Friday, October 19, 2012

Family Management Binder

Being that I have ADD, staying focused and organized is a daily struggle. I regularly forget where I put that permission slip for school or the current cable bill. All too often are appointments missed or bills paid late because I have just forgotten. Let's not even talk about remembering to mail out family birthday cards. And I can't imagine how things would run if something were to happen to me. My husband would be lost. He doesn't have a clue where anything is located in our house or any of the important information that keeps our house running. This is where I made the decision to do something about it.

One morning as I sat drinking my morning coffee, I was scrolling through Pinterest and I ran across iheart organizing. It inspired me to create our own family management binder. So I sat down and brainstormed what I needed to include in it. As I thought about what information I was going to need, I realized that I should have done this years ago! I guess better late than never, right? Well anyway this is what I finally decided to include:
  • emergency contacts
  • CPR instructions
  • a sleeve with take-out menus
  • a full month by month calendar
  • home maintenance section
  • household chores
  • monthly bills
  • auto insurance
  • auto payments coupons
  • school information
  • medical information
  • pet information
  • birthday list
  • Christmas card list
  • miscellaneous section
 
Beginning with the most important information, the first page of our binder has our address and phone number. This is for the babysitter or guests that may visit so if there should be an emergency they would be able to direct someone to our home. The next page has our emergency contact information on it. I included the local Sheriff's, Animal Control, Poison Control, the neighbor's, our cell phones and a few relative's phone numbers. Next I added CPR instructions for infants, small children and adults.Then I added a clear plastic sleeve to put all the take-out menus we have acquired in so they aren't scattered all over the kitchen.
 
The first major section is a month by month calendar all the way thru December 2013. I just went online and googled free printable calendars, chose one I liked and printed it out. The one I chose can be found here: 2012 calendar and here: 2013 calendar. Right away I filled in all the birthdays and important school dates. Then I noted the due dates for any recurring payments and monthly bills. I even included when the pets are due for their shots. Now whenever I make an appointment or things arrive in the mail, they get logged directly on the calendar.
 
The home maintenance section has a list of all home repairs made and receipts. I have even made a list of important telephone numbers for our local repairmen. The next time the air conditioning goes out I won't have to fumble for his business card, it'll be easier to find his number. This is also where I chose to keep our renter's policy at for easy access.
 
A clean home is a happy home.....a family binder wouldn't be complete without a household chore section. I printed out a weekly chart from here: chore chart and filled in my weekly schedule. This is mainly for the everyday cleaning. The deep cleaning I broke down into 3 categories; every three months, every six months and yearly. Here is my breakdown:
 
 
Every three months
  • clean oven
  • vacuum behind fridge
  • vacuum upholstery
  • wash curtains
  • polish baseboards and trim
  • descale coffee pot
  • vacuum mattress
  • launder throw rugs
  • wash light fixtures
 
Every six months
  • launder pillows
  • clean lampshades
  • sponge-clean upholstery
  • wash slip-covers
  • scrub grout
  • vacuum condenser coil (fridge)
  • wash comforter and bed skirt
  • wash kitchen cabinets, inside and out
  • deep clean stove hood
  • ceiling fans
Every year
  • clean carpets
  • wash walls
  • clean blinds
  • clean vents
  • garage
 
Our monthly bills or finance section is probably going to be the most used section in our home. Bills are a necessary evil that we will always have so keeping them organized will alleviate any stress that they may cause. The first page is devoted to those monthly utilities. I listed each one, the corresponding account numbers and contact information. The next page is for all our credit cards and loans. I found this great printable here: debt worksheet and just filled it in. I added a pocket to put the actual bills in once they have been logged onto the calendar.
 
The next two sections pertain to our automobiles. I have the payment coupons, insurance information and a maintenance log here. I added some plastic sleeves to hold receipts and a copy of the insurance policy in. I plan to take pictures of each vehicle for reference if we are ever in an accident or if they should be stolen.
 
The kids get their own sections for everything school related. The names, addresses and phone numbers of each school are all on the first page along with each child's teacher's name. I included a district calendar and a copy of my daughter's schedule. All notes that come home go into a plastic sleeve for safe keeping. I also keep a current copy of my son's IEP here.
 
I have a separate section for our medical information. All of our doctors' contact information and pharmacy information is on the first page. I included a current list of all medications taken and have a clear sleeve to store all unfilled prescriptions in.
 
Our furrbabies deserve their own spot in the family binder since they are an extension of our family. The vet's address, telephone number and hours of operation are listed. I store their microchip numbers and current licenses here also. Our dogs have a wandering spirit and I need to keep them handy for those times when they decide to run off.
 
I most likely will be the only one to use the next two sections since the duty of sending birthday and Christmas cards is usually reserved for me. I only send cards to close friends and relatives so I decided to devote a whole section to Christmas and birthdays. If I sent them to everyone I knew, I would go broke. Creating a designated list for each saves me having to go through my address book and risking the chance that I miss someone. I also stuck a shopping list for Christmas here so I can keep track of who I need to buy for this year and what I plan to get them.
 
Finally, last but not least is the miscellaneous section. This is where everything that I haven't figured out what to do with yet goes.

I pinky promise to add some pictures to show off my creation just as soon as I find the battery to my camera. Next organization project will be putting all my recipes into a binder so stop back soon to see what I'm up to.
 
 
 
*Update......Here's the completed project. Feel free to share yours on my Facebook page.One Majestic Mama Happy organizing!
 

 
 

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