10 Years & Starting Something New.

Ok, so I want to be organized, but I have never found that thing that makes me really want to keep it up. Well after getting to my 10 year anniversary and not being where I want to be in a few things in life (organization & finances) I decided to try something new. I kept seeing these "Home Management Binders" on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. I am still in the set up phase, but I can see where this thing will help with those piles on the counter.

These kinds of things drive my husband bat shit crazy, so I decided that I would work on eliminating them. I started looking up all these binder thing and found that a good few of them are based on finances too- that stack is mostly bills that I have paid online and just not gone through the stack to throw away. So I think that I am going to be brave- haven't made a full commitment yet- and do something I have always wanted to follow:

                  "Throw is out, if it comes back then its important"


I cannot remember where I read this, but it was some management or finance book and that was a CEO who used this philosophy. It makes so much sense and since this pile is clearly out of hand, I am pretty sure it's time. Also if I start with a clean slate, I won't start off over-whelmed. I don't recommend this for everyone, but at this point in my house I feel like it is probably a good choice.

While I was doing my research, I found a few different names for these binders:

Home Management Binder
Family Command Center
Family Organization Binder

I went with Home Management Binder. I had started with Command Center, but wasn't feeling it. The best thing about this is that it is a "living document" so it can be easily changed as needed.

This has been a simple set up so far. I grabbed a few things from Walmart and since it is back to school time, it was pretty easy to find it all.


Binder (I chose 1" I got 1 1/2" )
Dividers (Avery Durable Write-On. You can write on the tabs and there are pockets in there!)
Pencil Pouch (one that goes in a binder)
a pack of pencils
Hole Punch

FREE Printables


Since my main focus is getting the household finances in order, I made sure one of the tabs was about budgeting. By no means have I figured out what I am labeling all my tabs! I don't know yet what will work for my house, but the tabs I have can be written on in PENCIL and erased as needed until I find what works for me. The actual name isn't as important as you knowing what kind of information is under what label. I am such an exact person (always have been- drove my family nuts when I was little) I can actually direct customers in my store with how far down an aisle a product is and at what level on the body it is located. I know, I'm a nerd.


I know that I need a "Quick Reference" section- this will be a place for phone numbers, birthdays/anniversaries, things like that.

Next is the Finances. This will be the place that all bills and receipts are put. This is also where I plan to put my worksheets for budgeting and our financial dreams work sheets. I know a lot of people like and use Dave Ramsey's Financial Freedom Plan and he's got some great stuff, but personally I like David Bach and the Finish Rich plan. All of the Finish Rich worksheets are in the books and not on the website, kind of a bummer. Whichever works for you is the best one, maybe its a mix of the two. If you aren't money savvy, pick one and stick to it.


Next I have a Meals & Menus section. I cannot stress the importance of a menu when trying to save money! I saw someone make a monthly menu- and seriously that has got to be the easiest thing ever. I know you are thinking "How is making 30 days of meals easier? You are nuts." Stop for one minute and think about it, how many different meals does your family have week in and week out? Maybe 10? There you go- repeat 3 times and you have 30 days. Then you can repeat for the following month. If it seems too daunting a weekly or bi-weekly menu will definitely help. For fun you could transfer each week to a monthly calendar and see a trend for your family (yep, back to the nerd thing!). Of course the menu will change a bit for changes in your life or the season, but basically you probably have the same few things every week.



Now I have one more section labeled right now, and it is actually my last section. I have labeled this one "References." This is where I put the things that I feel will help me with this binder- either Money Management or Organizing.


I think that is it for this post- Whew! I will try to keep updates on this stuff, part of the organization thing ;)