I’m so excited! I was able to finish my Household Binder before 2012 began! This is one step closer to my goal of being more organized this year.
I loved the fact that I didn’t have to spend a penny on making it (except for the ink to print the pages). I got the binder and folders from a free pile at work and I already had all the other materials at home. Since I didn’t want to spend money on dividers, I made some pocket dividers from file folders I got in a free pile at work. If you have to buy your supplies, file folders are much cheaper than pocket dividers. (Click here for the instructions on how to make your own.)
I will admit it was a little time consuming to complete but mostly because I went through about 50 or 60 templates to find the ones that I felt best fit my life and my personality.
When I told my hubby about it, he asked, “Would you be able to do the same thing digitally?” I said, “Yes I am sure, but I am a paper girl.” To which he replied, “Oh yeah, I forgot you like to kill trees.” haha 😉 What can I say, he is a huggggeeeee techie. He doesn’t understand my love for writing things down and being able to check them off. Although, I do still plan on using the reminders app in my phone because I can set alarms on things that have to be done by a certain time.
When you make your binder I want to encourage you to do two things.
1. Don’t be in a rush to finish it.
You want to make sure you are making something that fits YOU. Don’t just print off a bunch of pages from one web-site. (I did this last year and barely touched the binder-it just wasn’t me.) Take a few minutes at least to look through the different options you have and then to create your binder.
2. Personalize it.
You want something that you are going to WANT to use. It is important that it has the pages that you will use, and that it matches your personality. Mine has a doodle page that I made a few months back on the front cover instead of a computer generated “Tiffany’s Household Binder”. I wanted something colorful that would motivate me to pick it up and use it. Be creative with yours as well! Maybe the perfectionist in you prefers something computer generated or maybe you’d rather make a collage. Whatever you do, personalize it.
Here are the things I used to make my household binder:
3 ring binder
3 ring hole punch
Dividers (Make your own)
Sharpie pens (for labeling and coloring my cover page)
Sheet protectors
Dry erase marker (All of my pages have sheet protectors and most of them I will just use a dry erase marker on so that I can reuse them week after week.)
Tape
Management Pages
I divided mine into 5 different sections. I listed the sections below along with the pages I included in each one.
Finances
Bill Due Dates List
Monthly Budget (I use an excel spreadsheet, but Dave Ramsey has some templates that are great here.)
Kitchen
Blog
Blog Ideas Page
Maintenance
Monthly/Semi-Annual Cleaning List
Personal
Memory Verse Cards
(The Doxology Chart is a place where you write one thing that you are thankful for each day. Each page fits 124 days worth of things for which we are thankful. I created this doc so that by the end of the year, I will be able to look back and be reminded of all the blessings that God has given has me.)
Home Mission & Vision Statement
Baby stuff (Hospital bag list, etc)
(I also plan on making a separate section for ministry/church, however I have not been able to find pages that I like so I am currently designing my own. I am taking some ideas from the ones found here.)
There are 3 pages that I have in the front of the binder without a label. They are:
Daily Planner ( I also like this one here.)
I also have a loose file folder that holds all of my current bills.
Hope this will help and/or motivate you to make your own household binder, whether on paper or digitally, so that your 2012 is your most organized year so far!
Linked up to: WFMW and Raising Might Arrows (Proverbs 31 Thursday)
Healthy-n-Balanced 
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Thanks for sharing about your binder! I completely agree with your #1…don’t rush it! I am revamping my current binder since I realized some areas are just not working out for me. I’m actually spreading my binder out into 3 smaller ones because I keep each one in a different area for different tasks, etc.
I can’t wait to check out your Doxology chart…Thanks again, Tiffany!
No problem! Even though I am sure of all the items I have in the binder, I am thinking about taking out the financial (bills, budget, etc) stuff and putting it in a binder of it’s own to keep in my desk. I just don’t like the idea of walking around with that information all the time…if I lose it or something happens to it ya know. But yeah, I think the binder is a constant work in progress 🙂
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I saw your comment on hip2save and rushed here to see your binder as I was planning to make one for my household. I LOVE LOVE that you have a Bible reading chart in there. Kudos This is so great!
I ams o glad that you like it! 🙂 Bible reading chart is a necessity for me. It keeps me accountable and gives me a goal to reach rather than just reading here and there each day.
Hi Tiffany, what a comprehensive post. I love my little planner- I use a 5×8″ binder. It seems that every season of our lives, we need to evaluate what is working and what needs changing. Using a loose-leaf binder makes that possible. Have a wonderful new year!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 I like the 5×8 idea…it is probably a lot easier to carry around. 🙂 Happy New Year to you as well!
I love this, Tiffany! I’m working on my household binder, trying to get it exactly how I want it/need it and you are so right – don’t rush! It takes time and some trial and error to get your notebook customized exactly right just for you.
Thank you so much for sharing this with Make-It Yourself Monday 🙂
Thank you for the opportunity to share :). Yes, my binder has been changing a little each week as I tweak it. Hopefully, by the end of this month it will be exactly what I need it to be :).
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