Household Notebooks

[RealLifeMama]

I need a household notebook.
We have had threads about these in the past, but I thought since many of us might be thinking how we want to get things in order for the new year, it might be fun to have a thread where we can compile our ideas and resources.
Do you have any good links to good print out pages?
What does your notebook need or have?
Have you tried something in the past that worked well or just did not work for you?
Any and all input is appreciated!

[blessedwithboys]

I'm making a new one for the new year!

Mine has-

Emergency numbers (doctors, my parents, townhouse complex manager, dentist, dh work #, vet)

Meal ideas (breakfast, lunch, dinner, side dishes, snack)

Daily checklist

Weekly checklist

Dogsitter instructions (so I don't have to write them out every time)

Babysitter information (in case we ever have to have one in an emergency)

Ongoing grocery list (I take it out and start a new one after I shop- some people use the same one all the time)

This month's budget

Christmas gifts (what I've bought and for whom- I buy throughout the year)

I'm trying to come up w/ other ideas too. :think

[WI Mama05]

:popcorn

[tempus vernum]

:think I am thinking I'd like to update :think I'll have to think about this. Several things are working well.. . several need help :think

[Mama Rophe]

I used a lot of ideas from here...

http:// blog.yorkteachingstudio.com/household-notebook/

(I broke the link because she talks about "training" children."

[tempus vernum]

Right now, here is what I have (these are divider tabs in a 3 ring binder)
*planner/calendar/todo lists
*ongoing/long term todos and lists (movies and books to check out, websites to look at, etc)
*Counseling info
*food log
*homeschool log
*hs ideas/todos
*grocery lists
*meal plan
*monthly orders
*forms
Folders behind divider tabs
*calendar items (like wedding invitation, party invite, parking passes for company picnic, etc)/important papers (HS registration in here)
*coupons/fun stuff to do

I want to combine grocery lists/monthly orders (monthly are co-ops). I want to separate my calendars and todo lists because I need to keep old calendars for a few months. I want to do better meal planning. I don't use the long term todo list and don't know what to do with that.

I can't decide if I should do motivated moms. . .

I want to add a prayer request section. Right now those are in the front behind emergency info and they get torn because they are almost loose.

Well, that helps :rolleyes

[RealLifeMama]

Oh, that is a good idea to combine the monthly order and the grocery lists and menu planning.
I have a really bad habit of buying a box of stuff from my buying club because it is a good deal, and then it sits in my cabinet for a long time. I tend to only buy from united when stuff is on special, which is great when I can get a box of soba noodles for 99 cents each, but it is a waste when they never get included in my menu.

I want to have a long term to-do list. I need to make a note of things to do "sometime" and that is what I would use it for.

[tempus vernum]

Btw. forms I have used
*Donna YOungs
Organized home http://organizedhome.com/printable-planner-forms

Then I designed a bunch of my own

I am looking for new ideas this year though - you have me motivated. I'll share if I find cool stuff

[KatieMae]

:think A related question, where do you keep your household binder each day? Does it sit open on your desk or kitchen counter? I'm going to do Motivated Moms this year & I think I need to SEE that list of tasks often if I'm going to do any of it. I usually use a wipe-off board in my kitchen for my daily to-do list, but it's easy to ignore that (judging by results :giggle) I was thinking maybe one of those 3-ring binders that you can prop up on an angle, I'm just not sure...

[WI Mama05]

I think I'm gonna go get the cookbook holder I've been eyeing for a year and use that with my binder. :shrug we'll see if that works or not i guess :giggle.

[rstump]

Has anyone seen on of those cookbook holders that have the plexy glass cover that lays over the top. I NEED one of those and can't seem to find it.

