My Binder System


  Lately, I've been so busy and overwhelmed with my home life, that I haven't had much of a chance to blog. I finally got a hold of organizing work & my household, so I feel like some weights have been lifted off of my shoulders. We've sadly decided not to move, but I'm excited to redecorate our apartment while we still shop for a house.


I've been wanting to organize our schedules and household for a while now. I was in the market for a good binder system, when I came across the "Family Facts" binders by Pam Socolow.


 When I visited her site, I realized she was no longer selling them, which is such a shame because I LOVED her recipe book :(. It was so well thought out and organized, I wanted to purchase her other books as well. The recipe book wasn't cheap, (I think about 40 dollars?) but I did some research, and found that amazon was selling her binders for upwards of 150 dollars! (Edit: At the time I could only find them super expensive, but I see that they are now available for 20.) I love her system, but who wants to spend that much on a calendar system? Especially one that's outdated?? After looking some more, I found the "Life" planner at walmart.com, and it was on clearance for 13.99. Total score! Not to mention free site to store shipping. The only downside is that the planner is outdated, from 2008. I know it sounds ludicrous to purchase a calendar system that's outdated, but all I really wanted were the organizing inserts anyway! I just run the inserts through my copier, so I'll never run out! Totally worth it.

So anyways, I recently started a binder system that has been super helpful! I purchased binders, and with the printouts from the "Life" binder, and printables on Microsoft Task Works, I was able to better organize our daily schedules.

First, I purchased 7 Binders, and labeled them as such:

♥ One for each of our family members. (I only did L,D,V)
♥ Finance
♥ Recipe / Meals
♥ Couponing
♥ Work

In each binder, I placed a folder, a small stack of loose leaf paper, & as follows:

Finance:
 I used the Monthly budget sheets from the binder I purchased, as well as the bill tracking form. I used the clear envelopes, & added manila folders for each bill to file. I have every credit card filed, as well as our bank statements, college funds etc.

Recipe Meals:
 I wrote down all of the potential meals in a list, & organized them by breakfast, lunch, dinner, & snack. When I sit to write our weekly meal plans, its easier to just pull it from this list. Pinterest is a HUGE help for this! I used print outs from MS. I also have a "gourmet" list for Whole foods & Trader joes Etc. of my favorite foods and snacks.

Couponing:
 Every Sunday I clip out our coupons, and organize them into clear baseball card sheets. I use dividers to organize them by category. TBH I think I may buy an accordion file instead. Couponing to be Debt Free has amazing ideas on how to coupon, as well as the Krazy Coupon Lady.

Work:
  I keep a printout from WS for passwords I use for emails, blogs, etc. I also used a Contact List printout inside. I use this binder to write notes I need for work etc.

Kids Binders (L&D):
 I use these binders to keep his school papers, as well as his Dr. well visit notes. At the end of the week, I take out all of his art work, and place it into a box until I have time to organize it the way I want. (I was thinking of doing this!)

My Binder:
  I keep a print out of a beauty products list, online password list, weekly activity sheet (Dates to send bills, Teachers & Dr. Appointments Etc.), chore list, and monthly calendars.

Every day I cross off and add things to my personal binder, & finance. I have never been this organized, but I can tell you our weeks have been much smoother because of it!

What do you do to keep your household running?

(**Any links provided were just ones that I used! No advertisements, just my own personal findings.)


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