Homemaking skills are becoming lost in today’s world. These homemaking skills passed on from generation to generation were the cornerstones of our ancestors’ lives, and their lives literally depended on them. There is a lot of pressure in our modern era for women to enter the workforce and forgo learning these homemaking skills to pursue a career.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to pursue a career, but homemaking requires skills, and it can be a rewarding career as well. It’s also important not to become dependent on modern conveniences that even a small emergency can easily take away. If you live in a place where natural disasters occur, you may find yourself cut off from these modern conveniences, and that’s where having homemaking skills comes in handy.
These are some of the homemaking skills that would be recognized 100 years, even 1000 years ago. They are homemaking skills that our mothers and grandmothers knew and taught their daughters. Our most ancient ancestors would recognize these homemaking skills.
Basic Cooking Skills
Basic cooking skills are necessary for anyone serious about being a successful homemaker. There are tons of YouTube videos and classes can get you started. Cooking requires creativity and knowledge, but it’s definitely something you can self-teach yourself if you are willing to put in the effort. If you want to know the basics, check out my blog about cooking essentials.
Before you go into that kitchen, I think the most important thing for any aspiring chef to know is basic kitchen safety. When handling meat, you need to know about bacteria and cross-contamination. Never allow raw meat or seafood to come in contact with other foods. Clean your hands frequently. Keep your working space clean and organized. Use separate cutting boards for cutting raw meat or seafood.
Check out this video to learn kitchen safety basics:
You also need to learn about using knives and cooking with your stove. Learn how to prevent fires, how to put fires out, and how to cut properly without cutting yourself.
Once you learn the hazards of the kitchen, you’re ready to learn about cooking! Start slowly. I get most of my recipes from Pinterest, and you’ll find tons of great beginner recipes there.
Check out this recipe for chicken thighs:
Foraging and Nature skills
This homemaking skill has some hazards and should never be attempted until you feel confident. But foraging is an essential skill if you want to become more self-sufficient. Our prehistoric hunter-gatherer ancestors perfected this skill. Men hunted while the women foraged.
Ever wonder why women like to shop? It comes from our ancestors! It’s built into our biology. Some of us like to shop more than others, personally, I’m not a huge shopper, but I do like to browse grocery stores.
Foraging was the precursor to shopping. While men went off to hunt the meat, the women stayed near the cave and collected herbs and wild edibles. They learned what was safe to eat and what wasn’t.
You can apply this ancient knowledge to your life. Learn how to find mushrooms, medicinal herbs, or wild produce to add to your kitchen. Learn about the kinds of edible plants that grow in your local environment. And make sure you learn how to identify poisonous plants, too!
Check out the National Audobon Guide for what grows in your local environment.
Baking
You can learn to bake your own bread! I’m still learning this homemaking skill; baking isn’t my forte. But nothing beats homemade breads and pastries.
I started my sourdough starter this week. It’s still growing so I haven’t made anything with it yet, but it’s almost there. You can make just about anything with a sourdough starter. It’s healthier by far than store-bought bread.
Time Management as a Homemaking Skill
To be a successful homemaker, you need some time management skills. Create a morning and evening routine that prioritizes daily tasks.
If you have kids, factor them into your time management. Include them in your chores and tasks for the day as much as you can. And take things slow and day by day if you need to.
I follow a strict daily routine. Every month, I set time aside for chores that need to be done. You don’t use fancy apps for this. I use a Google Doc to organize everything.
I don’t have children personally, but my sister does. She is a homeschooler, and we both make this work.
When you do work on your routine, make sure you make time for your relationship with your spouse and with yourself. Self-care is important. Your job as a homemaker is to provide comfort and take care of everyone in the household, and that includes yourself.
Creativity
This is probably one of the most important skills that a homemaker needs to have. Being a homemaker isn’t just about doing chores all day; it’s about innovation and imagination. Look at how you clean and organize your home or cook dinner. You can add your own creative touch to these things.
A homemaker wears many hats. You are a chef, an interior designer, and an artist. Your home is your canvas.
Creativity is also about being resourceful and a self-starter. You need these abilities to get things done. You must anticipate what needs to be done, think on your feet, and be prepared when life throws a wrench in your plans.
Home Remedies
Learn herbology and how to treat minor ailments naturally. In the United States, we’ve become dependent on pharmaceuticals and treatments, and in many ways, it’s adding to our overall poor health. It’s no secret that pharmaceutical companies profit off of you being sick, so they have an incentive to keep you that way.
I’m not saying you should shun modern medicine. If you break a leg, if you need antibiotics, if you have cancer, you need to see a doctor. As someone with kidney disease, I understand the miracle of modern medicine and that I need it to survive.
But if you learn to heal yourself naturally, your health will be vastly improved. I recently helped my husband get through a cold using a tea made of natural ingredients. It helps with sinus congestion. It’s a remedy my mother told me about.
Home remedy for Sinus Congestion
– Fresh ginger slices
– whole cloves
– a cinnamon stick
– a teaspoon or so of dried oregano
– lemon slices
– honey
Add all the ingredients except for the honey to a small pot. Boil then simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain into a cup and add honey.
Research skills
Home school your children. You can use online programs and books, but you can also take it upon yourself to get caught up in math, writing skills, history, geography, and science.
I have a history degree. I don’t have children, but I enjoy studying the world around me. Understanding how the world works gives you an appreciation for nature.
Research skills also help to develop your resourcefulness skills. Being intellectually curious motivates you to seek answers. When I was a child, I learned to read early in life, and I watched Star Trek. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, so there was no Google. I often get confronted with concepts I didn’t understand and words I didn’t understand, and I’d write them down and look them up in an encyclopedia dictionary later. I’d also take it upon myself to go to the local library and investigate ideas and concepts further.
