The Household Notebook - Getting Startedby Nicole Humphrey | More from this Blogger 15 Aug 2006 09:20 AM Getting started with your household notebook is really very simple. It doesn't cost a lot of money and helps to save you time and money too! Keep in mind when shopping that the cheapest materials are fine. Keeping your costs down is an important step. After you have gathered all your ideas for your categories, you will need to purchase a binder to store all your stuff. I recommend at the very least a 1 1/2" binder. However, recently with seven of us, we expanded to a 3" binder that seems to be more than enough. In fact, it's perfect. When you are deciding on a binder, keep in mind how many household members you have, what types of items you plan to store in there and how much room you will need. I had great intentions orginally, as it was just my son, daughter and myself. So our household notebook was simply 1 ½ inches thick which was perfect for us. But now we have blended families with my boyfriend and there are seven of us! I definitely had the need for a much larger binder, and chose a 3" binder. It is the perfect size now. The next things you will need are a package of page protectors, a package of dividers (the same number as you have categories), and a printer. You will begin by placing your dividers in your notebook in the order in which you use the sections most. We used to use the calendar the very most, but decided that school needed to be in the front. With five kids, we have a lot of school stuff that needs to be stored in there. Next you will insert page protectors behind each divider. And last, you will need your computer and printer to print out the different forms you might like to use in your notebook. For instance, I have an information sheet on each family member that contains everything I would ever need. I also have medical sheets on each family member as well, including updated vaccine sheets. I created several different forms for my own household notebook, but if you do a search on Google you should be able to find some already created that you can download and print. Try Organizedhome.com - they have a large selection and are perfect for getting started. The final step in getting your household binder ready is to simply have dates for your calendar, address' and phone numbers for your phone section and any other forms and information handy to be placed into the page protectors or written on the different forms. It's really very easy and honestly the longest part is setting it up. Once it is all set up, it's easy to maintain it! And the time and money it will save you is unbelievable. Related Articles: Household Notebooks - Explained Household Notebooks - Getting Started Household Notebooks - Further Explained Learn more about Nicole Humphrey  Nicole Humphrey is a freelance writer, consultant for CTMH and a Sr. Blogger for families.com. She resides in St. Charles, Missouri with Mike and their five children and two furbabies. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Libby Pelham |
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