Home Management Binder

Our home management is (basically) complete and ready to go! I've had a lot of fun putting together (I guess it's the teacher in me) and am so excited to start using it and looking forward to being more organized around here!

I got a durable 1.5" binder from Target. The brand is Greenroom. It's a little pricey for a binder, but it came with tab dividers so that's a plus!

I got 3 plastic folders with pockets to store papers, coupons, etc. They also have a front slot. I use the first one for stamps. 

Now, on to the contents.....

The first thing in my "calendar" tab is the week at a glance sheet. I'm not sure this will get used all that much, but it's great for quick reference to the week's activities. Of course, we have calendars on our iPhones and use them all the time, but I like the idea of having one on paper too. Mostly, for babysitters or parents who are here with Hudson if we're out, and you also just never when your phone will die, or get dropped into a dog's water bowl. :-)

I got this sheet here. There are several more useful printables there, too.

Next, is the monthly calendar. Like I said before, I have a calendar on my phone, but like having a paper one too.

 I did make my own calendar, and I may share it with you. It's just honestly not any cuter or better than any others you can find so I might not even use it. You can find the one above here.

Instead of taking up a whole tab for Hudson, I just put his daily routine/schedule in with the calendar section. This way, if he's with someone instead of us, they know how his day typically goes and any information they need for him. I just typed this out myself, obviously.

To help me stay ahead of birthdays and anniversaries, I put a list of those at the back of this section.

You can get it here. Another great site!

I have the contacts tab next. You can get this emergency contact sheet where you get the week at a glance, here. There are a lot of cute printables on this site, they just all didn't apply to me or didn't work for my needs.

This contact list came from here, and this site has a lot of good printables and home binder info.

 Next, comes the meal plan section! YAY! In its folder, I have my coupons. I'm working on building my coupon inventory, so when I do, I'll organize them better.....in baseball card holders or something.

I also store take-out menus in the pocket.

My monthly meal planner. It's all ready to go and use, starting Sunday! SO excited about it! I like this calendar planner because it's vertical, instead of horizontal, making it easier to write on and read. I got it from Organized Home as well, here.

 As well as the price book......

 and shopping list......

Now, y'all don't look at this list too closely. I haven't gone through my pantry/fridge to see what I already have so it should be shorter once I do that! HA!

I haven't used these next sheets yet, but they will be very handy in keeping inventory of what I have and what I need...which means no over-spending!

I got the Pantry and Stockpile sheets here. 

And finally, the cleaning tab. I'm hoping this is really going to help me stay on top of things, and keep things from piling up the way they do sometimes. This list has checklists for daily, weekly/semi-weekly, monthly, and annual cleaning. I plan to make another calendar for a cleaning schedule, I just need to decide what days I want to distinguish as laundry, vacuum, dusting, etc. I'm telling you, organization is going to radiate from this house! :-)

I love this list from Martha Stewart. 6 Things to Do Every Day. Great little list to help you stay on top of the little things. She has more lists here.

I put all of my sheets in sheet protectors, mostly because I have a toddler who likes to get into things and if he got ahold of this, the papers would be destroyed!! :-) I also just like keeping them fresh and clean by not touching them all the time. I thought about using a dry erase marker to check things off, write on the calendars, etc. but I've always had issues with those markers wiping off so easily so I decided to just write on the sheets themselves. I've been using a pencil a lot so I can erase mistakes or make changes easily (of course, I also have white-out) and since most of these sheets are for monthly use, or just for reference, I won't be needing to print them out all that often so paper won't be wasted that much anyway. You do whatever works best for you!!

SO, there's the binder thus far, and links to all the printables I used (or didn't use). If you're on Pinterest...and trust me, you should be....just look up this kind of stuff. You'll find TONS of printables, ideas, and tips. Obviously my binder is brand new and hasn't been broken in yet so I don't know how well all these sheets are going to work for us. I'm hoping after a week or two, I'll know what does and doesn't work and what revisions need to be made. I'm also excited to start the meal planning and doing bi-monthly shopping (for bulk trips, I'll still have to take quick weekly trips for fresh fruits and such. But I'm hoping to take the bulk of my grocery shopping to twice a month, buying everything I need for my meals for 2 weeks. This will mean that some things will be frozen so they don't go bad, but it also means less trips to the store, saving money, and more time spent with the fam! I'm very anxious to see how it works out. I'll keep you posted on the meal planning and how the management binder is working out. :)

I hope this has helped, at least with finding some printables, and inspires you to create your own binder.  I'm new at this, so I'm totally open to suggestions and tips as well. :-) 

Bedroom reveal will be up tomorrow!! YAY! After having the first mirror sent broken, and waiting for another one, it is finally up and looks great! 

Y'all have a great Thursday!