Do you have little scraps of paper scattered throughout your house with important information on them?  Do you waste precious time everyday looking for the information that you need?    If you were to get sick or go out of town, would your family be lost without you?

Today I’m going to talk about creating a “Family Manual”.  Some people call it a “household notebook”, “homemaking binder”, home management notebook” or “home organizer”.  Whatever you choose to call it, it will be the key to getting your home organized.

Life is much less stressful when you are organized.  By creating a family manual, you will have more time to spend with your family and do the things that you enjoy.   It will help you save money by making it easier to stick to your budget and meal plan.   It will allow your family members to be “in the know” about the running of your household

The family manual is the command central for your home.   You will use it to keep your house running smoothly.  In it you include all things related to you, your family and your home.

All you need to get started is a 1 inch binder and tab dividers.  You can purchase these for less than $2.

Inside your manual you will have information including to-do lists, finance information, important phone numbers, home maintenance schedules and calendars.

You should organize your family manual whatever way works best for you.  The following is a list of what I have included in my manual:

Holder  with pens, pencils and post it notes

Daily To-Do List

Family Goals & Mission Statement

Sign me/ important

Money/Finance

• budget/spending record
• financial goals
• bills to pay
• list of bank accounts
• account information/passwords
• healthcare costs
• insurance information
• utilities/services directory
• magazine subscriptions
• warranty information
• vehicle records
• tax checklist

Meals/Menus

• Monthly or weekly forms with fill-in fields for breakfast, lunch & dinner each day and a space for snacks & desserts of the week
• grocery shopping lists
• favorite recipes/recipes to try
• pantry and freezer inventory
• kitchen appliance manuals

Addresses and Phone #s

• Emergency Information – Phone #s for 911; Fire Dept; Poison Control; our home, work & cell numbers; our parent’s homes, work & cell numbers
• Family and Friends addresses, phone numbers and email addresses
• Yellow Pages – Phone numbers for all businesses and individuals that we do business with
• church/club directories
• emergency phone numbers
• take out menus

Home Management

• household cleaning schedule
• seasonal chore checklists
• children’s chore checklists
• home maintenance log
• home inventory
• home decorating ideas
• party planners
• Holiday Planning (home décor inventory, project ideas, gift lists, traditions, activities, recipes, to-do lists)
• car maintenance schedule
• recycling inventory

Family

• personal information page for each family member containing statistics such as  name, date of birth, social security number, sex, relationship, driver’s license number (if applicable), state of license (if applicable) and expiration date of license (if applicable)
• master occasions list (birthdays, anniversaries)
• gift suggestion list
• birthday party ideas
• vacation information
• holiday information
• recommended Web sites
• list of DVD/videos to rent
• list of books that we would like to read, movies that we would like to see
• library information

School/Activities

• school schedules and holiday list
• school records for each child
• school information page
• school reading lists
• extra curricular activity information
• summer programs information
• PTA materials

Health and Fitness

• diet trackers
• blood pressure record
• first aid kit checklist
• medical information sheet for each family member
• emergency directory
• medical authorization form
• prescription drug record
• gym membership information
• insurance information
• pet health records

Travel

• travel packing checklist
• before-we-leave checklist
• camping checklist
• vacation idea list

Notes & Miscellaneous

• Blank pages to keep track of miscellaneous information
• Magazine Articles
• Inspiration (inspirational quotes, articles, etc.)

Holder for stamps and return address labels