December 30, 2013

How to Combine Your Planner + Homekeeping Binder

Let’s keep things SIMPLE! Today I’m going to show you how I merged my homekeeping binder and planner into one wonderfully simplified binder.

How to Combine Your Planner and Homekeeping Binder to Simplify Your Life via Clean Mama

This was a pretty simple project with a big outcome. The whole purpose of a homekeeping binder and a planner is to have a central place to keep your calendar and other important home items. For me it’s like my brain on paper. I feel so much better with everything written down – it’s less to remember and I can keep track of important items like home maintenance, bill paying, and my cleaning routine. A checklist for me is half the battle when it comes to getting things accomplished – they simplify things for me.

If you have a planner and/or a homekeeping binder, consider merging the two to save space, time, and your sanity. For me, it’s great to have everything streamlined and in one place.

Start by choosing the format you want to use. You can use a 3 ring binder or a discbound system or a notebook. I held off on the discbound system for a while because of the cost, but I have to tell you it’s totally worth it (for me).

Choose the Notebook Size and Style that Works for Your Life via Clean Mama

Next, you’ll need to decide on the format size that works for your life. My personal preference is 8.5×11 for many reasons – I can write in the larger format a little more easily, pages from school or other mailings can just be punched and added to the binder, and I can still take it with me if I need to, but I keep my planner at home in my kitchen or office most of the time.

Use Dividers to Keep Sections Organized via Clean Mama

Add dividers for your sections – you’ll need to determine what sections you want, but here are some ideas to get you started:

  • calendars
  • daily
  • blog
  • business
  • home maintenance
  • fitness
  • money
  • menu
  • kids
  • cleaning

Use Pockets to Keep Accessories Handy via Clean Mama

Add pockets for stickers and other accessories you want to keep handy. I use these little stickers to make pages and to flag little reminders in my homekeeping planner.

Once you’ve decided on the size and format of your homekeeping planner you need to FILL it! That’s the fun part (says the girl with the printables business). Start with a printable planner or calendar first. Once you have that in place add to your categories. This doesn’t have to happen overnight or in an afternoon, but as you add checklists and to do lists I’m guessing you’ll find that it’s a huge time saver and organizational tool and you’ll continue adding to it. For me, the calendar, cleaning, and bill pay sections are the most important and helpful for tracking items during the month. The Streamlined Life Bill Pay Kit is an essential and has really helped us with tracking and eliminating debt. If it’s cute and functional, I’ll use it – if you’re the same, you’ll love the kit!

Here’s how a little infographic on how I filled up my homekeeping planner (I used printables from my shop and The Streamlined Life Complete Kit):

Update:  I give away a FREE cleaning and organizing calendar every month – look in the sidebar or previous posts to find this month’s calendar. You can start ANYTIME!

(If you like this calendar style, you’ll love The Streamlined Life Series in my shop!)

I used the following products to create put these kits together in a binder and to photograph  (all products were purchased with my own money and I love them – there are no affiliate links in these links):

How to Combine a Planner + Homekeeping Binder via Clean Mama

Posted Under:

Clean + Organized 2014, homekeeping, Printables