Creating and Using A Homemaking Binder (+ a giveaway!)

One of my goals this year was to better utilize my household binder. I wanted it to be a tool that works well for me in our everyday routine. For the life of me I cannot seem to keep a coupon binder organized, and I felt like my homemaking binder was starting to fall under that same sounds-good-but-isn't-working category.

So this year the homemaking binder and I smoothed things out. I've actually been using it consistently all year long. Some weeks the binder falls by the wayside, but I come back to it because it's actually become a resource to me.

The nuts and bolts of my homemaking binder include:
-a daily docket (a comprehensive-but-concise daily to-do list/schedule)
-menu planning resources
-my cleaning schedule and checklists
-kid's medical information
-budget resources
-random lists (cause I love 'em)

The first page I see when I open up my homemaking binder is the daily docket. This is the page I use the most! It's like a glorified daily to-do list.The particular one I use was created by Ann Voskamp and has sections for things like:  meals, chores, the most important things you want to accomplish that day, the memory verse you're working on, and the schedule for that day. Getting into the habit of using a daily sheet like this has really helped me focus in on the most important aspects of the day and not run around in circles.

In the first section of my binder I also have a monthly calendar. The calendar I use is a printable from ListPlanIt. This website is a list-maker's heaven! It has ready-made lists that you can print out and have handy forŚ a multitude of occasions. Many of them are perfect for a homemaking binder, as you'll see below. (P.S. Stay tuned for a chance to win a year membership to ListPlanIt at the end of this post!)

I use this calendar throughout the week and during the weekly planning meeting that my husband and I have each weekend. (Well...not every weekend...but that's our idea in theory)

The next section in my homemaking binder is devoted to menu planning. I have sheets for a weekly meal plan and grocery list, a freezer inventory list, and a list of our favorite meals to help jog my memory when I menu plan (each of these printables is from ListPlanIt). I've also included a few of my past month-long menu plans to give me ideas.

Next is everyone's favorite section...the cleaning schedule! *wink* I created my cleaning schedule using the Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule ebook, and I use a few printables from Money Saving Mom.

A few other things in my homemaking binder right now are:

• Printables for recording details from the kid's doctor's visits (from ListPlanIt). These printables have proved SO useful, because I can simply remove them from the binder when I take the boys to the doctor, update them, and return them after the visit. It helps me keep things straight regarding vaccines, questions I have for the doctor, etc. 
• A sheet outlining our current cash budget. 
• An ongoing list of items we need to buy for the house.

You can include anything you want that's pertinent to how you run your house! I use the pockets in the front of my binder to place random paperwork that needs to be filed (so that it doesn't clutter the kitchen counter!).

Putting together a homemaking binder is simple. You'll need:
-A binder of your choice. I'm currently using a white, 1 inch, 3-ring binder with pockets inside both covers.
-Page protector sleeves.
-Organizing pages of your choice.

And now for the Giveaway!

If you would like to win a year-long membership to ListPlanIt with access to all of their incredibly useful and creative lists, leave a comment on this post with your email address included! I'd love to know if you currently use a homemaking binder.

For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):

• Let me know that you like ListPlanIt on facebook.
• Follow ListPlanIt on Twitter.
• Subscribe to Alicia's Homemaking via email or rss.
• Let me know that you like Alicia's Homemaking on facebook.
• Follow Alicia's Homemaking on Twitter. 
• Follow Alicia's Homemaking on Pinterest.

 

Linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Homemaking Link-Up.

Disclosure: I received a free membership to ListPlanIt to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Creating and Using A Homemaking Binder (+ a giveaway!)