hand shop where need. While not really minimal, I have found its what works best for us and our circumstances. And makes it a lot easier to manage

As far as kids clothes, I never just had random shirts, pants, shorts, etc. When I bought clothes, I always bought a matching shirt and pants or matching shirt and shorts. When I did laundry and folded it, the outfits were put together and put in the dresser drawer together. This way my kids could easily pick out an outfit and dress themselves. I always kept two nice outfits for church and 7 to 8 outfits for school/play.

Love this!! Thanks for sharing!!

Hello!👋🏽maybe you could buy dark clothes for boys like greens and navy blues so they don't get stained so easily. Save the bright ls amd whites for non messy days or special occasions! But if the whites do get dirty, pre treating them and letting them sit for a couple days really helps get those stains out. Things like hydrogen peroxide and even diluted laundry detergents work wonders!

So glad to see your video!!!😊

When it comes to clothes, it helps a lot if you have a home washing machine. I lived in the city all my life. Apartment buildings don't allow own washing machines. With that said, what I did many moons ago was when my kids' clothes were soiled, I filled up a bucket with hot water and soaked it in hot water with detergent and vinegar. Left it awhile and checked it, stiring with a wooden stick. Pocked it until the remainder of the soil was removed. All of this was done in the tub. I got the clothes out of the bucket, put it in the tub, poured the dirty water in the toilet, rinse, and repeat until all of the soil is gone. Washed in the machine either alone or with other dirty clothes. It's all on the same day. Children don't need so much clothing since they grow so fast. In your case, they only need 2 pair of nice outfits for church or special events. Why 2? To pick and choose because they will be outgrowned before you know it. It will be time for another set. At home clothes 3 or 4 outfits each, same reason. Also, older son's clothing can be worn by younger so you will save money that way. Homeschooling children don't have to deal with school clothing since their learning is at home and they can wear their regular play clothing. Jackets and shoes. We only have 2 feet. So, a nice pair for church or special events. A pair for playing outside, and a pair to go shopping or anywhere else. For stay at home slippers or socks. That is all they need. When they outgrow their shoes and clothes, they can share it with younger siblings, other family members, friends, and neighbors who need them. Also, it doesn't make any sense to spend a lot of money on clothes or shoes for the same reason. It will be throwing money away when today clothes and shoes fit, and tomorrow it won't. By doing this, you won't have to deal with tons of laundry, they will always be clean and ready to wear until time to buy new because they have outgrown it. Hope this helps.

We buy half a cow at a time and an 18cubic ft stand up freezer fits it all... Its a TON of meat though. Id recommend starting with a 1/4 cow amd see how long that lasts you. You may get almost a year out of that

I been wanting to do the same we make our own bread and jams and we garden . We buy eggs from a friend

Would you mind sharing your fully milled sourdough recipe? I’ve been trying to create one and I’ve not been 100% happy with the results. Thank you!

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Use Zwilling so that you can freeze more meat and other things semi-prepared😊

Are you and your family doing okay? I have noticed that your videos are uploaded less frequently than a year ago.

Super💙💙💙

I keep play outfits vs regular clothes. Just a few! That way the same items are stained and not new items

Your bread had a heart bubble in the middle

Found u threw Lynette Yoder

Are you okay??? You haven’t posted anything on here for 3 months and nothing since last year on instagram. Hope all is well.

Check out Dawn the Minimal Mom. Her videos are a game changer.

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☆☆☆☆☆❤Brasil❤

“Play”clothes and “town” clothes

Ciao, ...ma la padella è tutta nera bruciata....fa male alla salute utilizzare padelle cosi...va cambiata...incredibile

Where is your husband

Can't stand the sponsoring in these videos.... it make me stop the video right away. Completely the opposite of the minimalism spirit.