On my birthday I decided to focus on something that would make me happy, Binders! I know I’m a little nuts, but I can’t help it. Last year I set up my Coupon binder, the Family binder, Noah and Caleb’s School Binder, and Ian’s Learning binder. Once you actually start using things you learn where changes need to be made to make things better. I had looked online for things I wanted to add to the binders and better ways to organize some things. Pinterest had a lot of Family Binder printouts, but I found that it was easier to go to Microsoft templates, download one, and then change it up as I needed. A few things I just combined ideas I had seen and made my own pages. I’m really thinking I found something that will work. I had tried to fit in working on the binders during the week, but they were just not getting done. So, happy birthday to me- forget everything else and work on the binders!
First up was the Coupon binder. I have decided that the Krazy Coupon Ladies are truly CRAZY! I just couldn’t compete! I never had enough time to keep up with cutting and putting all the coupons in the binder. I have decided that I only clip what I use. I would clip with the idea that “maybe I will try that”, but it never happened. So, now when I go through the Sunday paper I stick to what I know will make it on my shopping list. I also downsized the binder. I didn’t have enough coupons to always fill up ever category, so I combined categories. I made them more comparable to the arrangement of the stores I shop and how store things in the house. It hopefully will be more manageable and still save me a few dollars when I go grocery shopping.
Then there was the Family Binder. This is where I spent most of my time. I decided to add the boys school binder into the family binder. I thought with the boys having information from School, Faith Formation, and Soccer I should put it all in one place. I added a few pages in different sections that I put in sheet protectors to make them reusable without reprinting the page. I took a big leap and added a “food” section. I decided that with everything going on this year I needed to actually plan dinners. I’ve been more of the what ever I felt like cooking/eating type, but that had problems. I’ve been trying to plan more and it seems to be working. I’m not a stickler for the “plan”, but it has been helping. The Food section has a reusable page for what’s in the freezer to help with the planning of meals. A reusable page for planning 2 weeks worth of meals, I’m not ready for a month yet. I also put in a reusable grocery list. I really think that I might move that to the inside of the pantry door to make it more accessible. I added different lists to keep up with the kids, projects, house needs, wants, and blog topics. I added a daily routine page and a weekly outlook page. I’m hoping the daily schedule will get figured out better so I can maximize the time I spend on certain things during the day. The weekly outlook has come in handy keeping up with everything that is going on each week. I have the boring stuff in there like bills and budgets. So, far the binder is working out. John even sat down and looked through it one night. He came in the living room and told me “I like your binder.” I thought he was teasing me, since he usually makes fun of my OCD. But he actually was impressed. That made my day.
I also made a “Mommy School” binder to keep up with what we had done and what we needed to work on. It is my all around binder for what I need. Then there was an update to the Religious Education binder. I had that one to keep some information as I tried to home school the boys last year for Faith Formation. I also put their children's bulletins in there from church. When we need something to do I pull them out. The boys worked on some of them this summer in their summer binders and I am using them with Ian and Eli in “mommy school”. Since I didn’t have room to add the work Caleb and Noah bring home from school in the family binder I made a “Kids’ School Work” Binder. I have a tab for each of the kids including the three little ones. That way I will have all their work from this year in one place if I should ever figure out how I want to keep all their work for all the years they are in school.
I know that working on “binders” doesn’t sound like something a person would want to do on their birthday, but I enjoyed it. I like being organized and my binders give me that somewhat organized feeling. I can tell you I have a LONG way to go to reach my full organization goals, but that’s okay. It keeps me busy!
