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home management binder {makeover part 6}

 The next section in my home management binder is finances. Well not technically the next, I skipped it and came back to it.  But either way, its the next section we're covering. So here it is...

don't these covers just make you smile??
remember they are from ayearofmanyfirsts.com

This is probably my second most used section. It comes in second place to the calendar and planning section....and actually it might even be jumping ahead of the calendar section.  The front pocket of this section is vital to its proper functioning.  All of the incoming bills get stashed in this pocket, along with a checkbook, envelopes, and stamps.

This pocket also has a few monthly budget forms and a few other random forms at various times. But the basics are always there. Except when I run out of stamps. I pay most of my bills online, but my car payment gets mailed and one of my student loans charges me like two dollars to pay online and that just irritates me so they get a check too.

After the pocket comes a few more things...

 Our monthly bill payment log (yes, its blurry on purpose- even though most are just student loans). After I pay a bill, I put the check number into the space for that bill for the appropriate month, or indicate that it has been paid online.

Here they are so you can actually see them.

I also keep a copy of our accounts and passwords like this one.  You get the idea, no need for another blurry picture.

At the back of the finance section is a calendar that I use to track the due dates and amounts of our bills for each month. I am a very visual list making kind of person. It works best for me to see the amounts and due dates spread out so I can see when they are actually occurring. This also helps me to quickly check which ones I will need to pay early, since I only get paid on the 20th of each month.

After finances comes the Family tab, which I had designed to be kind of a "catch-all" spot. Currently, its empty, so nothing to post about.

After family, comes the grocery and menu planning section. This section has my a stock of my grocery lists, our list of meal ideas and a menu plan for the current month.

My meal plan is more of a plan of attack or a guideline rather than something that I have to stick to 100%.  But it too is color coded :) The leftovers from a meal are the same color as the meal. That makes it quick to see what days are leftovers and if I need to plan something to take for lunch at school.

My list of meal ideas is really quite dismal at this point. I really need to sit down and compare it to my recipe box and add in our favorite comfort meals, special occasion meals, and quick weeknight meals. I had one before that was a little bit wild and crazy looking that I stuck on the side of the fridge before we moved. No idea what happened to that one, but this is much more aesthetically pleasing.

I also keep a stash of these in the pocket so I can fill them out when I look through the grocery ad's and figure out what we need for the week.

I also have inventory sheets that I really should be using better. I laminated them to use with a wet erase marker, however I didn't think about that when I printed them- so my lines are actually to small to use with a marker. So then I get frustrated with my gigantic writing and don't use them at all. I just need to waste the paper and do them in pencil and just make a new one each month. I just hate wasting paper and ink, but if it is helping me to save money and not end up with a truckload of one thing we don't really need and none of the thing we do need, then I think its worth it.

So there it is, my updated home management binder. It is oh so wonderfully color coordinated and makes me smile just to open it. All the more encouragement to use it every day the way it is meant to be used.

Interested in any of the printables featured in my home management binder? Check them out at our etsy shop! We have the coordinated set that I use, as well as several other set options and single documents.
Anyone else make or update a home management binder?? share a link to your post, we would love to check it out!!

Photo Calendars

You may have noticed Shannon's photo calendar in her crazy calendar post. (Just kidding, love you!)
For the last several years we have offered customized photo calendars on our Etsy shop as well as creating them for our own families.

I know my children love seeing everyone's birthdays on the calendar and pictures of family they don't see all the time.

This is from my family calendar!

It's not to late to place an order for your own custom photo calendar for Christmas. Check out this listing. They are only $25 for a completely customized photo calendar including your own special dates, pictures of you and your gorgeous family, and whatever holidays you celebrate.

This could be you and your adorable puppy!

Email me for more information! niki.creativelifedesigns@gmail.com
Can't wait to hear from you!

home management binder {makeover part 5}

 The next section in my home management binder is vehicle maintenance. There isn't a lot in this section. But it is still important to track these kind of things. 

This section holds a maintenance sheet for each of our vehicles...normal things like oil changes, and not so normal things like the new windshield on my car.

For the next new vehicle, I think I will keep loan and purchasing documents in this section as well. But for now the Envoy is paid for and my car is almost paid off (my loan documents are at my parents' house somewhere). So this is all that is in this section for now.


The next section is finances, but I am going to skip to school information. This section holds my school calendar and requests for days off, and other documents that come up.

I suppose that I could keep a copy of my contract in here as well. People with kids will have much more to fill up their school information section with, so until I reach that point, my school information section is basically just a work information section.

We're almost finished with our home management binder makeover! Stay tuned for the finances section!
And don't forget to sign up for the giveaway at the beginning of our home management binder makeover posts!

beginning of the month planning

The first of the month is always a joyous time for me. Why for? you ask? Well because you get to fill out your new calendar of course!! That is basically a holiday!! And we're not talking just one calendar here people, this is a serious process.

