Follow this step-by-step guide to discover how to create a home management binder – the smart girl’s solution to living a full life, keeping your home clean and making it look oh so easy.  

Nothing brings me joy like a york peppermint patty – and talking about a super simple tool that will make big waves in your life. Like help you get organized at home and get rid of the chaos & messy house. And eliminate a boatload of stress from your life in general.   (Stress makes you age faster so consider this a skincare hack as well!)

I personally didn’t even think about *home management* or a HMB until…well, until I started looking for ways to better help my clients. After dibbling and dabbling with the idea of having one for a few years, I finally got one going. And haven’t looked back.

Sharing is caring. I used this super quick tutorial below from our friends at OrganizedMom.net to get my home management binder setup so I think you’ll find it equally useful.  

Ok so before you dive in, think about this for a second… You’ll see the benefits of using a home management binder almost immediately – guaranteed! So don’t do like I did and wait years to do this. Set aside an hour or two and seriously organize your life – you’ll thank yourself every day that you did it.

Why You Need A Home Management Binder  

From cleaning schedules to account passwords, a home management binder should be like the official Google of your life!   When you need to know something related to your family – from when it’s time to clean the baseboards to what bills are due this week – the answer should be in that binder.   If it’s not in the binder, it doesn’t exist lol.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

Write down why you want a home management binder in the first place.

1. What is driving you crazy about your life right now?
2. What keeps happening over and over that you could stop simply by getting organized?
3. How will being more organized improve your life?

This will help you create a system based on your actual goals and priorities instead of just copying what you see someone else doing and trying to make it stick. (Because it won’t!)

Everything You Need To Create A Home Management Binder

Creating a household binder is pretty simple. Ir’s either a physical three-ring binder or a digital equivalent that contains important documents and information about your family life.  

Before you get started, you’ll want to decide if you’re creating a physical binder or a digital version for your computer, tablet, or phone. Or some combination of the two.

I recommend a physical binder, at least at first. And that’s what we’ll focus on in this post. Maybe I am old fashioned but I like writing things down anyway.

With that being said, I use the Notes and Lists app on my iPhone to keep certain things like my running grocery lists.   I actually copy a lot from my binder into my phone – for example, I keep passwords in both places. Just remember, there is no wrong way to do it!  

The ingredients for a home management binder /

A large binder | You’ll be amazed at how quickly your household binder will fill up.

Page dividers

Sheet protectors OR hole punch | You’ll need to use one of these so that you can add paper to the binder.

Paper | I like to use 24pt. paper for my binder cover and sections.  The heaviness of the paper just makes it all feel so royal.   And of course regular paper for the rest.

Sticky notes

Sidenote:  My home management system is kinda all over the place lol. Intentionally. I use a physical binder for things I don’t need often. Important documents, passwords, and medical information are in my binder. Basically the stuff that if I loose it, I’ll be screwed!

But the items I need – all the time – like my schedule for the day, running grocery lists and meal prep ideas are on my phone and my clipboard.   I share this to say, don’t box yourself into one way of managing your home or getting organized. Do what works for you and it’ll all come together. I promise.

If you want to find your cleaning style, check out The Clean Vibes Kit & Caboodle. Knowing THIS could be the missing key if you’ve been struggling with your home for awhile.

Divide Your House Management Binder Into Sections

Every family’s household binder is going to look a little bit different. Just use the categories or sections below as a guide. As you start putting your binder together, you’ll think of more sections to add – it’s perfectly normal. Consider the binder like a pair of yoga pants – it should stretch and give room for things to change over time!

Calendars + Schedules

The section I turn to most in my household binder is calendars and schedules. You can include everything from monthly calendar pages to a daily to-do list in this section. And don’t hesitate to divide the section into smaller sections.

You may want a schedule section for each family member to note after school activities or work travel. Or separate sections for daily, weekly, and monthly schedules.

Experiment to find the setup that works for you. But just know, after you write everything down, you definitely need to set up your Google calendar with all this stuff.

Family Budget + Finances

Creating a family budget and keeping it in your household binder is a useful way to keep track of your household expenses. And if you’re currently trying to get out of debt, this section is even more important!

I also store bills in this section and make notes of when they are due and when payments have been sent.

If your binder is kept secure, consider making copies of your credit cards and storing them in the event one is ever stolen. For those – knock-on-wood – my purse was stolen from the car at the hotel moments.

