Learn exactly what to put in a Home Management Binder – including ideal categories, sections and other contents. Use this list to inspire you to create one that suits your needs perfectly.
This is the second post in the Home Management Binder series – if you’d like to go to the start then head over to read “What is a Home Management Binder”
What Should Be In A Home Management Binder?
As with anything that’s truly useful, the information inside your binder should be specific to you and your family, and help you to run your home easily.
It’s a guide to YOUR specific home after all – and everyone’s will be slightly different, depending on what is done in your home and by the people in it.
I did a lot of thinking around what should and shouldn’t go into my Home File, and I suggest you do the same.
If there’s too much then it just becomes an unwieldy mess that you don’t really want to keep getting out and trawling through, and if it hasn’t got enough information in it then it’s simply not that useful!
You have to find the happy medium.
The key to a successful Home Management Binder is to only have things in there that you need to access quickly and easily on a weekly if not daily basis – and things that allow someone else to run your home should the situation arise.
Therefore you will create a collection of pages, all with sections of information applicable to you and your home – probably separated by tabs so that they are easy and quick to find.
There are so many scenarios that the this really comes into it’s own for you – here’s a few that may well help you to get in the right mindset for working out what yours should contain:-
- Your power / water / utilities fail – can you quickly find the contact details of your supplier and your reference number?
- Now – where did you get that cake from for that party last year?
- A friend gives you a name of a great decorator – where can you put it so you can find it when you need it?
- People are coming over for dinner – now – do any of them have preferences or even allergies?
- You have a babysitter and need to leave the house asap – do they know what to do?
- You have an accident and end up having to stay in hospital for a few days – can someone help you easily?
- What’s for dinner tonight?
- When do you need to clean x?
- What do the grandparents need if they are having the kids for the weekend?
I’ve got tabs to separate each of the categories, and have created my Home File so you can grab the exact printables that we use for yourself – to make it as simple as possible for you to start one.
Of course – feel free to create them yourself if you prefer!
Categories For your Home Management Binder
Here’s a list of most of the categories in my Home File to get you started.
I’ve covered pretty much everything I can think of that’s family related – but remember that all my personal diary related printable will stay separate in my personal planner because I prefer to keep personal and family separate!):-
1. Chores
- Cleaning Schedule (including monthly, seasonal and annual tasks)
- Chores checklists (daily, weekly, seasonally etc…)
- Laundry schedule
- Quick clean checklist
- Checklist for others / for the cleaner
- How to clean items
2. Family and Friends info
- Personal Information including clothes, shoes sizes, medicines, medical history
- Pet info
- Goals & Family meetings
- Info for the babysitter
- Address book
- Party and events info
- If the worst happens (who to contact etc…)
3. Food
- Meal planners incl. whats peoples favourites. Have a 4 week rolling plan to make things easy
- Shopping List(s)
- Master meals list (what everyone loves)
- Allergies and food preference info
- Entertaining ideas
- Fridge / Freezer / Pantry inventory sheets
4. House Maintenance
- Home Maintenance calendar
- TO DO list
- TO BUY list
- Household Decorating information by room (plans, paint, wallpaper, carpet etc…. and where purchased)
- Home Inventory List (in case of theft)
- Suppliers Details (gas, water, electricity etc…)
- List of recommended or previously used tradespeople
- Car maintenance and breakdown information
- Tech info
- What to do in a home emergency
5. Finances
- Household Budget Information
- Debt tracker
- Savings tracker
- Gift & card budget
- Spending tracker
- Bill tracker
- Wish List
- In case purse stolen – list of what is in there
- Account cheatsheet (quick reference info)
6. Holidays
- Holiday ideas
- Holiday planner
- Packing lists
- What to do when away
- Holiday year tracker
- Staycation ideas
- Pre holiday checklist – countdown what TO DO
- Shopping list
- Looking after the kids info (kids can also be organised with the Kids File – a great supplement to the Home Management Binder)
- Looking after the pets info
- Looking after the home info
What’s NOT In A Home Management Binder?
Just as important as knowing what you need in something, is what you DON’T need.
Any paperwork that’s got more longevity and is only required very occasionally such as birth certificate, insurance certificates, passports etc…. are not what you want in your Home File.
These are best kept in a fireproof cabinet/box in a more hidden away place in your home.
Your Home Management Binder should purely be a reference for the family and therefore should have checklists and reference to places that the main paperwork is kept.
You shouldn’t be having to leaf through several pages of bills before you find a reference number for example – it should be in a simple and easy to read list ready for when you need it.
TIP – I like to think of filing in 2 parts – Deep filing for items that are important to keep but are not needed often, and your home management binder, which can be accessed easily and has more frequently used paperwork.
Is there anything else you’d want to add to your own Home Management Binder?
I’d love to know, so please leave a comment below and let’s chat!
And now you’ve found more out about what to put in a Home Management Binder (categories etc…) you’re probably ready to think about creating your own.
If so – head to ‘How To Create a Home Management Binder – the step by step guide’ next.
There is another option to creating your own – I’ve done the work for you! Just head over HERE to find out all about it and grab your own copy – hope it helps!
