This post is for all the women who want to become a homemaker, but don’t know where to start. Whether you are currently single or already married this post will give you the basic tips for becoming a homemaker.
What is a homemaker?
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Before we dive any deeper into tips for becoming a homemaker I first want to quickly touch on what is a homemaker.
A homemaker is a married women whose primary career is being a keeper of the home (Titus 2:5). This means cleaning the home, making the house a home by our attitudes, feeding the ones in your home, serving those who enter our homes with love, caring for your little ones, hospitality, and so much more as you will see in this post! Check out my post The Duty of Homemaking to learn more about Titus 2. NOTE: single women and women whose primary career is outside of the home can cultivate the heart of a homemaker and apply many of the things mentioned below! That said this post is directed to women who would like their primary career to be a homemaker as defined in Titus 2!
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Can I be a homemaker without children?
Yes you can be a homemaker without children! I became a full time homemaker the day I got married and was a stay at home wife for 2 years before having my daughter.
Now being a stay at home wife or a stay at home mom doesn’t automatically make you a homemaker. A homemaker is a women who puts her heart into serving her home. For example, you can be a stay at home wife and not have a care about your home and order out every meal, have cleaners clean your house, watch TV all day, etc.
TIP when you do not have children you have to be more wise with your time because it is easy to get away with not caring for your home when you are the only one home all day. I have many regrets about those first two years of being a homemaker because I had SO much free time to develop skills! But I truly had no idea what I was doing, which is why I started this blog to help other homemakers.
Now that we have cleared up what is a homemaker and can you be one without children let’s jump into the tips for becoming a homemaker!
Tips for becoming a homemaker
1. Learn from older and wise homemakers
We can learn so much from the women who have walked the path of homemaking before us! But in our modern society it can feel like a needle in a haystack to truly find a wise older women to mentor us. That is why personally I have turned to books to fill the gaps. My favourites are Pat Ennis and Dorothy Kelley Patterson , Sally Clarkson , Edith Shaeffer, and Susan Shaeffer Macaulay.
If you do find an older women who is also a homemaker make sure she is capable and wise to be a mentor. An easy test to protect you against a negative influence is to make sure she qualifies the Titus 2 standards for a wise older women.
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” ~ Titus 2: 3-5
2. Learn discipline
Homemaking is hard work and it takes discipline! It is a daily discipline to put the needs of others above your own, to wake up early or stay up late, to make meal plans, to stay within budget, and to keep the house clean + tidy.
If you struggle with discipline, start by doing one simple task: the ‘see + do’! All this is, is seeing a homemaking task that needs to be done and doing it. Ex. the toilets have a ring from water, instead of brushing it off, grab your gloves + cleaner and start scrubbing! Then make note of quickly swishing the toilets every morning so the ring will not return and save the deep clean for a different day. This will begin to put your house in maintenance mode vs. catching up and you will become more disciplined!
3. Learn the role of homemakers
If you want to be a homemaker you must learn what homemakers do or else you will find yourself wasting time… don’t worry if you are in this space now, I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning and wasted a lot of time! I have a blog post called The Duty of Homemaking that I recommend reading to learn about the role of a homemaker. I also recommend searching Pinterest and youtube for homemakers to see what they do. My favourite homemakers on youtube are Mrs. Midwest and Cynthia L.
4. Create a homemaking routine
Once you have learned the role of a homemaker, it is now time to create your own homemaking routine. This will take a lot of trial and error to find what works for you, but I recommend creating 4 routines:
- Daily Routine
- Weekly Routine
- Monthly Routine
- Seasonal Routine for each season
For fun inspiration I recommend reading my post Trying a 1950s Housewife Schedule. My routine is actually very similar to this one!
5. Learn contentment
Contentment is a skill learned and it is a very valuable skill to learn as a homemaker. There will be times you need to budget and things will need to be cut. Instead of complaining which ultimately makes the situation more difficult, it is wise to learn to be content because it will lighten your heart during those times. I highly recommend a book called Learning Contentment by Nancy Wilson.
For the difficult days, remind yourself of this scripture:
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” Colossians 3:23
6. Learn how to cook from scratch
It is a sad reality that learning how to cook from scratch is a disappearing skill. We have forgotten how to traditionally prepare food and how good it actually tastes! Boxed banana bread cannot compare to Traditional Soaked Banana Bread!
Cooking from scratch not only tastes better, but it is better for you and your budget!
