There were a few things on my to-do list that I wanted to accomplish this summer. I couldn't have done this without the help of Pinterest, so will leave the links if any of these things interest you.
#1- The Household Planner
What is a household planner? Well it could look very different depending if you are single, newly married or a family of 9! After scoping things out on Pinterest here is what I decided to go with.
FIRST...you need a pretty binder that will make me smile every day! (Walmart special and dollar store dividers!) Trying to be frugal. :)
a) Receipts- I like keeping receipts to help track the budget, but usually they end up as a pile beside the fridge or a mess in my purse. Here I have a little page protector that I through the receipts right into.
b) Budget- You may be thinking, '' Why not just use one of the million apps that are out there for us? Get with the times!'' . Let me say this, I have tried that and can usually keep track for the first few days, but then I get lazy. Also now that I am married and trying to keep track of both our expenses, this just seems to work better. Plus when it comes down to crunching numbers, I am much better hands on.
The monthly budget is where I put our paychecks, plus our budget for each of the categories I have decided upon. For each category I have one expense detail page. At the end of the month I will record on the Monthly Budget page, actual amount spent and then we can see how close we stayed to our budget.
3) Bills- Most of the bills are automatic withdrawals, but not all. I really like this as I can see what comes out when using this!
http://projectorganizeit.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bill-checklist.pdf
4) Vehicles- When you're dealing with mutliple vehicles it is hard to keep everything straight. ''Was it the front brakes or the back brakes we replaced last year?'' ...you get the idea. This page I have one for each of our vehicles. That way it will be easier to keep our vehicles well maintained!
http://believingboldly.blogspot.ca/2012/09/auto-maintenance-logfree-printable.html
5) Birthdays- I am constantly feeling like a bad friend when I find out 9 p.m. that night that it was my friend's birthday! I have a calendar that we keep in our kitchen and it is lovely to remind me what is happening that month. I am really excited about just going into my binder and seeing who's birthdays or anniversaries are that month and getting them on the calendar so I no longer feel like that forgetful friend!
At the back I also have a checkbook register, to keep track of what cheques we use. We don't use them ofter, so we will see if this will be useful or not. Thought I would try it!
Here are some blogs that I found useful with tons of freebies!
http://diyhshp.blogspot.ca/2013/02/home-management-binder-completed.html
http://www.stacyssavings.com/getting-organized-budget-binder/ (I got quite a few things from hers!)
# 2- File organizer
My hubby had his own organizer and I had mine. Mine was busting at the seems. This little box has been the life saver. I divided it into 3 sections: Medical, Vehicles, Financial, randoms at the back and right at the front the medical things. I ran out of red organizers and had extra blue ones. My OCD was kicking in and making me cringe, but I had to suck it up and remember the point was for organization!
#3- Mostly for fun!
I saw on Pinterest an idea to organize your IPhone cords with washi tape, so I just had to try it. Now I have a pretty looking charger that I know is mine!
NEXT POST: Today I spent a whole day cleaning and organizing our space that is going to be our guest room! It is now clean ..and the fun part of creating a beautiful space comes!
Until next time,
The Creative Cooker Husband Hugger Fitness Fanatic Grade 1 Teacher (On Holidays!)
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