I have always been an organized person when it comes to organizing objects. Everything in my house has a specific place. Everything. The hardest thing for me has always been organizing my non-object stuff. To do lists were always scribbled on a bunch of random pieces of scrap paper. My contacts list was filed away in my filing cabinet. My computer files were CRAZY unorganized. It was nuts!
I am happy to say that things are much, much better now. What am I doing differently? Well, I created a home management binder a few weeks ago. I know, it sounds totally nerdy. However nerdy it may seem, it has totally saved me! In my binder I have the following things:
CALENDAR:
This is where my monthly calendars go. I fill in all of my daily to-dos and appointments.
HOUSEHOLD:
In this section I have my daily schedule, my weekly schedule (cleaning, blog stuff, etc.), food ideas, family financial goals, stain removal chart and other things that pertain to our home.
HOLIDAYS:
I have a bunch of different pages in this section including birthday gift ideas, christmas gift ideas, lists of gifts we have purchased but not given out yet, birthday and christmas budgets, etc.
VACATION:
There’s not much in here right now. Just a packing checklist and a checklist of things to do before we go away on vacation.
MISC:
The miscellaneous section has our contacts list, website logins and a page where I jot down blog ideas.
I really do think a home management binder has helped me to keep up with all of the housework, our appointments and all of the randomness in our lives. If you don’t already have a home management binder but find yourself never getting things done that you NEED to accomplish, I would definitely recommend starting a binder like this. It can be as big or small as you want and can have whatever sections your family needs.
Here are some ideas for sections:
- FINANCES (monthly budget, spending tracker, savings tracker, financial goals)
- KIDS (childrens’ schedule(s), medical records, school stuff)
- FOOD (favourite recipes, weekly/monthly menu plan, freezer inventory)
You can put just about anything you want in there! Whatever makes your house run more smoothly…
Check out the video I made showing my home management binder:
Christine: Sorry about that! It should be working now.
hey I am trying to view the video but it is not working
Can you come and organize my house?
jennifer: Aww, thank you so much!
I love your coupon tips, organization tips. The stock-up price list and this home organizaiton binder is awesome. Can’t wait to use it.
I actually don’t have a copy, I just printed the one that comes on Microsoft Word. If you search for calendars on that program you should find the yearly one.
hi. great website! can you post a copy of your yearly calendar (the 1st page)?
thanks!
i can’t get them to work, and i am saving them then opening them, and all i get is something that is not understandable at all… i have tried in firefox/ chrome/ IE, word/ word pad/ publisher, i am wondering if its b.c i use windows 7 and they were made on windows 7
ohh ok, sounds resonable.lol
the stain chart just shows you how to remove certain stains. blood stains, grass stains, grease stains, etc.
ok, what is a stain removal chart? Stains on carpets to be cleaned?
you’re welcome! good luck with your binder
Thanks, I still have 2003 on the old desktop so I’ll fire it up later and get to printing. Scraps of paper…I’m drowning in them! I even have a pretty binder and pretty coloured paper..it’s just the doing that hasn’t happened!
Susan
This is a great idea! I’m forever leaving sticky notes and scrap papers with important info laying around, which get lost or thrown away by accident. A binder would definitely help keep things organized–thanks so much for explaining how you did this!
oh right, sorry i forgot to mention those! i actually found them for FREE on microsoft word 2003. they have a variety of different calendars. if you need help finding it, shoot me an email.
Great idea, Cassie!
Thanks for sharing your pages, but may I ask about your calendars? Did you find them somewhere or make them up yourself? I always have a tough time finding decent calendar pages that will fill a page without a bunch of extra stuff or blank edges on them.
Susan