Home Management Binder Tutorial
I majorly needed to find a way to organize our family. Papers were getting lost, appointments forgotten or conflicted, bills missed or paid late, I redid my address book 7 times in 4 years because I kept loosing it, never knew what to cook so we spent a lot on quick foods, and important papers weren't getting sent in. As you can imagine our house was chaos with 3 kiddos and DH not having a driver's license (part of the disorganization). I was completely overwhelmed and as a result I was in a constant state of irritation. I hate being irritated (which just makes me more irritated). I felt like a failure as a wife and a mother because I couldn't remember anything unless I wrote it down and then I lost the paper! So I did some Googling and found a solution I wish I'd thought of 8 years ago before I had my first munchkin. Home Management Binder, Home Journal, Control Journal (see the FLYLADY), FIN (Family Information Notebook), Mom's sanity, no matter what you call it this is my homemaking slice of heaven! This is by NO means a new concept homemakers have kept a similar tool for generations so it is a tested & approved tool that can be made personal for you! I can keep everything in one place that is organized in a way that works for me!!! I am sure that this will grow and need to be adapted and weeded out according to our family needs over time. Nothing stays the same forever and my binder will be no exception.
This is a tutorial on how I made my Sanity Keeper, it is just an idea of how you could start or revise you own. I realize some people have more or less in theirs and that is OK!!! This is your tool an extension of your brain for those times where you call the insurance company (or so you thought) to find out you accidentally dialed the phone company and when they ask for your info you give them one of the kiddos SS #'s and DH's DOB. BTW I have done that on one of my brain fart days and finally just hung up the phone and DH call the right company the next day instead. In my defense I think that when you're pregnant the baby eats your brain because I am downright STUPID when I am pregnant. Which is silly for someone who graduated with a 3.8 (I was a slacker so you can imagine what I'd have done if I applied myself) and whet to a technical school, finishing top of the class for computer programming and web design. Like I said it takes a lot to make me stupid but apparently motherhood did the trick!!!
Okay, back to the subject... Home Management Binder...
I suggest that before buying a thing or even starting this you do some research!!! There are TONS of tutorials on this and plenty of fellow blogger Moms & Dads who have them posted as well as a ton of nifty cool printables to fit many lifestyles. Figure what you need out of your Binder.
Ask yourself a few simple questions;
Do you want to keep this at home or be able to take it with you daily?
What do I you really need in there? For example: Do you home school? Do you want financial info in this? Does your family have a lot of activities like sports, clubs, dance, or scouts? Are you involved in anything like PTO, Church, Scouts, or an exercise program? Is there anyone with special needs that you have more to keep track for?
Is this for the whole family to use or just you?
How often will you use it?
Do you work outside the home, in the home or not at all?
There are endless possibilities for these binders and you need one tailored to your family life!
Gather the materials: USE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE FIRST!!!
3 Ring Binder (size will depend on your needs)
Clear View Sheet Protectors
Notebook paper w/ 3 holes (filler or whatever you have available)
Dividers (make your own or use premade)
Hole punch
plain paper (for printing)
Stuff to decorate it if you want to
I started off by writing out the sections I wanted to include in the binder then sub categories and worksheets. I looked all over the web for ideas of what to put in my binder and different printables. In the end none of the ones I found were what I needed exactly and as I am a *ahem* little OBSESSIVE over my projects I decided to make my own. Below is a list of my sections and sub catergories each part that has a worksheet is linked to that worksheet as well as a ZIP file of all of the worksheets at the bottom of this post. :
Schedule/ Calendar
Daily Schedule (To Do List, with a section for calls to make, appointments, errands if needed and a short section for the store if I have to make a quick stop)
What needs to be accomplished this week (some days are more productive than others but there are things that NEED to be done by the end of the week)
EMERGENCY AND FREQUENT CONTACTS (I like to have this in the front JIC!) Month by month calendar (I keep one from the school on my fridge to but I don't put personal or financial things on that one. I record EVERYTHING on the binder one!)
Annual Events Page (reoccurring things like B-days, anniversaries, holidays, parties.etc.)
Behavior- each child has a weekly chart with a section for the things we normally have conflicts about like sibling fights, getting dressed, eating without an argument, doing chores, bedtime routine, brushing teeth etc. we give them a score from bad 0-10 excellent for each section daily and at the end of the week they get a reward for good behavior and a penny for each point over 5 (under 5 we subtract). I'll have a separate post for this system soon!!! But it has improved their overall behavior greatly!!!
Meal Planning 4 one week meals plans that have Monday-Sunday 3 meals, 2 snack and desert Master Grocery List for each meal plan Food Inventory (I used to end of with the mysterious frosty clump of meat buried in the deep freezer or 20 cans of green beans and no other veggies) This includes a list for the Deep Freezer, Pantry, Fridge, and the Fridge Freezer. I am making a copy of this form to put on a clipboard an hang inside my pantry so I can update it immediately instead of weekly. I would love to do Once a Month Cooking or OMAC but It is going to take me a while to get there. Right now I am working on at least cooking double or triple main dishes at a time like a Pot Roast, I make too much on purpose so I can do roast beef sandwiches and beef stroganoff. That is 3 meals, i night of cooking (in a large roasting pan I with veggies and spices and water so I don't have much to do at all!) and when I take my time I can use the broth for gravy and as a base for the stroganoff and put the rest towards vegetable soup stock. Same with Chicken I boil a gigantic (ina stock pot) roasting chicken, use 1/2 the broth for soup, clean the chicken, put some in with veggies for soup that day, put some chicken aside for another pot of soup, also for chicken Alfredo or chicken helper type meals. You get the idea, It saves me work in the long run and I plan those extra meals so that we rotate meat types and get the most out of the groceries we buy. **I have a separate COUPON BINDER
Budget / Finances Weekly Budget (we put $ out of every pay towards bills, food, etc)
Weekly Receipts
Expense Tracker (Where does the money go? You'd be surprised how much the little nonsense things add up to!!!)
