Earlier this week, I talked about how I realized I was fast becoming the dreaded martyr mom. Sure, I wear the Mombie badge with pride…but since The Baby has started sleeping, I’ve had some time to work on, well, me!

Let me tell you, it’s been eye opening. I love to organize, make lists, and I even like to clean…at least most of the time. But the world kind of gets put up on its edge when you add another kid. Especially if your preschooler was fairly independent…or if they have been battling a life-threatening illness.

But I digress. 

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching, and because I’m a die-hard bibliophile, I’ve been reading a lot of books. And a few have really helped to ground me and give me the inspiration that I know I needed to make some major changes.

What I Needed Was A U-Turn

 

I was tired of getting behind on laundry. And don’t even get me started on the state of the sink…or the fact that making dinner literally made me panic. Seriously. I had two options: let my stress drown me…or find a way to overcome it. I needed to read a book to change my mindset…and I found 9 books that will improve your life (and mine)!

I have an addition to my Kindle…Ish teases me that it’s the worst invention ever because I spend so much time reading (I still love books…but I don’t like how my children rip the pages. Maybe when they’re older…). And lately, he’s right. I started by listing the things that were stressing me out:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Meals
• Planning dinner
• TIME
• Taking care of myself
• Taking care of my kids
• Taking care of my house

…obviously I was a tad bit overwhelmed.

Can you relate?

 

I think that every mom has been there at one time or another…but when you’re mired down in the “stuff” you don’t think about that. If you’re anything like me, you just look around and lament at your lack of homemaking skills: What happened? I used to have a handle on this! This is NOT me. 

And then you pick yourself up and start to problem solve…for me, that means I went on the hunt for solid advice from books…preferably short books that catered to my specific problems. My first problem? Dinner.

I figured that if I could figure that out, I’d be well on my way back to sanity. We all have to start somewhere, right?

I have found (through much trial and error) that I prefer freezer meals…more specifically freezer crockpot meals. All I want to do is de-thaw and dump it in.

I’m not into any more work than is absolutely necessary (you’ll find out why in a minute). As I looked, I found that there were quite a few awesome books out there, written by moms just like me…who had been there. Not someone who just wanted to spout advice about something they know nothing about.

I Found A Solution

 

Well…I actually found 9 of them. Yeah, I know. 9 books? I promise you, they’re worth the read!

No Cook Freezer Meals by Kelly McNelis ($5.99)

Oh my goodness, I adore this book! No Cook Freezer Meals doesn’t require any cooking ahead of time. Seriously. You just dump in your ingredients and freeze!

I love the done-for-you grocery list for every single recipe inside, along with nutritional information (I am trying to be healthy!). If you want, you can also print the included freezer meal labels, or the freezer inventory sheet.

 

How Do I Get It All Done by Beth Cranford ($5.00)

This book resonated with me…it’s like I could have written it myself. Although I’m glad I didn’t because she had it all figured out for me!

Beth is a mom who was tired of working all day and having no time to spend with family. And while she admits that some days will be tougher than others, she shares some awesome strategies and systems to help you keep your head above water.

I also enjoyed that she went even deeper-addressing what we’re supposed to be doing with this whole motherhood thing.

 

Simply Dressed by Victoria Osborn ($6.99)

If you live in yoga pants (GUILTY!), you must read this book. As soon as possible. If you’re tired of feeling frumpy, dumpy, and just blah…yeah. Read this book.

Victoria will help you find your own style inspiration, and then get to cleaning out your closet, piece-by-piece, to create outfits that you actually want to wear.

Sure, I’ll never give up my yoga pants, but I definitely feel better about myself now!

 

 One Bite At A Time by Tsh Oxenreider ($8.00)

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler is THE simple living handbook. I dream of simple…in reality, I’m not so good at it. Sure, I am an organizing fool. But it seems like simple is hard. At least for me.

In fact, I think that it’s just downright odd that we all make “simple living” so darn complicated. I adore this book because Tsh gave me permission to focus on just one thing at a time, until you’ve got that task down – and then you can move on to the next one.

