- calendars
- school schedules
- cleaning routines
- home maintenance checklists
- business cards
- phone numbers
- to do lists
- meal planning
- grocery lists
- children's activities information
- addresses
But about three years ago, when I got my first iPhone, I stopped using my binder, and I began making lists and keeping up with things electronically. I put the Teux Deux app on my iPhone and iPad, and it also synced with my laptop. I used the calendar on my phone/iPad/laptop, and those calendars synced also. And, I don't know anybody's phone number anymore! Well, I do know 4: my parents' number, Jimmy's parents' number, his sister's number, and my friend Lynn's home phone number, except that she hasn't had a home phone number for years! (So that number is not even useful anymore!)
But I missed my paper.
So slowly, I have moved away from the Teux Deux app (mostly because I was informed that they were going to start charging a monthly fee to keep the app interactive.) I am not interested in paying a monthly fee for an app! I began using a spiral notebook again for my ongoing, never-ending to do list. I started writing my weekly menu plans on my paper calendar notebook.
But I still feel a little bit disorganized! I don't have a central place for my calendars and lists and menus, etc. I have papers hanging out of my calendar notebook. I find myself entering items on my iPhone calendar and also writing them down.
So, I am going to remake my Homemaking Binder. It's going to be a work in progress for a couple of weeks, until I can get it just how I like it. I have been reading about other people's homemaking binders online, and I am getting some new ideas. When I finish my binder, I will write a post about it and hopefully include pictures.
For now though, can you help me?
Do you have a homemaker binder?
What categories do you have in yours? I am looking for fresh ideas, because I don't want to leave anything out.
Please leave a comment with your bright ideas!
Good morning, Roan! I'm not sure if this is anything you'd be interested in, but momstoolbelt.com by Debra Reed (she also owns notebookingpages.com) is my favorite place to get pages for a home journal/binder. I believe Debra charges a very fair price for lifetime membership to the site and she has myriad ideas for homekeeping binders. In my opinion, she has the best selection of page ideas out there. BTW, I'm not affiliated with Debra Reed in any way, just really like her stuff. :) If nothing else, a stroll through her site should give you plenty of ideas for what you might like to include in your binder.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I personally have several binders with different purposes. I tried to put everything in one a long time ago, but I'd have needed a dolly to tote it around. Not very practical, ya know? :) Now I keep a general homekeeping journal that has monthly calendars for appointment info., birthdays, etc.; a monthly page for tracking the dinners we actually eat (since plans I've created are frequently waylaid); my homemade grocery shopping list pad; sections for ideas/projects/to do lists; and a very loose financial section for my 6 kids. I have a separate notebook for meal planning that I'm actually trying to do away with -- hopefully to end up in the main homekeeping journal. I keep another separate binder for homeschooling records and plans, with the kids' medical records and a section related to their chore lists (I guess these all ended up together because they all have to do with my kiddos) and a binder for cleaning/organizing with a section for first aid related info. (I have no idea why I put these two together LOL). I also have a few binders with my favorite go-to recipes and a set of folders with recipes that we haven't tried yet, that will get moved to the binders if they're keepers. Oh, and I also have a pretty little notebook (it fits in my handbag, unlike all the others) that I keep on hand for recording information for specific projects (we recently moved, so I kept lists of houses, measurements of rooms, etc., then made lists of what needed to be done before moving).
Wow. Seeing that in writing looks worse than it is really. It might seem a bit much, but it's what works for me (when I use it {red face}).
My main focus when I create a binder is: pretty pages/dividers (#1 necessity LOL) & functionality (if I find I just don't use the pages/sections over a year, they get the boot). I don't expect any of what I do is new to you, but you asked, so . . . . :)
I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Always enjoy seeing other folks' home binders -- so many great ideas out there. Thanks for sharing your process.
Enjoy this day!
---Kari J.