Account Register (I am horrible about the one in my checkbook cause I only use a check once a month!)
Monthly Outgoing Payments (house, insurance, car, phone, utilities, etc)
Monthly Incoming Income
List of things to Sell (I craigslist or eBay lots of things that we no longer have use for)
List of items sold
Donation Record (here you need a receipt to prove donations of $500 or more)
Gifts Budget
List of things we pay less than monthly (magazine subscriptions, etc.)
- School: Section for each child (I am home schooling the boys for preschool)
Sissy: Current school events, grades, conference info, correspondence, absence excuses, testing scores. Word lists, area she needs extra help in, book lists of what she has read, what we read together and what she wants/ needs to read. Areas of interest like Egypt, the solar system, human skeleton (she's going to be a scientist of some sort I swear!) This school is wonderful with her but I still haven't fully ruled out homeschooling her or the boys in the future.
Bubba: things we want to work on and activity ideas to correspond to that lesson, a checklist of everything he NEEDS to know before Kindergarten that we can check off items when he has the down pat. Craft ideas, websites that he and I can use together, Areas of interest like dinosaurs, aviation, animals, science. Books I read to him, ones I'd like to read or get him
Peanut: Same as Bubba, only keep in mind he just turned 2 so its more limited to basic skills like buttons and zippers, coloring in lines, colors shapes etc.
Momma's Stuff: (yeah real technical I know!)
Inspiration: whatever inspires me at the moment, a picture, an article, a Bible Verse, a poem or story, kidisms that make me laugh to think about like explaining to my 3yo why Mommy doesn't have a "Dingle" in the stall of a full public restroom might I add!
PTO: this is general things that are going on, what I am helping with and a section for notes and Ideas. I have a separate PTO Binder I use for meetings etc.
Classes: I am taking a Love & Logic Parenting class (so I can be less stress towards my kids and deal with their behavior "issues" better.)
Mom Time: things I'd like to do in my free time, scrapbooks, take a craft class, work out?, Things like that. Someday I will go to a spa or at least to a salon!
Reading List: Books I would like to read and where to get them (I try to buy used books then either resell or donate them if I don't want to reread them)
Projects: This Binder is one such project! So is my Coupon Binder and My Craft Project Binder. (I LOVE Binders I could spend hours in the smallest office supply section... drives DH buggy!!! Thanks for passing the paper obsession gene down Daddy!!!)
Family Health **There is an individual section for each family member and for each animal
Identification Sheet - Copy of medical cards, birth certificate, & ID along with a general description of that family member
Special Info: Allergies, prone to ear infections, prior illness, hospitalization and ER trips, any special need, etc. Immunization Record
Height/weight growth chart
Dental and Eye info Exam Schedule- things like well checks that I schedule in advance and what time of the year they need to be made in like Spring for physical, Fall for dental etc.
**Any other pertinent info per family member including vet records for the animals and when they need their shots and to renew their license.
Vehicles Important documents like title and warranty
Important Phone Numbers: Insurance Company, Warranty Company, Dealership, Loan Company, Repair Garage
Maintenance Schedule- oil change, inspections, tune up, tires, brakes, when I wash the car and check the fluids.
Maintenance Receipts Driving Trip Checklist: we have out of state family so if we go more than an hour from home I like to make sure that I have my jumper cables, extra washer fluid a blanket, a jug of water/coolant and a small empty gas can on hand JIC!!! Also we check the fluids, air in tires fill up with gas, note start/ end & total mileage and cost of gas for the trip.
Gas Receipts
Recipes: Ones to match the meal plans organized by breakfast,lunch, dinner, snack or desert and an empty clear view sheet for each section of my cook book to put new recipes I get online, from other people, or out of magazines. We try them, and if its a hit it goes in the cookbook.
Crafts: Current ones we are working on and ones we want to try in the near future as well as ones we want to figure how to do (like a pirate ship for the kids to sail in the river that won't sink and is made of all recycled materials, yes I am still working on figuring that one out!)
Address Book: Important numbers up front like emergency contacts dr office etc. (yes it is already in here once but not everyone will look in the same place as I do! DH has told me many times that my chaotic organization ONLY makes sense to me and he would never be able to juggle like I do. Nice to know I am irreplaceable at least! I do have these alphabetized with tabbed dividers but ONLY because I had them leftover from something else. I have them typed up and printed out (so I don't have to handwrite them AGAIN) as well as blank sheets for new contacts.
BIRTHDAY: A section for each child with: a list of what they want, what we have bought, suggestions for other people, themes for parties, craft and activity ideas, cake decorating ideas, guest treats Guest list Party Plan Worksheet
Holiday: Section for each of the major holidays, gift tracking sheets, card lists, decoration inventory, craft projects, menu plan and recepies. Notes, etc.
EMERGENCY: (thanks flylady!) This is a folder I can take out quickly in case of an emergency, fire, evacuation or other similar event. Emercency ID card for each household member, I printed 4 to a page on white card stock. there is a picture of the person, DOB, distinguishing marks, Important medical info, blood type, Current Height/Weight, medical insurance number (in case we can't get the cards). These are in a ziploc bag on a key ring. I reinforced the holes I punched with plain tape. Cash, not much but enough to get diapers and some food and water. Emergency Plan Insurance Info and Important numbers
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