First you need to update your family or wall calendar. If that's all you have then this is the only step for you. This calendar is color coordinated with my favorite paper mate flair fine tip markers :) One part-time job is blue, the other is red. All school (full time job) things are in purple. Things that are just mine are pink, and things we do together are in orange. Drew doesn't have anything on this calendar, but he would have his own color if he did.

Next is the calendar in my home management binder. I am the only one to see this one, so I did not take the time to color coordinate it. Although, I probably should have. For next year, when I pay bills I will scribble something on this calendar too...just to keep myself on track with this once a month paycheck nonsense. I previously had two different calendars going and even for me that seems excessive...so I am going to combine them.

This particular calendar was a freebie from anything but perfect.

Next.... (some of you non-calendar freaks are starting to think I may have lost it-you could be right) is the calendar in your planner that you carry with you... Because I am not the only one who does that right?? A lot of this information is also on the weekly pages.  But clearly it needs to be in both places...or does it? The same color coordinating system is carried over to this calendar. To save space I just listed the hours and not the name of the job. It's my planner, I know what they mean.

Next comes my workout calendar. This is more to keep myself accountable rather than for actual planning purposes. I have stickers that in theory I should be putting on each day. One is for drinking at least 3 bottles of water a day. I know I should be drinking more than that for optimum weight loss, but three is doing good for me right now and once I can continually meet my goal of three I will increase to 3 1/2, then 4, and so on.  My other sticker is for working out. Whether is cardio or weights or just walking the bf's brother's three legged dog. Don't let the fact that he has three legs mislead you...he is blissfully unaware that three legged dogs are not the norm and runs, plays fetch, and jumps fences like a  champ :)

here he is now :) love the super old pic???

update:   I also have a menu planning calendar that I didn't get a picture of. Here is my December menu planner. It looks the same as my workout calendar, it just has a supper menu rather than a workout time. Since I eat dinner (supper) alone most nights I try to plan so that I can have leftovers for both of us for lunch the next day. I don't make anything too crazy ever and have something even simpler on nights when I work until 7pm. I left a few days around Christmas blank to allow for plans with family. I don't make a menu plan that must be followed precisely. It's more for me to have an idea of what I'm doing so  I don't come home to nothing defrosted or set out and end up eating frozen pizza or something equally as bad. Also, the menu plan is color coded as well. I might seriously need help. But I'm fine with it. I made the meal and its leftovers so at a quick glance I can tell if I need to think about what I will be brining to school for lunch.

update: I forgot an entire calendar! My desk calendar at school! I'll admit there's not a lot on there since I have only been in this position for a very short time. But there are a few days marked when students have told me ahead of time that they will be gone. So its valid, it counts.

Oh, and also we have already passed the time of the year when I need to start carrying two planners, this year's and next year's. Clearly I need to be able to plan ahead. Yeah, I'm a freak, I'm okay with it.

Any other calendar/planning freaks out there?? Share your planning methods with us!

home management binder {makeover part 4}

The next section of my home management binder is the home maintenance section. This is probably the second most often used section, after calendar and planning. 

The home maintenance section contains my annual home maintenance checklist and also my cleaning schedules. We live in an apartment now, so the maintenance checklist doesn't really apply...but I assume I will not be living in an apartment for the rest of my life. However it is kind of nice to have them knock on your door and say "Hi, I'm here to change your air filter" or my disposal isn't working--come fix it please...and the snow removal...and the cheap utilities.... maybe apartments aren't sounding so bad after all.

This is the cleaning checklist that I shared as a freebie a while ago. {head over to that post to grab it} I made this one after we moved into the apartment, I needed a way to keep track, hold myself accountable, and have some kind of logical plan so I wasn't cleaning the bathtub every other day and never remembering when the last time I washed the windows or sheets was....

Here's what mine looks like:
I have a few other cleaning lists in this section as well. I got these from other blogs, these were not something I created.  These came from clean mama.

I just keep them inside page protectors that can be marked on with a wet or dry erase marker, then easily cleared for the next month/year. I really like the deep cleaning checklist I really like both of these checklists. The deep cleaning is good because they are tasks that you aren't doing everyday and by tracking them you know what has been done recently  and what needs to be done. It's a great way to keep yourself on track for a clean house. The quick cleaning is a great way to keep yourself on track for the week or month. Pick a different thing each time and then start over once the column is filled and you should never end up with a huge task ahead of you. This list would go great when used with a timer too....just set your timer for 15, 30 or 60 and keep moving down the list until your timer goes off. easy peasy. and you all know that crossing things off a list feels great. clean house, completed list = double win.
Don't have your own cleaning system in place? Pinterest is a great place to get inspiration, tips, and tricks.

cyber week?