Creating a Home Management Binder

As we start out the new year, we are going to start working on our Home Management Binder, or in some cases, binders. I find these binders to be an invaluable tool for keeping me more organized and in control of my schedule, instead of my schedule controlling me. No two binders should ever be exactly the same since each home has its unique characteristics, family mix, responsibilities, and needs. In most situations, one or two binders will be enough for the average family; unfortunately, because of the various responsibilities I juggle, I found that having several binders worked better for me.

I use two different sizes of binders - 1" or 3". First, I would like to review the one inch binders with you.

• Keeping It Together - this binder is my primary binder for keeping myself and the family organized. We will be going through some of the contents of this binder in more detail in the days following. This is the main Home Management Binder that I am referring to when I talk about putting something in your binder.
• Documentation - this binder is the only binder that I would ever grab in a true life or death emergency. This binder holds all the required legal documents that we would need. Again, this is a binder that could be consolidated into a primary Home Management Binder, or maintained separately. I have chosen to maintain mine separately since I rarely need any of the information in it except for during tax season.
• Learning to Live God's Way - most people will not need this binder unless, like me, they are involved in managing a website or blog ministry. This is the binder that I use to keep track of post ideas, statistics, and research notes for that particular website. In the event that you want to check it out sometime, you can view it at www.learningtolivegodsway.com.
• Client Binders - I also create one of these binders for my major website clients that have a lot of pages and coding that I have to manage. I create a separate binder for each client, so that when I am working on designing or programming a client's website, all of the necessary details are immediately available and can rest nicely, opened, on my desk, without interfering with my work space.

As previously mentioned, I also use three inch binders. These binders are great because they are capable of holding a lot of pages.

• Cooking Fuller Style - this is my recipe binder and it contains all the recipes that I use on a regular basis and have outlined in my meal plans. It is my intention to share as many recipes with you as I can at some point. I find cooking to be fun most days, so long as I have a plan and easy access to the recipes I want to use. And that I know most of my family like to eat. All of these pages are encased in plastic sheet protectors. Trust me, it is well worth the investment!
• 2012 Audit Files - the backbone for our business. We were audited by the state of Wisconsin in 2013 and had to reproduce all the paperwork and receipts to substantiate our taxes for two years - 2011 and 2012. This was a huge, stressful, and overwhelming challenge for us. Not only did we have a baby, move across the state, and purchase our first home in 2011, but I had a hard time finding all the paperwork that they required. Fortunately, at one time I had worked for an auditing company and an appraisal company, so I had a pretty good idea of how to organize everything to submit to the state auditors. The auditor was so happy with my system of presentation that she actually got permission to use the binders I submitted opposed to relying on the copies scanned into their computer system. Ever since, I have created the same binders at the beginning of each year and then updated the information or filed key documents in it throughout the year. Should we ever face another audit, all the paperwork is already assembled - saving me weeks of stress and sleepless nights! While I know most people do not have their own business, I will take the time to share what we learned during our audit in an effort to help other small business owners.

As for the actual binders themselves, I only use one specific type of binder, which fortunately comes in a variety of colors. All of my binders are the Staples Better Binder. The rings open easily and never seem to get unaligned like other binders. I like the consistent appearance to the spine and that it is rubber coated - no slipping and sliding around the desk or counter tops. The one inch binders hold about 275 pages; the three inch holds about 600. Of course, the use of sheet protectors does reduce the number of pages you can fit in the binder.

And for the tabbed dividers, I always purchase the extra-wide rainbow dividers. These dividers are bright, colorful, and extend past the edge of the sheet protectors. Before discovering the extra-wide dividers, my tabs were always buried between sheets of plastic.

I would recommend that you wait a few weeks to purchase your binders so that you get the right size the first time. Initially, use file folders and colored sheets of paper as temporary dividers to keep your papers organized. Once you feel you have a handle on how you want to organize your binder, you will have a general idea of how many pages it needs to hold. Also, always allow room for expansion. It's seems like once I got this system of organizing to work for me, I found more and more things that I wanted to include!

Blessings be upon you.