Managing Your Home

OK, I realize bread machines seem oh-so 20th century, but they really are great for work at home moms. Bread machines take several hours to do their magic but require very little effort. Perfect for the work at home mom who is home but otherwise occupied.

Just throw all the ingredients in the bread machine and forget it until your bread is ready.

Saving both money and time is a neat trick that most of us wish we could do everywhere -- not just the grocery store. So often the two have an inverse relationship. Saving money takes time; saving time costs money. But with some practice you can save time and money at the grocery store.

When you work from home, you use your kitchen differently than when you don't. Efficiency is still important, but more overall time means slow cooking is possible.

Kids always want to gain more privileges ("Mom, can I have a cell phone?"), but when it comes to responsibilities, like household chores, well, they'll just as soon opt out. Household chores are rarely met with enthusiasm. But in the long run we're doing our kids a disservice if we don't teach them how to take care of household chores. And in...See submissions

Parents struggling to pack school lunches kids will eat find that when they have a say about what goes into school lunches, kids are more likely to eat them--rather than trading or, worse, throwing them away. And when kids can become proficient at packing their own lunch, this is one less job for mom and dad.

What's for dinner? Don't have an answer, then start planning your meals with About.com's My Meal Planner tool. You can save and create menus using a simple calendar tool. You'll never run out of meal ideas again.

When you and the kids are home all day, the house naturally gets messier than when you're gone. Keep the clutter under control by doing picking up as you work.

Slow cookers are great for work at home moms. I get dinner out of the way while I'm cleaning up the breakfast dishes. I simply throw my ingredients in the slow cooker, hit go and the dinner-making is essentially done. So those crazy hours leading up to dinner are just a little less crazy.

Little wicker picnic baskets are darling, but completely impractical for a family picnic. Taking kids on a picnic means more stuff and an extra layer of chaos so a family's picnic basket should be easy to carry and roomy enough to hold a family's picnic gear and food. This list of picnic gear definitely favors substance over style, but these...

Kids seem to generate an inordinate amount of paperwork that piles up on the kitchen counter or, even worse, in your home office. Sarah Aguirre, About.com's Guide to Housekeeping, offers a system for dealing with all the paper.

Getting your kids organized is no easy feat, but it can be done! You can utilize their existing space, and incorporate affordable storage options that will teach your kids to be organized, says Dena Pasis, About.com's Guide to Personal Organizing.

Like it or not, cooking is often on the work-at-home moms' to-do lists. But it doesn't have to take all day. Stephanie Gallagher, About.com's Guide to Cooking for Kids, list ten quick recipes that kids will like.

Grocery shopping is often part of a work-at-home mom's day, but it doesn't have to take all day. Dena Pasis, About.com's Guide to Personal Organizing, shows you how to be organized at the grocery.