Home Management Binder

This idea is all over Pinterest.  I have pinned many different ones in the past and finally about a month ago, I sat down and printed/put together a binder that would work for OUR family.

What You'll Need:
3-Ring Binder (probably just a 1 or 1 1/2 inch will do)
Dividers
Printer
**OPTIONAL** Page Protectors

Everybody will make their binder differently.  Go look at different binders (Miss.Poppins, Mom of 3,  Craft a Day).  There are so many different ideas.  The first thing I did was sit down, look at all of the different ideas and made a list of what would work for me - and unique ideas that I wanted to add.  This is what I came up with.

I wanted to start with a calendar section.  This section has a yearly calendar (you can print those off the internet anywhere) and a list of all the birthdays I have to keep track of.

The next section I put in was gift information.  We often buy presents when it's not Christmas/Birthday time - not just for our kids, but for family members and friends as well.  We can't pass up a good deal!  So this section has a place where we can write down what we have, a list of stocking stuffers (again, we get those year round) plus it has wish lists for myself and the kids (each of has a WHOLE page).

Next was the monthly holidays and traditions.  Every year I have the same problem.  I don't remember traditions until it is too late.  Not holidays, but events that are taking place in the city or traditions that I want to create with the kids.  For example: Mid October rolls around and we have forgot to get to the pumpkin patch.  By the time we find a day that works with my husbands schedule, the corn maze is no longer green and beautiful and the weather is starting to get cold.  This section allows me to write down ideas and traditions to do with the kids/my husband every month so that I don't forget.

School information was next.  Currently, I don't have to worry about this, but come September when my daughter starts Kindergarten I will have to start keeping track of what is going on in the lives of my kids PLUS myself and my husband.  Right now it's easy.  I don't want to think about what it will be like in 4 years when my son starts kindergarten as well.  In this section I have two basic school information pages where I can keep track of phone numbers, teacher names, bussing information and schedules.  These two pages (one for each child) are in page protectors so that I can reuse them every year.  It also includes monthly calendars (just google "monthly calendar") that I can write important field trips/events/special days on.  And at the end, I have a great list of Lunch Box ideas.  I created this list by myself, so if you want to print if off, here it is!

Next up was Phone Directory and Address Book.  I just googled for some printable address book pages and found what I needed.  Specifically for sending out Christmas Cards in December.  I never remember who to send them to!

The next section, packing, is one of my favourite.  Every time that we go on a trip, I print off this page and it has EVERYTHING we need - in sections, so I can scratch off what we don't need - but that wastes paper.  So I printed off this list and put it in a page protector so that I can wipe off the checks when I'm done.  I also created this myself, so if you want to print it off, here it is!  Keep in mind the ages of my children.  Some of the items have had to be adapted as they got older (we no longer need formula, playpens or diapers)

Blogging, of course, is not something that everyone is going to need in their binder.  I use a planner from this website - but it's more directed to homeschooling than anything else.  So if you are a homeschooler, check out this website, it has lots of great forms!  Here I write down the following:
An activity from each strand so that when my daughter shows an interest in say, Science, I have an activity ready to go.
Projects that I want to complete from Pinterest that have nothing to do with the kids, just ideas that I want to complete.
Monthly traditions that we will be participating in during the month.  Holidays, special events and city run events like the festivals that we took part in during the month of May.

And the last section is not QUITE complete.  It's a section of "other" stuff.  I want to start taking more pictures, so I have pinned some great challenges to get me going.  This section has these challenges.  It also WILL have our coupon/gift card information.  I don't mind if a coupon that I clipped expires, but I DO mind when a Groupon or other type gift card that I PAID for expires.  So we are trying to come up with a system to keep track of those items.  When I figure it out, I will let you know.