Thankfully learning how to cook from scratch is quite simple! I recommend by starting with one simple swap for example making your own bone broth vs. buying store bought. It is very easy to make bone broth from scratch and it will save you a lot! Then once you have mastered that skill, swap out something else like learning how to sprout your beans or how to make a sourdough starter.
7. Learn Frugality
Since you will only have one income coming into the household it is important to learn frugality. Thankfully being at home allows for many ways to save money:
- Mending + sewing clothes
- Cloth diapering
- Cooking from scratch
- Being wise with how much you use the car
- Making your cleaning products from scratch
- Planning to do your laundry when it will cost less at certain times (depending where you live)
- And so much more! The possibilities truly are endless you just have to get creative
8. Have a serving heart
The role of homemaker is one of serving others. Just as Jesus came to serve and not be served, we as homemakers must take His serving heart as inspiration for serving our families everyday. We also are able to serve our communities more easily because of the flexibility homemaking brings. This is especially true of homemakers that do not have children.
9. Ditch bad habits
Not making your bed, not getting ready for the day in the morning, eating crummy food… these are all habits that do not help you as a homemaker.
We all came into marriage with bad habits and it is so important to have the discipline to begin changing them. The sooner the better! I recommend making a list in your journal of habits that hinder your homemaking and then you will know what you will need to focus on.
10. Avoid comparison
Remember one of the most wonderful benefits of being a homemaker is that homemaking will look different for every homemaker. Your day will be structured to fit your household, you will have different hobbies, and you will have a different family dynamic. So make sure you avoid comparing yourself to other homemakers and instead look to them for inspiration + filter out the rest.
I love following homemakers with large families because those women have amazing skills for how to keep a home! But some of their tips will not work for my family because we are smaller.
11. Keep Learning
Homemaking is a marathon and not a race. There are so many skills a homemaker can learn so take your time trying out new ones and truly learning the skill. We also have more time to read the books that we have always wanted to. So make sure you take the time you get to pick up a book you’ve been wanting to read. I like to read during my daughters nap time with a big cup of tea when the house is quiet. It recharges my batteries for the rest of the day.
12. Pray
This last point is the most important: be rooted in your faith. Pray to God for wisdom about your homemaking and read His word daily. He will provide you with the strength, wisdom, peace, and joy you need to be a homemaker.
Tips for single women wanting to become homemakers
Single and want to become a full time homemaker one day? Make sure you are using your single years wisely and not wasting them “husband hunting”, but truly nurturing skills to become a better homemaker. Now to be a full time homemaker a husband is important, because you need a primary income. However it is important to keep in mind that not everyone gets married and no matter how badly you want to be a homemaker, God ultimately choses the path of your life. During these single years:
- Cultivate the heart of a homemaker by pointing your heart towards the home: learn homemaking skills + habits now (see above for ideas).
- Make wise college decisions.
- Make wise dating decisions. There are so many traditional men out there! I have even received a few messages from them wanting to know how to find traditional women. Our culture has made us afraid of embracing the traditional lifestyle, but trust me their are men out there!
- Serve others.
Tips for married women wanting to become homemakers
If you are married and currently working outside the home and want to be a full time homemaker here are some tips for you:
- Share your desire to be a homemaker with your husband calmly and be open to compromise. Maybe you switch to part time?
- Make sure you understand your current financial situation and what you will have to give up, but also what you will gain! Look at your budget and be willing to make those sacrifices.
- Make sure you have good life insurance.
- Start learning homemaking habits when you can while you are still working so that when you do come home you will have a good base! (see above list of tips)
- Cultivate a homemaker heart: While you are working outside the home point your heart towards your home (see above list of tips)
Top Books For Homemakers
- The Christian Homemakers Handbook By Pat Ennis and Dorothy Kelley Patterson
- The Lifegiving Home By Sally and Sarah Clarkson
- The Hidden Art of Homemaking By Edith Shaeffer
- For the Family’s Sake: The Value of Home in Everyone’s Life By Susan Shaeffer Macaulay
Want more homemaking inspiration? Check out these posts!
Homemaker Quotes: 25 Quotes For the homemaker that needs encouraging
My Top 10 Cleaning Tools For A Sparkling Home
Trying a 1950s Housewife Schedule.
Beautifully written post and great advice! We need more of this these days:)
These are wonderful tips and the Bible verses you used are so encouraging! I can totally resonate with regretting some of the time I wasted as a homemaker before we had children! This is such a good post with practical steps to be a homemaker! Thank you for sharing your advice 🙂
Such a good post! This was exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.