[BHope]

I think I remember seeing one at brylanehome.com

[Mama Calidad]

Mine goes with me everywhere. In the very front, I have weekly planning pages. One week is spread across two pages. I have a box for each day of the week to list things that have to be done on a specific day/time. I have a place for my "to do" list, a box to check of my daily tasts, a place for my prayer list and Bible readings, a finance box to track checking and credit card stuff, a box to track my h/s planning, my plans for special housekeeping stuff and just a generic notes section. It took me several months of playing with it to get it just the way that works for me.

Behind these pages, I have a tab for "calendar" (2008-2010 monthly calendars to write future stuff on), Faith, Health, Home, Homeschool, Meals (also grocery lists are here), Medical, and Reference (where I keep phone lists, etc.)

[Mama Rophe]

I store mine on a shelf overnight and during meals. At all other times it's on my kitchen table. I have to see my list in order to follow it. A cookbook holder is a great idea, but my binder is 3". I don't think the cook book holder I have would hold that huge thing.

Someone mentioned that they bring theirs with them, what do you have in it and how big is it?

[Mama Calidad]

Someone mentioned that they bring theirs with them, what do you have in it and how big is it?


It's a regular 1" binder. I have to have one that I can carry with me, so that I always have it handy to write down stuff. My memory isn't stellar, so it's my portable "brain". When it starts getting too full, I go back through everything...file completed h/s plans, toss old completed weekly planner pages, file recipes in our "cookbook".... If I just keep "today" and "tomorrow" in my binder, I can keep it small enough to travel. :grin

[Mama Rophe]

I see. I have way more in mine. I have all my cleaning recipies and daily schedules and menu plans and such in mine. I like to have it all in one spot. That gives me way less clutter.

[RealLifeMama]

OK, so I have browsed looking for the forms I want, and I just can't decide.
Everytime I go to try to print one, I have extreme anxiety. :sick I am just not normal!

With the organized home forms, what size do they come out to be?

[jewelmcjem]

Then I designed a bunch of my own




Would you be willing to share yours?

[tempus vernum]

OK, so I have browsed looking for the forms I want, and I just can't decide.
Everytime I go to try to print one, I have extreme anxiety. :sick I am just not normal!

With the organized home forms, what size do they come out to be?



Organized home are 8.5 x 11. I am that way too about using someone else's forms. Most of my forms are custom made based on ideas I have read on links. If I do use a form I don't use it the way it's intended. LIke meal planning, I use organized home monthly meal planner but don't schedule them for days. I just write up 30 meals I want to make and then cross them off as I use them.

I made custom forms for
*monthly calendar
*weekly calendar (with spot for meal list, weekly todos, to email/errands, to buy )
*my own personal chore lists (like motivated moms but much more bare bones)
*quarterly/seasonal chore lists

I change and update them as I go too. I keep them in word or excel and just keep shifting as our family needs change. This year, I redid my chore lists to be more organized and include all the kids chores.

And I carry my binder most places unless I am running a quick errand. I have a large zipper binder I bought at Walgreens that has a pocket in the front for papers, a zipper pocket and spots for pens. When I have to make a deposit I put it in the zipper, when I have papers for someone, I put it in the front and almost all the time I manage to have a pen there. This way, when I go somewhere, I have my coupons, schedule, todo lists and stuff so if something occurs to me, I can write it down instead of usinga sticky. I don't carry it in when I go to the grocery store or other shopping, I leave it in my car and pull out my list from the binder. I *do* take it with for field trips, homeschool meetings, counseling, etc so that I can make a note of something I don't want to forget.

When I first started I used a smaller organizer but it didn't work for me. I had to keep folding things that were larger and it wouldn't close properly :doh and I had too many things in the one pocket.