Your Contacts Contact Info

Don’t roll your eyes. This is one of those things where it’s not until you need to find this info that you’ll appreciate this – probably super short – section.

You can make a sheet of emergency contacts. Another with names and phone numbers for babysitters, pet sitters, coaches, teachers, or anyone else you may want to keep a phone number or an address for. Again, for those super random just in case moments.

Health + Medical Information

The health and medical section of your household binder can be for everything for immunization records to copies of your health insurance cards.

It’s also a good place to keep records if you have insurance appeals or other ongoing issues where the documentation – and headaches – add up quickly.

Cleaning Schedules + Checklists

Creating a daily cleaning routine and cleaning schedule is one of the smartest ways to keep your home clean and organized.  No matter how crazy your life is!  Daily cleaning, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal deep cleaning schedules (or checklists) should be included in your household management binder.   Wait, let me clarify – it’s actually a must-have!

UPDATE Nov 11, 2020 – Create notes for your cleaning service if you have one or plan to in the future. There’s a fine line between being over-the-top OCD about everything – and scaring your cleaner off – and just making sure you get the cleaning you want. Keep your list for them simple & make note of little stuff like where the small bags are for the bathroom trash cans or which products you want used on your floors.

Add a maintenance section so you can keep up with when the nuts & bolts around the house need to be tightened so to speak. I’m talking about everything from how often your AC should be serviced to paint colors used in rooms. It’s definitely a list that you’ll kiss yourself for every time you have to pull it out.

Meal Planning + Grocery Lists

Meal planning is a great way to save time and money when it comes to grocery shopping and feeding your family.

Create a weekly meal plan for your family and plan your grocery list accordingly. Keeping these items together in your household binder will make them easier to coordinate.

Family Travel

A family travel section of your household binder is the perfect place to store confirmations for upcoming family trips. And to keep copies of packing lists, maps, and lists of favorite hotels. Anything that will make family travel more organized.

Utilities + Internet + Other Service Provider Contact Information

If every time you needed to contact a service provider from your internet provider to your garbage company, the phone number was conveniently located in your household binder imagine the time and frustration you would save.

Make sure to note your account number or any other reference number next to the provider information. No more searching for an old bill or searching the internet for phone numbers. All the information will be right at your fingertips.

Home + Auto Insurance

Your household binder is the perfect place to keep your home and auto insurance policies. Along with contact information for your insurer. And copies of any insurance cards. Yes everything is online, but there’s real wisdom in keeping things written down. What if someone else needs the information and you’re not available? Smart right?

Membership Information

If you belong to a church or a gym or a rowing club, or any other organization, this is a good place to keep contact information, reference numbers, dues information, copies of membership cards or any other miscellaneous information you may need as a member.

Update Your Household Binder Regularly

Once you’ve created your household binder, the next step is to use it. Big surprise right?

Make updating your home management binder part of your weekly routine. I like to do it as part of my *prepping for the week*. You’ll also want to think of using a home management binder as an experiment. By that I mean, are there things you’re constantly going to your binder for that could be more accessible if you placed them somewhere else?

What if you make a home management binder but never touch it?

All is not lost. That simply means that a closed binder may mean *out of sight out of mind* for you. So maybe you need things out in the open like me. Perhaps keeping go-to information on a dry erase board or a clipboard with what you need to know on the front page would work better.

Personally, I only use my home management binder to store the stuff I barely, hardly ever need. Having it all in one place that I know it will not move from gives me piece of mind. But for the things I need daily – like my to-do lists, schedules, meal plan, etc. – all of that is on my clipboard and on my phone. I need to keep stuff out in the open. In my face.

If you’re not at the point where you’re planning and prepping regularly, or just trying to get into the swing of having a *routine* when it comes to keeping up with everything at home, these are the very things I cover in the The Clean Vibes Kit + Caboodle. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on how to get your house together and keep it clean. And do it in a way that works for your personality. Which is *the key* to a clean house:-)

Final Thoughts

Juggling a family, house and career is a lot of work but with the right tools and strategies, you can handle everything on your plate like a piece of cake! This is a fail-proof tool that simply requires a little time upfront to organize your world but if you set it up right, and use it, you’ll be able to run your home like a well-oiled machine.

If you’re ready to get organized and get your home control, you should check out The Clean Vibes Kit & Caboodle. It’s all you need to get your home under control once and for all – even if you’re naturally unorganized!

Good things are meant to be shared! Save this to your Pinterest account so you can actually find it later and so others can see you’ve got all the good stuff!