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source: Nina Scaletti

Typically kept in a 3-ring binder, a home management notebook holds everything you need to run your household in one convenient location.

Purpose

The overarching purpose of a home management notebook or binder is to build a command central that holds all of the information anyone in the family needs regular access to; however, there are many different ways that individual families use their notebooks.

For instance, I take care of most of our “household management” tasks, including the finances, homeschooling, managing our contact lists and calendars, etc. As morbid as it sounds, I worry that if something were to happen to me, my husband would be left floundering to figure things out in the midst of his grief and while trying to take care of our girls. For me, having a home management notebook is a way to ensure that he has all of the information he needs at his fingertips.

For some people, a home management notebook becomes more of a “second brain” on a day-to-day basis. It houses their to-do lists, brainstorming and more. The benefit of using your notebook this way is that you keep everything you need in one place rather than having multiple systems. The downside is that a binder is much larger and less portable than a small notebook or day planner.

And still other people create yearly binders in place of a filing system so that the whole notebook can then be archived for recordkeeping purposes.

As with all organizing projects, the key is to have a clear vision for your notebook as you decide which information to include and which to keep separate.

Choosing Categories

The truth is that no two household management binders will look the same. There are several basic categories that most people will want to include, but the rest should reflect your own lifestyle and needs.

Before I list some common categories, I want to stress one important point. Please do not look at this list and allow yourself to become overwhelmed by the thought that you have to include every category. Some notebooks contain as few as five sections, while others may contain eight or more — or even span several separate notebooks.

If your vision for your notebook seems overwhelming to start, pick up a couple packs of tab dividers and then leave the tabs blank for now. Start with three basic tabs — for example: emergency information, contacts and calendars — and fill those sections without worrying about the rest. Once those are done, you can begin working on additional sections. Your notebook does not have to be completed in a single weekend, and you’ll find that it becomes a better resource if you think of it as a work in progress rather than a one-time project.

Choosing Categories

Use this list of example categories as a starting point for brainstorming about what you want to include in your binder:

:: Bible Study (lessons, notes, resources)

:: Calendars (your family calendar, sports schedules, school calendars)

:: Christmas Planning (gift lists, traditions, activities, recipes, to-do lists)

:: Chores (daily, weekly and monthly chores, chore charts for the kids)

:: Contacts/Phone Lists (your address book, team phone lists, church directories)

:: Daily To-Do List

:: Emergency Information (emergency contacts, basic medical information)

:: Family Goals & Mission Statement

:: Finances (budget, financial goals, account information, passwords)

:: Holiday/Seasonal (home decor inventory, project ideas)

:: Homeschool -or- School Records (records for each child, curriculum, upcoming events)

:: Ideas/Brainstorming (blank paper for jotting down ideas, page protectors for magazine articles)

:: Inspiration (inspirational quotes, articles, etc.)

:: Menu Planning (weekly or monthly menu plan, favorite recipes, recipes to try, pantry and freezer inventory)

:: Shopping (shopping lists for each store, list of coupons in your stash)

:: Schedule/Routines

If you work at home or run your own business, you might include those records as well. You also might have a section for your hobbies — gardening or quilting, for example — or for your volunteer activities or organizations you’re active in.

Getting Started

Today, start thinking about the information you want to include in your notebook. Gather any papers you have scattered throughout your home — for example, those in your kitchen junk drawer or across the top of your desk — and begin sorting them into categories to get an idea of the type of information you regularly refer to.

Think through your vision for your notebook. Is your goal to create a notebook to assist you in your day-to-day management of your home? Or is your focus on having a reference binder or yearly archive?

Also take some time to think about the supplies you want to use. Are you hoping to create a “pretty” system, like the Carolina Pad set I’m currently giving away, or is the function all that matters to you? How many tabs do you want to use? Will you be choosing a set number of categories or leaving blank tabs so that you can expand over time? Do you want to include a zippered pouch for pens, markers, highlighters, etc.?

Do you have a household management notebook already? If so, which section do you refer to most? If not, what’s holding you back?