It’s all broken down in a one-at-a-time, take-a-breath format, for you to tackle at your own comfortable pace. You know what you should do, and if you’re like me, you just need a handbook.

 

Be Happy by Kimberlee Stokes ($7.95)

OH GOODNESS. Where do I start with this one?

I stumbled upon this gem in the throes of postpartum depression. Not a fun time for me. Not at all. I was so tired…all.the.time. and motivation? Sure. Not really. Actually, I just wanted to sleep.

Be Happy is filled with awesomely easy ideas to help you become the person that you want to be. For me, that meant passionate and happy. I’m getting there one step at a time.

I love how awesome I’ve been feeling since starting the ideas in this book (you can print it and use it to journal, too!)!

 

From Grouchy To Great by Ruth Schwenk ($4.00)

It’s no secret that being a mom is not easy. But sometimes we can really allow our emotions to get the best of us:

Why am I so cranky? How can I control my emotions so I can see the joy?

This e-book is filled with practical ideas and heartfelt responses to those questions. She doesn’t patronize, and it’s a great read!

This is a ninety-four-page guide to help you through our emotions. Grab a journal and study it solo, or go through it with some girlfriends (my preferred method)!

 

Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life by Stephanie Morgan ($14.98)

This Quick Start Guide eBook, along with the 2015 daily/weekly/monthly planners, cleaning schedules, meal planners are all freaking awesome. Like, I have them all, y’all.

This gal gets it. She knows how busy you are. The goal of all of this is not to have to learn a whole new system but simply to help you streamline your everyday tasks. And OH BOY did it help me!

And you know what? It’s presented in a cute, colorful format. So it’s not a chore to…well…do a chore! (See what I did there?)

 

50 Frugal Dates by Jenny Martin ($2.99)

It and I have been struggling to find good date ideas that don’t cost more than our weekly grocery budget. Jenny points out that dating shouldn’t stop on your wedding day, and she’s absolutely right.

This book is full of easy and affordable ideas for weekly date nights. She offers suggestions about saving money on babysitting, going away for a night, and you know what? It’s great advice!

Start a new tradition of weekly date nights and watch your marriage grow stronger each week! I can’t tell you how much better our relationship has been since we’ve implemented a date night each week (even if we don’t leave the house)!

 

Paperless Home Organization by Mystie Winckler ($4.99)

Paperless Home Organization will walk you step-by-step through using your gadgets (we all know how much I love a good gadget!) to organize your life.

You have the technology, so why not put it to work for you? I hate clutter. Y’all know this. It drives me absolutely insane. It makes me cranky just thinking about it.

And paper clutter is the worst kind of clutter because I’m pretty sure it reproduces while you sleep-kind of like laundry. The tips and tricks in this book are awesome. I finally feel like I have the paper clutter monster under control!

 

That’s A Lot Of Books!

 

Yes, yes it is! In fact, as I said, there are 9 books. At a grand total of…wait for it…$60.89. Holy crap. That’s a LOT! You can imagine my shock when I actually sat down with a calculator just now (yes, I had not added all of that up until right now.

So. Why am I telling you this? Well, last year, I learned about something called Ultimate Bundles-which is a company that curates a huge bundle of e-books, courses, and freebies a few times a year. When I say huge, I mean HUGE.

And they offer these books at a ridiculous discount. SERIOUSLY. They are discounting the upcoming Homemaking Bundle by 97%. Goodness. And you know what? Every single book I listed is included. I wish I’d seen this a month ago!

In fact, there are at least $100.00 of books included in the Bundle that are on my Amazon Wishlist. That right there is reason enough for me to grab it when it goes live next week!

The other great thing? You get 100 e-books, plus a bunch of bonuses that are worth more than the price of the bundle.

100 books…. That’s enough to keep me busy on my Kindle for quite awhile! And if this Ultimate Bundle isn’t your thing, don’t worry-the DIY Bundle and Healthy Living Bundles will be released later this year.

 You should definitely check it out NOW so you don’t miss it!