When we were lining up for skills, I must have missed the line for being organized. Seriously, it’s a challenge for me.  Not impossible, but a challenge.

Unlike my mother, who is absolutely meticulous and has everything in its place, I struggle with staying organized. And that can often spill over to the kitchen.  I usually strong off the week quite strong.  Everything is in its proper place, food is prepared and the sink has no dirty dishes.

But throw in the variable of a super-busy week juggling multiple priorities and keeping the kitchen organized seems to fall down on the priority list.

But here’s the thing — when we take great care of our kitchen and keep it clean — countertops, sink, kitchen drawers and cabinets and the refrigerator, we set ourselves up to take better care of ourselves.  A messy kitchen in disarray is simply a reflection of our life.

But when my kitchen is clean, I easily find what I need, I know what I have in the refrigerator and what I need to use up, I just feel more relaxed, less harried and less anxious. Taking the extra effort to stay on top of it makes it easier for us to eat well and quickly maneuver in the kitchen.

In fact, giving your kitchen a facelift is one of my four steps to effective meal planning, part of my Money Saving Meal Planning Home study course. I’ll be talking more about this tonight on my fre*e teleclass that will help you save time and money in the kitchen. Join us tonight at 8 pm ET for the whole scoop!  You can sign up using this link: http://budurl.com/yad5

What about you? How does keeping a clean kitchen help with your meal planning efforts?

Filed under: Meal Planning, Organization