I redid my sections and now I have
"*" means divider tab


emergency info right in front of everything in a page protector
-old monthly calendars behind emergency info

*calendars
-planning calendar which has birthdays and upcoming events far out
-monthly calendars
I have a small bookmark made out of folder here so that on the left is my current monthly calendar and on the right is my weekly calendar with meals, todo, etc)
-weekly calendars

*daily/weekly checklists
-quarterly list/schedules/definitions of "dinner check" and "reset" binder clipped and hole punched on right
-daily/weekly checklist completes 2 page spread

*prayer requests
-ongoing/long term hole binder clipped and hole punched on right so when I open this I see that and on the right
-short term completes 2 page spread

*food log

*BLANK (not sure what I am doing with this one

*HS ideas/todos
*HS log

*Meal planning
-my monthly meal plan hole punched on right and clipped it to the divider tab.
-snack ideas
-grocery list
-monthly order lists
-meal ideas
-recipe ideas

*counseling paperwork

*ongoing todos and ideas/inventories
-ongoing todos (projects)
-declutter/storage goals/ issues
-dh's projects
-books/videos/websites to check out
-home storage inventory (haven't started this yet)
-home inventory (haven't started this yet)

[mom2boys]

I decided to make a notebook, and did a ton of research online. I used to use a franklin planer, which I took everywhere, but I needed something for the boys when I wasn't home. (even though they still call me for the info... :rolleyes2

I have several notebooks-the one I call our household notebook is a three ring binder. I deliberately chose a two inch so it wasn't too large to be useful, yet big enough to hold what I wanted it to hold. It took me about a year to get the sections and "Stuff" I wanted in there, and cull the extra, but I think this is how it will stay. It has the following:

Section 1: Schedule
blank forms I created that have the week-I fill in errands, menus, reminders, and money plans. Then all the handouts for church and extra activities go here. We homeschool, but if we didn't I'd put the school activities here. There's a master year printout, and a "perfect day" schedule. I worked through the book "Managers of their homes" and my outline follows that style. It's just a reference. I also have a list of everyone I know's birthday, anniversary, etc for the year. I separated into months, and made a one page list of everything. So I know at the beginning of the month how many birthday cards I'll need, anniversary cards, etc.

Section 2: Contacts
I made an excel file and put all of our addresses in there. I have "yellow pages" like dr's offices, pizza delivery, video store, gas company, phone company, etc. There's the white pages-everyone else, and then specific groups of people, like my work, our homeschool group, the boy's scout contacts, etc. In excel I made them as one document with separate pages. I also have a list of all our websites and passwords, my favorites lists from my favorites folders. They're all in excel, so I can print and alphabetize easily. I HATE making tables in word!

Section 3:Scouts
All of my boys are active in boy or cub scouts. This section holds stuff like; uniform inspection lists, (that tells me where to sew all the patches they get!) medical forms, permission slips, etc. I have a plastic folder in this section so they can just slide their permission slips in or out. I have a form that keeps track of their achievements, too.

Section 3:Finances
Lester and I did the Financial Peace University workshop at church, and we use those guidelines. I made forms to follow that: I have a sheet with all our financial info: acct numbers, passwords, who to call if you wallet is stolen, etc. I have our "debt snowball" sheet, and our monthly budget worksheet (the reconciliation form), and our "perfect budget" the one we strive for. There's also two plastic folders-one for monthly budget items and one for debt snowball items. When the bill comes, we ope in, put it in the appropriate folder, and the write it on the reconciliation form for the pay day we expect to pay it from. There's also the total money makover list (i.e. baby steps list) that I printed form the website, and the class reading list.

Section 4: Health
This is where I keep all the health related info-immunization forms or waivers, physical forms, etc. I made a form that has a current picture of each person and a place for their height, weight, hair color, eye color, allergies, dr name/number, medications, medical history, etc. Basically all the info I wish my patients would give me when they come to the hospital. :lol I also have some stuff like a bmi chart, a growth and development chart, etc in there. I try to keep that stuff out because honestly I never refer to it. I do need the medical history stuff, so I keep it current.

