Home management Binder

Hey guys,

As promised last week I have feedback for you on my first 52 things in 52 weeks task. This was to set up my home binder and my filofax for 2012.
You saw my filofax set up in my last post. Today you will see my set up for my home management binder. I have really enjoyed setting this up, and I can already see it has helped me with a few new years resolutions, I certainly feel more organised with this, and I am doing much better with my budgetting as you will see with the next few photographs.


I was quite excited about setting this up, I had these 3 folders in my flat, never been used before, from ASDA. They are soo cute and were begging to be used.

Every project needs a title page, and I spent two nights this week setting up my sections so I could create my own dividers. These were dead easy. Wanting to spend no money setting these up, I had paper in (blue - the theme for this week) and these tabs, not the colour of choice but I quite like it in the end. Using my label maker and clear tape I set up these right at the end of setting up everywhere.Most of my pages have come from a small collection of sources, first of all I treated myself (I know I said no spend but this was the most motivating way for me as I know I would have put it all off if I had to set every page up myself! As a time saver this was perfect) The basis for my folder came from CleanMama Printables.

This woman is very inspirational not only are the bits to purchase absolutely perfect (I brought the entire starter set) but she has a really good blog (here) that has the occasionally free printable that can build up the binder to make it work for you.

CleanMama printerables are perfect for everyone for all walks of life. Some of the pages might not come in useful now, but they will be in the future I'm sure.

Using this as a basis I have gone on to produce some similar looking pages that fit in my folder that are more suitable for me. This page below has been taking from one of CleanMama's pages but being in the UK the American Medical system didnt work, so I created this to make up for me. The cleaning suggestions made my CleanMama and a few other websites I have been trundling around have been really helpful. I have made a few tweaks again. But it has already made a difference, instead of thinking I have an entire day I must clean, these systems take a little bite at a time.

I am also trying to declutter some of my life this week, and am following a daily decluttering schedule, however I haven't actually stuck to this very much.

Budgetting, being one of my areas of improvement this year, has been pages that I have been desperate to set up. I have printed enough of this page to last me the year, and I've noticed that I am able to keep up with what bills need paying, how much they are, when they need paying etc. So far this and a few other things has helped me save almost £300 this month! Hopefully this will also mean no more late fees.

Meal planning hasn't been something I have ever been interested in, but I realised that looking at what food I have in the house and working out what night's I have prior arrangements etc. I can eat what I have in, healthier and save money by not continually buying new items (After going through the kitchen I have 5 jars of Mayonaise in and 6 jars of Bicarbonate of Soda!)

There is a section that I have set up to record all the food I have in the house, including the quantity - some of the pages from the CleanMama purchase. These have made a massive improvement on my meal planning, especially as I don't need to rumage through the cupboards etc to work out what I have in.

To do - I'm known for starting something new before I have finished the first task. Because of this the two pages above have come in very useful. The first - Labels to make, came from the Nest effect. And the second from CleanMama I intend to use for several different purposes including craft items, decluttering, work related tasks etc.

And last but not least I had some of these wallets in my office that are sealed but have the holes down the side to add to a ring binder. Hopefully this will help me keep the clutter out of the house by allowing me to stick everything in this pocket and file it into the folder (or throw it away) later on.

All in all I have already seen a difference to my lifestyle etc. I'm much happier and think its partially down to this folder and having everything in one place. I can seriously recommend the CleanMama Printables. Please go and purchase yourself some of the sections and get yourself set up with a home management binder, Having everything in one place.

CleanMama is the most user friendly Etsy site I have been on for printables, she does small collections of similar pages, she allows you to purchase just one page from a collection, a couple of collections. Basically she is out there to help all of us set up for our perfect Home Management Binder.

I've come to realise that everyone's binder will be totally different. I would love to know if you have a binder, and if you are setting one up. I'm willing to offer help. Also check out CleanMama's blog and the Nest effect as these have really supported me and got me geared up for getting my life back in order!

I'm now well on my way to being Debt free before 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!