Family Binder: Finances Section

Family Binder: Finances Section   This section is a big section in my family since we are working on trying to budget out the family and working on getting into a new place. And to do all that we need a place to work out all of our financials.    The pocket divider at the front of the section  on the front holds (for now) our check books, bank account numbers (for now), and it holds deposit slips for our banks. The back of the pocket divider has another pocket and this is where the bills for the month live until they are paid. This section has 13 page protectors in it, one for my bill schedule, and then 12 that are labeled January-December.    The first is my Bill schedule, which I had written out on college rule paper, on this I have all my bills listed by their due date. I have this paper divided into 14 sections vertically. The first section is the Due Date section, this is where I list the due dates for each bill. The next section is of course the Bills, this is where I list out the names of the bills, simple right. And then the remaining 12 sections are labeled for the months of the year.  And as the bills get paid off, I put a check mark in the box (created by the rows and columns) with the date paid. Then after the bill is paid, I remove the bill from the pocket and into the corresponding page protector for that month.    It seems like a lot but really it's not. I have a side note book where I keep track of confirmation numbers, date and amount paid. And that book is kept in the very front of my family binder.    I am working on adding in my family budget planner to this section as well. It's just taking a little longer than anticipated. **pictures will be up later.**    

Family Binder: Calendar Section

Family Binder: Calendar Section   In this section I am going to go over my calendar section and what I have in it and what I will be adding in it soon. All pages that I talk about are in page protectors and I use pocketed dividers with all my sections in this binder.   To start off the first  page in my binder is a Dates to Remember printable that has all the months, January-December, on one page and it lists all important birthdays and anniversaries and other important dates throughout the year. This page can be used over and over throughout the years and if you need more than one page double it up and put one facing front and another facing back.   Next is my blank calendar printable. This I am not writing on. I use a dry erase marker and fill it in that way so that way I do not have to constantly print out new ones.    And that is pretty much it for what is in my actual binder at the moment. I am working on making a smaller binder for birthday's and moving this section out of my family binder and into it's own binder so I can divide it up by months and use pocket dividers for cards and things like that. I think it would be much easier. 

Family Binder: Contacts Section

Family Binder: Contacts Section   In this post I am going to explain how I set up my contacts section of my family binder. It's really simple and easy to do. I do not however use printables, instead I use loose sheets of college rule paper and I write out everything. I have made printables to use in this section over time but at the moment I have only one in there. Every page is in a page protector to keep them safe and without damage. I also use pocket dividers that I got from Walmart.   First in this section is my personal contact information. This includes where I live, my email address and my home and cell phone numbers. Right underneath my information is hubby's information and the best way to contact him (email and cell phone, and his work number).   On the back of this page I have our emergency contacts information. My parents and his parents information and his grandparents information since they are the closest to us. We keep this information right at the front of the binder for quick and easy access. Also underneath the family emergency information is our local emergency responders information, the police, the fire department, the hospital, and poison control (hopefully I will never need that one).
The next page is our Medical & Health Insurance contact list. This holds emergency contact information of people who can make medical decisions if hubby or myself are unable to (Another one I am hoping to never need). It has our health provider policy number and group number, our doctors names and numbers, and two spots for two different local hospitals, one is our local hospital the other is the local Children's Hospital.
The next page consists of the only printable in this section, the Bills to Pay Account information. This section houses information on all the bills that come in monthly, the account number/ policy number, phone number, address, website, username and password, and any side notes I would like to add to it.
And that is pretty much it for the contact section. Feel free to ask me any questions you like or anything you would like to see. **Pictures will be coming soon**    

Family Home Binder

I have said before that I was going to work on a home binder. And I finally have one set up. I am still trying to figure out the proper sections for me and my family but for right now it is fine.

So a little insight to my binder so far. (I will edit this post later with pictures once I figure everything out with that lol). I use a ton of dividers and page protectors. I have 5 dividers with pockets and they are used for the more important sections of my binder. I have at the moment 17-20 dividers and yes I know this is a lot of dividers but I have sub-sections and things like that. 

My first section is Contacts, this has my information (address, and phone numbers for me and hubby) just in case I ever leave the book for a baby sitter or what not. (This book is never out of my sight, EVER!) It also has our grandparents information in it as well along with his and my parents information as just in case. On the back of the first page has out Medical Emergencies numbers list. This has Klaire's doctors number, our doctors number, poison control center, and the local hospital information. The next page has our insurance information on it with an emergency contact as a just in case. And behind that has out Utilities and Service Contact information. (everything I have in my binder is all handwritten. I do not currently have any printables in it at all.

My second section is my calendar section. This holds important dates to remember and things along those lines. I also utilize a planner as well but the binder is for a quick glance. This also holds me week at a glance. Again I hand write everything this also includes the calendars that I use. 

Next up is my finances. This is a pocket divider section. I use the pocket on one side to hold check books, and a small calculator. I also have a budget book that I will make a separate post about that I also utilize weekly.  The second pocket on the other side of the divider holds all recently received bills that need to be paid. In this section I have year at a glance, a list of bills that are owed with the date they are due on the side and at the top the months are listed and as I pay the bill off I check the box next to the bill but under the month. When the bills are done the physical bill goes into a pocket divider that has been labeled for the month.

My next section is a BIG section in my book, the To Do List. In this section I have a Home Maintenance Schedule with all chores that need to be done once or twice a month, The Everyday List with things that should be done everyday to help keep things neat and organized, My Daily and Weekly Schedules which I keep blank but in a page protector so I can write on it with a dry erase marker (very handy), and on back of that is my Monthly Zone Chores which is broken into 4 sections for living room, Kitchen, Bedrooms and the Bathroom. And finally it has my Clean Out Checklist which is done at the beginning of the month.

Next is my Daycare section. I keep the daycare daily schedule for Klaire's class there and all the take homes they send home with her about her day and I put them there. It helps me keep tabs on how she is doing in daycare and where I need to work on her with some things.

Next is my "Self Improvement" section. I jot down things I think I need to change about myself to make a "better" improvement in my life moving forward. 

My auto section is next, with a log about all the improvements that I have made on our vehicles and all the maintenance we have done on our vehicles. We keep receipts from repairs and any accident reports (if any at all) in this section as well.

Other sections I have are for Family Nights (ideas and plans), Fitness (goal setting, diet logs, and a fitness journal), Home Repair (we rent so we have to keep track of everything we repair), Baby Sitter (which we never use because I don't trust strangers with my child but when she gets older this will come in handy), Goals (for all yearly, monthly, and weekly goals I set), "Klaire" (house rules, medicine log, her toddler schedule, this is where all daycare stuff will be moved to later on), Current Projects (things I am currently working on), Future Projects (ideas I have that I just have to jot down), Pets (we have fish so we keep our water changing schedule in there and feeding schedule), Parties (for any and all party ideas or plans that I have for all sorts of parties), Warranties (they will be moved to a folder since we do not have that many warranties and more), Vacation/ Family time (vacation planning and ideas, and any and all random family days I am planning), Passwords (I have too many usernames and passwords to keep locked in my brain lol but I plan on making a digital version later on), Organizing (tips and tricks I have picked up and a lot of blank paper to write things down daily), Blogging (blogging dates, topics, ideas, and planning), Notes (filled with blank paper for any quick notes for things I need to remember).

I will do in depth posts on setting up each section over the next couple of days. ^_^ Enjoy everyone!