Tired of the daily “What’s for dinner?” dilemma? For busy parents or home managers, meal planning often feels overwhelming.
Enter Karissa Barker, a mom of three and content creator. She designed a home management binder, a practical tool she calls her “personal assistant.”
In a YouTube video, Karissa shows how this binder simplifies meal planning and home organization. Consequently, it eases the stress of hectic schedules.
Karissa, the creative force behind her blog and social media (find her on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube), loves making homemaking achievable. Frustrated by unrealistic, picture-perfect home life on social media, she shares practical tips for organizing and designing homes without overwhelm. For example, her DIY projects, décor ideas, cleaning routines, and parenting hacks help you create a space you love. Her website offers tools, including a meal planner. Additionally, she authored The Home Reset: Easy Systems and Habits to Organize Every Room, available at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.
The Home Management Binder: Your Dinner-Saving Sidekick
Karissa’s home management binder is a life hack that tackles one of the biggest pain points for busy households: decision fatigue. Her approach? A themed weekly meal planner that takes the guesswork out of dinner. Here’s how it works:
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Themed Days for Easy Planning: Karissa assigns a theme to each day of the week to streamline meal decisions. Think Slow Cooker Monday, Taco Tuesday, Easy Wednesday, Try It Out Thursday, Fun Friday, Spaghetti Saturday, and Snuggly Sunday. These themes provide a fun framework that sparks creativity without overwhelming you.
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Dry Erase Sleeves for Flexibility: She lists over 30 dinner ideas for each themed day, stored in dry erase sleeves in her binder. Each week, she flips through and circles the meals she wants to make, often involving her kids in the selection for added fun. No more scrambling for ideas or forgetting favorites!
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Pinterest Power: Karissa organizes over 200 dinner ideas on a Pinterest board, categorized by day of the week, with recipes linked for easy access. She also keeps printed recipes in the back of her binder for quick reference.
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Bonus Cleaning System: Beyond meals, her binder includes reset checklists for every room in the house, also in dry erase sleeves, so she can check off tasks as she goes, keeping her home tidy with minimal effort.
This system is a game-changer for anyone who wants to reduce mental clutter and make home management feel less like a chore. As Karissa puts it, it’s all about “way less decision fatigue.”
Get Started with Karissa’s Meal Planning Made Simple
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A Weekly Themed Schedule (both filled out and blank) for easy planning.
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A Meal Planning and Grocery List Sheet, where you can fill out your grocery list while planning meals, then tear or cut it off for shopping trips.
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Over 30 Dinner Ideas per Day, including three pages of themed ideas for Fun Friday (with movie-themed dinners for kids and adults, plus an “Around the World” sheet featuring 30 dinner ideas from different cultures).
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Links to an editable Canva file and a Pinterest board with over 200 recipes organized by day of the week.
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Both filled-out and blank templates for maximum flexibility.
To start, grab a binder, dry erase sleeves, and a marker, then customize the PDF. Alternatively, print Karissa’s PDF directly. Note: the PDF is for personal use only and cannot be shared. All sales are final, and recipes are linked via Pinterest, not included in the PDF.
Why It Works
Karissa’s approach is practical and flexible, perfect for real life. Whether you’re a parent or professional, this binder transforms meal planning and organization. Moreover, her Fun Friday movie-themed dinners, like pizza or global-inspired dishes, add joy, ideal for family bonding.
For more of strategies, check out Karissa’s book, The Home Reset: Easy Systems and Habits to Organize Every Room. It’s available at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.
So, grab a binder, channel your inner Karissa, and say goodbye to dinner stress! Visit her website to purchase the Meal Planning Made Simple PDF or watch her YouTube video to see the meal planning binder in action. Your future self will thank you.
Got a favorite meal planning hack? Share it in the comments or send me an email. Let’s inspire each other!