Teach your children to be intellectually curious in this way; it helped me in life so much.
Laundry
You can make your own laundry detergent, hand wash your clothes, and dry them on the clothesline.
Using the washer and dryer less can save money and energy. You can also learn how to make your own laundry detergent from many resources online. It’ll save money!
Dishes
Hand wash your dishes once in a while. Use homemade dish soap. And you can make your own homemade dishwasher pods as well. Here are some resources for that: (link)
Cleaning and Organization Skills
If you like these organizer jars, check out the Amazon link to get them for yourself: Amazon containers
Create a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cleaning plan.
Floor Maintenance as a Homemaking Skill
Make your own floor cleaner and learn how to properly care for wooden floors if you have any.
Home Repair
If you have some home repair skills, you can use them to save a lot of money on calling a plumber or an electrician.
Grow Your Own Food
Gardening and learning to grow your own food will help save money and keep you and your family healthy. This is a huge part of being self-sufficient. You never know when hard times may rise, and you’ll be prepared if you can grow and maintain a vegetable garden.
If you live in an urban setting, check out community gardens. Check out where you live, what growing zone you live in, and what grows. Learn to eat seasonal produce.
Preserve Your Food
Once you grow your own food, you can then learn to preserve it. Learn how to can, and you can learn how to make your own jams and jelly. Learn how to pickle vegetables, dry produce, or freeze them.
The possibilities are endless here. You could make your own tomato paste, pasta sauces, salsa, hot sauce, etc. Properly canned, dried, or frozen foods can last a long time.
DIY Pantry Supplies
Learn how to make your own pantry essentials like homemade flour, pastes, etc.
DIY Personal Care
Make your own toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and skincare products. Soaps and bath stuff, too!
I made my own bath salts for a relaxing bath using things you probably have under your sink already.
Bath salts
– 1 c epsom salt
– 1/2c fine sea salt
– 1/4c baking soda
– 6-10 drops essential oils
– carrier oil like jajoba oil
– food coloring
You can play around with the ratios here, but mix all the dry ingredients into a big bowl. Then, mix the essential oils, carrier oil, and food coloring and add it to your salts. Strain everything into glass jars.
Finances and Budgeting
No one can escape finances and budgeting. And it’s harder in this modern era to survive off of one income, especially if you have a family. Mortgages, rent, groceries, utilities—they all have to be paid.
As the stay-at-home spouse, you won’t be contributing to the income revenue unless, of course, you choose to have a side hustle of some sort that supplements your working spouse’s income.
I’m a writer; that’s my side hustle. I write fantasy novels and this blog.
But regardless of whether you choose a side hustle, you will have to get organized regarding finances and learn some money management skills. Your spouse’s job is to work, and your job is to put that money toward food, shelter, and other necessities.
Use a spreadsheet or money-saver app to track what needs to get paid and when. If you need tips on how to live on one income, check out my blog post on Homemaking on a Budget.
Animal Care
If you have animals in your care, you can invest some time not only in meeting their basic needs but also in learning basic veterinary skills. Feed your dogs natural food; kibble is not great for them nutritionally. Learn some dog or cat nutrition knowledge.
Chickens are becoming increasingly popular for people to own and care for. Some people also raise goats, pigs, or even rabbits. Whatever you have the space for, remember that you need to care for that animal daily.
Sewing and Textiles
You can save tons of money on clothes if you learn how to make your own clothing. These are old-fashioned skills, and this is another way to be creative. Sewing, knitting, weaving, etc. Make shirts, dresses, etc. And not only can you save money, but you can have your own unique style.
And if you learn how to mend and alter clothing, this is a good skill to have as well.
Here’s a YouTube video to help you get started with basic sewing skills to get you started.
Arts and Crafts
The possibilities are endless here. Basketry, pottery, leather working, etc. Imagine eating a home-cooked and home-grown meal from a plate you made yourself. Learn how to use a pottery wheel, and if you have space and money, maybe invest in your own kiln.
These are arts that are not only relaxing and creative, they’re also useful.
Composting
Starting a compost pile can help save waste, which is good for the environment. It is a homemaking essential. If you maintain your own garden, you can provide high-quality soil for your plants to grow.
Save your kitchen scraps!
Make Your Own Dairy
Learn how to make your own butter, yogurt, and cheeses. Cheesemaking can be simple, for example, a soft cheese like ricotta or farmer’s cheese. But it can get complicated for harder cheese like cheddar. Learn how to use rennet and cultures. If you live in a state that allows the sale of raw milk, try to track some down if you know anyone with cows or goats.
Butter is pretty easy to make. All you have to do is put cream in a mason jar and shake it until it separates. Then rinse the buttermilk out and shape it, and you have butter! And you have fresh buttermilk.
Storytelling and Writing
I’ve always felt that storytelling is an essential skill for homemakers. There’s some truth to the old adage, ‘Old wives’ tales.’ As a homemaker, your job is to provide comfort, but you also play an important role in passing on cultures and traditions to others by sharing stories.
I am a nerd at heart, and I love fantasy and science fiction. Writing has always been my biggest passion, and being a homemaker allows me the time to dedicate to writing. As a result, I have two self-published books in my fantasy series out, and I am currently working on the third. I could have never done this if I had to work!
Conclusion
There you have it: 23 old-fashioned and useful skills for every homemaker to learn. Don’t learn everything all at once; start with one at a time. You’ll be contributing to your family’s health and comfort, as well as your own. There are so many other old-fashioned homemaking skills you can dive into as well. Each one of these skills I listed could get its own posts, but these are the very basics of homemaking skills that every homemaker should know.
So what homemaking skills on this list did you know already? And which ones would you like to learn? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out my two articles on Cooking and Budgeting.
