Housekeeping Binder 2015

With my new job starting I figured it was time to get ORGANIZED. That means I sat down and created a housekeeping binder with sections for bills, blog posts, menu planning, cleaning etc. You name it… I’ve got it. Unless it doesn’t pertain to me in which case… pffft forget that!

Here’s a peek at what I’ve got going on. I started with this gorgeous binder from the “Stitch in Time Collection”. I know it’s weird to lust after a binder but seriously y’all I’ve wanted this binder since the moment I laid eyes on it. Several months ago. I tried to convince my mom to buy it when she last needed a binder but she didn’t see the allure. So this is the perfect excuse!

Looking for a bunch of posts on organization & planning? I’ve got you covered! Click here to see all of my organization & planning posts in one place!

Inside of my binder I added an old school zippered pouch to corral pens, labels and all those pesky receipts. Then I added a couple of page protectors and a pack of 8 double pocket dividers. Of course 12 would be better but they only came in sets of 8 or 5! I decided I would start with 8… I can always add more later!

The double sided pockets were a must have for me… this way I can keep all of my bills neatly organized! When they come in the mail I will place each bill in the pocket on the left side… the “to be paid” pocket. Then during the month as each bill is paid it will be moved to the right side or the “paid” pocket. That way I can never forget to pay a bill! If any envelopes are left in the left side pocket at the end of the month I will know it needs to be taken care of.

Of course there are plenty of planners out there you can buy already made… but I want a personalized planner. With everything I need to keep ME organized… plus I’m cheap and can use cute free printables!

After my bright pink zippered pouch I have two plastic Page Protectors. One for my weekly cleaning routine (from the Happy Money Saver) and one for my household account numbers. These sheets will be used every week and I want them right up front and easily accessible! My hubby is always asking for the account number for this bill or the phone number for this account. Now they will all be easy for him to find… no more explaining to him that they’re all programmed into his phone! Silly boy! While this sheet doesn’t need to be in a page protector I really just wanted a bit more protection since it is on the front lines. Right at the front of the binder!

I placed my weekly cleaning routine in a page protector for a completely different reason. Now instead of having to print off one for each week… and throw it away when I’m done… the whole thing is dry-erasable! That means each week I can check off chores as they’re completed (wash dishes? check!) and wipe the whole thing clean at the end of the week. Ta-da! Ready to do it all over again! (yuck! Who needs a maid? This girl! #notgonnahappen). Plus this way I can highlight which chores are mine in pink and which chores are my hubby’s in blue… color coordinated and held completely responsible. No more… “but it was your turn to do the dishes!” Yes sometimes we still act like five year olds… but really who doesn’t try to get out of cleaning those stinky toilets?

I decided to start each month off with this set of Weekly Calendar printable designed by the lovely Jana Laurene. Although I do have a monthly calendar later in the binder this set will allow me to write out day by day what I’m suppose to be doing. “Pay Rent” on the 5th? Ok. Write 3 blog posts for next week? Will do!

The second section in each monthly divider is Bills or Finances. I found this set of adorable Free Financial Printables from Pinch A Little Save A Lot. They are so bright and colorful! Just the thing I need when sitting down to organize (or pay) a big stinky pile of bills. (I don’t know about y’all but my bills definitely stink).

For every divider (every month) I placed a Financial Calendar and Monthly Budget. These two sheets will be used every month and then discarded.

However, the Bill Payment Checklist and Debt Repayment Plan sheets will travel with us each month. So right now they’re living happily in the December tab of my binder… but come January they will move right into the next divider. That way we will be able to see our progress as we pay off all of our bills and become debt free!

The third section in each month deals directly with this Blog, that’s right my very own editorial calendar. I’ve been running this thing by the seat of my pants but not anymore. This girl has a plan! It’s all about working smarter, not harder… plus keeping track of things! We’ll see what works for me moving forward but for now I’ve included a whole slew of these adorable blog post idea sheets by Blog Elevated. Up until this point I’ve kept all of my ideas in a spiral notebook, which has it’s merits but I need something a bit more organized. Mainly I need to keep track of which ideas I’ve already started (but haven’t blogged about), what I’ve taken pictures of and what still needs to be photographed. The whole shebang.

After the blog post idea printables comes a place to keep track of EVERYTHING. These adorable sheets by Danielle Stewart should help me record stats for all of my social media accounts. Hopefully the numbers will go up each month! The second sheet is for individual blog posts… have I posted to Twitter? Pinterest? Facebook? There’s so much to do in a day some of these bad boys have been slipping through the cracks (okay I’m talking about Pinterest, my posts are automatically pushed through to Facebook and Twitter). I just can’t remember to pin those darn images! Which is nuts since I’m on Pinterest like… half the day! What can I say I go to pin and …. sparkly shiny! I get distracted! Tell me I’m not alone?

Last up is my brand new Meal Planner by August Joy Studios, with a new job comes less time to cook each evening. So I’ve decided to attempt planning out my meals a week in advance. This way I’ll know exactly what I need when I head to the grocery store… plus it will take the guess work out of “What’s for dinner”.

So far it’s working out just fine… but I may have to reevaluate in a couple months. See what’s working and what needs to change. Do any of you use a housekeeping binder? If so what are your favorite features? Come on ladies… give me the scoop!