8 Must-Have Household Items for Busy Moms

If you hate cleaning as much as I do, then offloading your vacuuming duties is a win. That’s why I absolutely recommend a robot vacuum cleaner. 

Our first robot vacuum cleaner was a Christmas gift that completely changed my life. We’ve since upgraded to a Deebot 901 and it is a lifesaver!

This particular brand maps out your home and vacuums based on your floor plan. What’s even cooler is that you can control it from a mobile app and Alexa. 

We simply set it to run in the morning while we’re gone and come back to vacuum-lined carpets and dust-free hardwood floors.

Speaking of Alexa, the Amazon Echo is my next favorite time (and lifesaving) household item.

I literally use the Echo to get my daily weather updates so that I can dress appropriately each morning. I can also just tell Alexa to add items to our grocery list so that I don’t have to worry about writing it down or forgetting.

Having the Echo is also great for blasting tunes around the house or ending debates about little-known facts. 🙂
We have both the Echo and Echo Dot (a smaller version), but they do the same thing. Having more than one just allows you to have them throughout the house so that you don’t have to yell.

Since I’m talking about smart home items, I’ll mention the Nest Thermostat next.

The Nest Thermostat is Google’s smart thermostat that allows you to program and regulate your home’s heating and cooling. This household item is more about saving money on utilities than time. 

We use the Nest Thermostat to program when our heat or air comes on each day. In addition, its sensors know when someone is in the home or not and can automatically shut off to conserve energy.

Like the robot vacuum, you can also control the Nest thermostat from your mobile phone. No more getting up in the middle of the night to change the thermostat. With Nest, you can do it from the comfort of your bed.

When it comes to cleaning, the next best thing to the robotic vacuum is the Spin Scrubber.

The older that I get, the more evident it becomes that getting on your hands and knees to scrub a tub and shower isn’t practical. That’s where the Spin Scrubber comes in. 

This chargeable cleaner allows you to scrub your shower and tub without the painful and time-consuming manual labor. It has an extended handle that allows you to reach where you need to clean with the risk of falling.

It is the ultimate time-saver when it comes to cleaning. And, the fact that my husband uses it tells me that it makes cleaning more enjoyable.

I’m sure you probably weren’t expecting to see cloth diapers on the list, but trust me you’ll want them.

If you want to save money on disposable cleaning rags or paper towels, then purchase cloth diapers in bulk. They can be used for more than just catching poop.

Cloth diapers can be used to clean around the house and to wash cars. They’re so versatile, but the best part is that they’re washable! You don’t have to worry about wasting money when you can just recycle them over and over.

You’ll want to make sure you get the kind without the pad. Those can get a bit bulky and absorb lots of liquid.

Long gone are the days of a mop bucket filled with dirty water. Welcome, the steam mop.

I grew up in an era when wringing out a mop full of soapy, bleach water was our Saturday routine. When I became an adult, I vowed to discontinue that toxic tradition and picked up a Swiffer cleaner.

These were cumbersome and I always had to keep buying refill pads that never seemed to fit just right. It wasn’t until I was gifted a steam mop that my life changed.

These mops not only sanitize, but they don’t leave a nasty residue or dirty water lines. When we use it, our floor is cleaned to perfection. The best part is, we just toss the cloth pad in the washer and can reuse it over and over again.

It is such a time saver when it comes to cleaning floors. Just plug it up and you’ll be done mopping in minutes!

Don’t spend hours over the stove when you can create amazing one-pot meals with a crock-pot.

I love to find recipes for easy meals on Pinterest. A lot of these are crock-pot meals where you can just throw the ingredients in and let them slow cook for a few hours.

This saves a lot of time when you can just throw your dinner in a pot in the morning and not have to worry about it all day until it’s time to eat.

There are so many brands of crock-pots. I just use a simple ceramic like this one that’s easy to clean. If you want to make for an even easier cleanup, I suggest getting crock-pot liners as well.

Drink coffee much? If so, you’ll want to invest in a Keurig that’ll save you time and money.

Though I’m not much of a coffee drinker, I do enjoy my occasional cup of warm tea. Although I have a tea kettle, it’s much quicker to just use my Keurig to steep a cup.

The best part is that once your Keurig is plugged in and you add water, you’re ready to go. The only maintenance is making sure your water filter is up to date and that you clean the water tank out.

Enjoy the time and money that you’ll save from having to wait in line at Starbucks. You can pick up your favorite Starbucks-flavored Keurig cups to have your fix at home.