Home Management

Making a home management binder (HMB) was last weeks weekly challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons, now I've ummed and arrred over this over the last week (or so) since I read the challenge. I am vey un-organised (hense this blog) but some parts of my life are quite well organised. 

My diary/planner - this is incredibly well organised (for someone like myself).

As you open it, it has a full year at a glance. I have gone through this with 4 different coloured highlighter pens, highlighting dates.
Yellow - College Assignment Due
Orange - Governor Meeting
Green - Birthdays
Pink - Anniversaries

 

{Click pics for larger view}

The week by week I have everything for that week written in, very srcuffily but in none the less hehe. I write in bills that are due to be paid manually, like the rent and catalogue payments and then cross them off when I pay them. Bills that are paid by direct debit are in there too, on the date they are due, I then add when they actualy get paid. Some bills change date each month just to make my life harder

Now on the calendar (that lives in the kitchen) everything is duplicated from my planner (except bill payments). My planner goes everywhere with me, so if I'm out somewhere {TH} can look at the calendar and know who has what and when. (TH}'s has his own calendar, (in the bedroom) he adds things he needs to do, such a tax and MOT dates (man things he calls them). I add my placement, college and meetings (dates and times) to his calendar so he always knows where I am or where I am due to be, also that way he doesn't double book himself to go somewhere on the days/times when he needs to be home for the kids, but I don't add the kids stuff to this one. It just isn't big enough for all the info lol

My fridge freezer is the epi-center of my home management, not only is it opposite (very almost) the calendar but it contains all sorts of notes and letters. Each friday {B} brings home a newsletter from school, that contains information on upcoming events, trips, class assemblies, important info for parents etc etc. Each week I read the newsletter. Then I highlight all the dates on the calendar (on the newsletter) that I need to be in school for whatever reason and onto my fridge it goes, replacing the previous weeks newsletter. I also have appointment cards, recipes, school holiday list, college holiday list and some other bits on my fridge. Ttechnically, I could remove all these things as they are marked on the calendar and in my planner and my fridge would be a neater place, but this system works for us, as a family. The kids can take the newsletter off the fridge and check what they have coming up, they can't reach the calendar.

Ok thats about it for being organised lol, so back to this home management binder thing 

With the burning question..........Do I need a home management binder? What would I put in it? I went to look at some of the awesome HMB you bloggers created and this is what I came up with - section wise for the HMB, most of them from Toni @ BFOL

• Calendar
• Schedules
• Cleaning
• Menu Plans
• Finances
• To Do
• School
• Medical
• Contacts
• Blogging
• Shopping List
• Take Away Menus

Now let's see, 

Calendar - Do I really need another one? Perhaps having one with everything else that could live in the HMB might be handy

Schedules - These live on my calendar, but I guess having a set schedule would un clutter my calendar an awful lot

Cleaning - yeah I do probably need this, my current cleaning schedule in on my pc, turn pc on to check it and get side tracked by emails, blogs etc

Menu Plans - I don't cook lol, {TH} does all the cooking and he doesn't plan that much in advance. He buys everything he 'thinks' he'll need when he shops and picks up other bits as and when. The most in advance he plans is a day!

Finances - I currently do this (poorly) on my pc in excel (I can't use this properly) but again, when I turn the pc to check something, I get side tracked

To Do - As above (but not in excel lol)

School - All on my fridge, but again like other stuff would be handy to have it with everything else

Medical - Have no real need for this section, no-one except myself has any known allergies and I carry an ID chain with my medical info

Contacts - This I like, 90% of these numbers are in my cell phone, I'd be screwed if I lost it!

Blogging - I don't feel I need a section for this, I blog when I want lol. Unless I have the wrong end of the stick about the blogging section?

Shopping List - I don't shop (see menu plans) sohave no need for this {TH} would NOT follow a list even if I gave him one!

Coupons - Don't have many of these, but those I do have are scattered in various locations

Take- Away Menus - Currently hiding in 'the man drawer' we don't have take away often but when we do it's a danger zone going through that drawer (I still can't bring myself to tackle it lol)

Ok so I guess I have more to put in a HMB than I originally thought.....I have to nip into town on Saturday to get a binder for college so I will garb an extra one and the bits I need and make a start on this next week. The kids are off school next week, so they can help me decorate it :), plus I need to buy a new printer as mine is broken :(