I am not a natural organizer and I didn’t come into marriage with any great homemaking skills. The last seven years have been a whirlwind of learning domestic skills and discovering along the way what it means to be a homemaker who glorifies God.

I adapted pretty quickly to learning how to cook and clean and manage a home, even though I am a messy at heart – and not a natural organizer. But there has been so much to learn and catch up on that I still feel behind in several ways. Now with four kids under three, home management is more important than ever.

I’ve learned through a lot of trial and error that the more organized I can be with cleaning schedules, routines, and how I manage my home, the more I can accomplish. By putting some simple systems into place – such as utilizing a home management binder – I can better serve my family and be more in charge of my time than letting my schedule dictate where I spend my time.

I do have to mention: I am in no way advocating that you need to run a perfect home or that you need to become a slave to your chore charts. There is a fine line between utilizing these tools and letting them run YOU. There is always a give and take and a balance with using systems and routines. The important thing to remember: is that you should find a system or way of doing things that works for your family, for the season of life you are currently in, and that helps you to bring Glory to God! 

Finding Balance With a Home Management Binder

Over the years I’ve come to grips with the fact that my house will never look like it’s ready for the cover of a magazine. If you drop by my house, little fingerprints will dot the windows, and don’t be surprised to find cheerios pushed into the corners of the kitchen.

My house will never be picture perfect. And I’m happily okay with that.

We live in a real house, with real people, and lots of little ones who are making constant messes. Maybe one day when our kids are grown and out of the house, everything will be clean all the time. But I doubt it. It’s just not at the top of my priority list.

But what is at the top of my priority list is creating a warm and living atmosphere in my home. And to do that, clutter needs to be removed, floors need to be scrubbed, and I need to work on my home management skills. I need to find a balance between putting my family and relationships first, but also finding the time to keep a somewhat tidy home.

I’ve been able to find balance by using certain tools to help me better manage my home. By putting a system in place this allows me to free up much-needed brain power from having to think through cleaning and management routines over and over again, I can better run my home, and also have breathing room to set a loving and warm atmosphere.

“Growing up, my mom had us dust the baseboards and wipe down the plant leaves with cotton balls on a monthly basis. We assumed that everyone else did this too. One day, though, we discovered that wasn’t the case. A friend was visiting while one of us was in the midst of the cotton-ball-plant-cleaning routine. This friend was shocked and told us she’d never even considered cleaning in such detail.

“After this revelation I decided to dial back dusting the baseboards, and I can’t remember the last time I dusted our plants. I’m okay with that. Give yourself grace to let some stuff go andkeep it simple. Figure out the level of orderliness and cleanliness that works for you and your family, and don’t worry if it’s not the same as someone’s else’s.” –Crystal Paine, pg 132-133 (Emphasis added)

How This Helps Run My Home

I created my first home management binder in my first year of marriage. I knew I needed something to help me manage everything: from finances, to cooking, to grocery shopping, to cleaning routines. And mind you, this was in the days before Pinterest!! So I headed off to Google for some research and made my first home management binder.

It wasn’t pretty, it didn’t contain everything I needed. But it was a start! Over the years I’ve gone in seasons and out of seasons of consistently using a home management binder. And I’m finding myself in a season again where I desperately need one!

So this time I went off to Pinterest in search of a good one. I came across some good ideas but I couldn’t find exactly what I needed. Plus, if I can make it super pretty, I’m so much more likely to want to use it.

So I wrote out detailed notes on exactly what I wanted on every page of my home management binder and sent it off to my designer. My designer is fabulous so I knew he would come up with something great, but what he sent back to me, blew me away! He created the home management binder of my dreams!!

So now I’m getting into a new routine, using my new home management binder. You might already have a binder that you use and love or you want to create your own. So today I want to quickly share the different sections that are in my binder.

You can order my brand new Home Management Binder (Plus a BONUS training video) here! 

Section #1: Home Management

The first section of my binder has the pages that I used to generally manage my home. I probably use these pages the most often. Several of these pages are ones that I print off often. For example, one of my pages is a Daily to do Docket. It’s a sheet that I can print off for each day that includes a checklist for my day, details, a place for notes, etc. I don’t print this off for every single day, but it’s so handy to use when I need it! 

The pages in this section include:

• Week at a glance
• Daily to do Docket
• Children’s Chore Chart
• Emergency Numbers (This is great to leave with a babysitter)
• Address Book (I like to keep this for immediate family & those I often mail)
• Birthday’s & Anniversaries Calendar
• Website Passwords
• Insurances Information

 

Section #2: In the Kitchen

This is a fun section that I’m starting to use more and more. I’ve still been playing with how to best utilize these sheets but it’s been a big help in getting things organized in my kitchen!

The pages in this section include:

• Weekly Menu Planner & Grocery List on 1 page
• Full page weekly menu planner
• Full page grocery shopping list
• Freezer inventory list
• Pantry inventory list
• Recipe cards: Main dish & side dish
• Recipe cards: Appetizers & desserts

Section #3: Finances

Uuugh finances. I really hate dealing with bills and keeping things organized on that front. And so because of that, I desperately need these pages. I’m getting better at developing a system for our monthly finances by using these sheets. Now I need to get Jason used to using them.

The pages in this section include:

• Month at a glance
• Yearly bill tracker
• Debt worksheet
• Monthly budget worksheet

Section #4: Cleaning

In my binder, this section is pink and that just makes me so happy! I don’t like cleaning but I do love pink so it makes it just a little bit better. I love being able to keep track of cleaning routines with these simple sheets. It really seems to help!

The pages in this section include:

• Room by room cleaning list
• Yearly cleaning list
• Weekly cleaning list

Section #5: Personal

I’ve never had these pages in my older binders – and I love them! I had my designer add these ones in because I felt like they would be helpful since I was designing this binder to be my master brain for my home. I’m still getting into the habit of using these.

The pages in this section include:

• Books to read
• Prayer journal
• Fruit and veggie tracker

 

Get my Home Management Binder:

I am so excited to share that you finally order my brand new Home Management Binder! I poured years of research into creating this binder and hired an AMAZING designer to make the binder come to life.

The result? A powerful tool I know use every single day in my home and homemaking. I call it my houses’s brain. I don’t know what I would do without it!

So if you need a little (or a lot) of help in your homemaking, I encourage you to check out my brand new Home Management Binder. And as a special bonus: When you purchase the binder, you will get access to my bonus training video that takes you through each page of the binder and how to best use it!