Section 5: Miscellaneous
This is where I keep notes from our family meetings, a list of ways to reduce stress, a list of age appropriate chores, and the words to the song "The Rose" because it was our wedding song. (rofl...I know, I know...) I also keep stuff here like if I see a decorating or remodeling idea I like, a craft project I want to try, etc. I try to move that kind of stuff to the home binder asap, though, so it doesn't clog up the one we use all the time.

The binder I chose has the customizable cover-you can slip a paper in and make it your own. So the cover of ours I made-the back of it, I put a list of emergency info. Who to call, what to do. It's very simple and easy to find.

My other binders are:
A Bible study binder
This one is half size-it's a three ring binder but it's the same size as the franklin covey planners called "classic" I have notepages in there, and the sections are Bible study-here's where I write what jumps out at me from whatever book I'm studying with the Bible. Right now, for instance, it's "Holy Discontent" verses to memorize, prayer requests, and I had a section when I was working on my personal mission statement. I also have a journal section, where I just write what I need to write. Lots of times this ends up being more like a written prayer. This is the binder I would be horrified to show anyone...lol! there's so much of the bare, raw ME in there that even the kid's don't really know where I keep it. :-)

A Food Binder
This one has a meal planning section, a grocery list section, a recipes section, and info on things like-the food guide pyramid, canned goods, organic foods, and the lay out of all my favorite grocery stores. That way I can plan my shopping with out going through the store mentally each time! I also have a program called "Accuchef" that keeps all your recipes for you and will print a cookbook, a meal plan, a grocery list-I would like to use that a lot more but the time required to input all my handwritten recipies is prohibitive. I'm getting there, though!

A Home Binder
this one has decorating ideas, color schemes, chips from the paint we used for certain projects, a snip of fabric from my curtains, crafts to make, things like that. I used to have it all in the food binder and that was just the HOME binder, but they crowded each other out. :lol I also have cleaning lists, cleaning supplies lists, cleaning schedules, etc in this notebook.

I also have a homeschooling binder that has lesson plans, forms, etc.

I am happy to share any of the forms I made. Some of them are just adjusted from forms I found elsewhere, and some are mine alone. :-)

[LadybugSam]

Also flylady's control journal has a lot of good ideas

http://www.flylady.com/pages/cjmain.asp

Mine has my address, phone number, and emergency contact info on the front page. The back of that page (its in a sheet protecter) is a medical authorization form for Caleb.

The next page is my emergency quick clean list (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=57885889&blogID=301469407&Mytoken=55F9C0C7-0C82-4CCF-9D376580F01AEF0F3925625)

Then i have a detailed cleaning list for each of my "zones"

Then i have a section with all of our important paperwork (birth certificates, marriage certificates, copy of car registration, copy of our insurance cards, All the stuff i need when i apply for assistance basically)

and thats it

I keep my motivated moms thing on myy fridge door

[Marielle]

I used to have a planner (paper form).

I have a PC phone (like a blackberry).

I have outlook on my laptop.

I did a flylady control journal.

I also had a formal household notebook.

Didn't use any of these reliably for more than 2 weeks at most after the big planning stages. I now use my phone mostly for surfing the net and as a nifty doodad. This year I printed the MM calendar, the decluttering one and then have been sticking handwritten (on recycled printed paper LOL) in makeshift sections for now. My sections include one for thriftstores I plan on checking out on a weekly basis, an ongoing list one (decluttering shopping list, long term shopping list, long term do to and long term decluttering ideas for rearranging stuff).

I figure if I dive headfirst into the doing of it I'll be less likely to get stuck in the planning of it like it tends to happen to me. I do plan on getting a unikeep binder from ebay soon since I think it will be sturdier.

[Mama Calidad]

Didn't use any of these reliably for more than 2 weeks at most after the big planning stages.

:laughtears That sounds so like me. I've had so many different organizing systems. This is the first one that I've stuck with. For me, keeping it with me all the time has made all the difference. Well that and the fact that I seriously haven't been able to remember ANYTHING since C was born and I either write it down or I promptly forget it. :O