Do you want things to run smoother in your home? If so, setting up a home organization binder is a great place to start. Get the important stuff written down on paper, within easy reach, and start organizing your family’s needs today. These home organization binder ideas will give you ideas on what to put in your binder.
The home organization binder ideas include:
- important contact information
- a section for important documents
- a meal planning section
- a section for cleaning schedules
- home maintenance checklists
- and more…
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Table of Contents
What is a Home Organization Binder? (aka a home binder)
A home binder is a ring binder book dedicated to helping your family life run a little smoother. They’re like “Standard Operating Procedures” for your home life.
These binders are sometimes called a home management binder, a household binder, a home organization binder, home management planner, or a family binder. Different terms for essentially the same thing.
Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be complex. It can be super easy to put together a household management binder for your family.
What will you need to create a home organization binder?
- a 3 ring binder (e.g. 2″ size of binder)
- binder section dividers
- a three hole punch
- sheet protectors
Most people use a 3 ring binder with binder tabs separating the different sections, and sheet protectors to protect papers and to keep similar papers together.
You’ll also want a three hole punch so you can add printed pages to your binder.
Some people love labelling stuff so they’ll buy a label maker too. But just writing clearly on the divider tabs will be sufficient.
For repetitive tasks – like menu planning – I like using templates that I’ve created on my computer. If you want printables too then you’ll need a good printer.
And to reduce paper clutter and waste, some people use whiteboard markers to write on the plastic sheet protectors instead of writing on the actual piece of paper. This can work well for basic stuff like checking off checklists and chore charts.
Where should you keep your home organization binder?
If many family members will use the binder, it’s a good idea to have it in a central location where everyone knows where it is. You want to have easy access to it.
The perfect place will depend on your home and what’s in your binder…but lots of people choose to keep it in the kitchen or on their command center if they have one.
Why might you want a Home Binder?
A well prepared home binder will be a huge help in making your home run smoother. Your own home management binder won’t guarantee you have an organized home, but it’ll help.
Your family will know where to find things (like important contact information), and they’ll know the responsibilities and expectations of each family member.
Plus, if you are the one who usually “runs” the day to day operations of your household, a home management binder can act like a guide to keep your family and home running smoothly if you go away on vacation, for an emergency or hospital stay.
Doing the hard work up front to create a good, well-organized binder is a great way to give yourself some peace of mind knowing things will run smoothly without you there.
(Well, perhaps not velvety smooth, but at least better than if you didn’t have the binder.)
And once you’ve got it established, it’ll take you less time going forward maintaining it.
What should I have in a Home Organization Binder?
This is totally up to you but you can separate your binder into different sections depending on your family’s needs and the ages of the people that access the book.
Get some tabbed dividers and create the sections that will help you.
Some of the basic categories that most people have in their binder include :
- contact information (important phone numbers for school, work and emergency contacts)
- separate sections related to meals & groceries and cleaning schedules
- account numbers and passwords for service providers like TV, phone, internet, heat and electricity
But you’ll want to consider WHO will access your binder. For instance, if your home binder doubles as a guide for your babysitter, you probably won’t want to have a bunch of your financial information in there…just in case.
Keep reading below for even more ideas.
Home Binder Organization Ideas
Below are some ideas for your very own ultimate home management binder.
These great ideas are suggestions of what you might want to have in your home binder. If it isn’t applicable for your family or home, then don’t include it.
Once again, these are just suggestions so take what works and ignore the rest.
For instance, some people may not be comfortable writing down account numbers or keeping important papers in a binder that younger school-aged children can access. (It just wouldn’t make sense to have this stuff in a place where a child could spill stuff on your binder while trying to see their chore chart.)
Important Information (including contact information)
This section is usually the first thing people put together when creating a home binder. And it’s usually the first section in your home binder for easy access and visibility.
It can include contact information for schools, work, friends, the pet sitter, family members, police (emergency and non-emergency number), ambulance, and more.
You’ll want this information laid out nice and clearly so you can find what you need with just a quick glance.
You could create your own contact sheet, or you could go to Etsy and get a printable contact list like the one shown above.
Emergency Information
Your important information section could also include emergency information such as important medical information, allergies, and doctor’s phone numbers.
I know some people create a different section entirely for emergencies they call “ICE” which stands for “In Case of Emergency.”
You could brainstorm different potential emergencies that could arise, and then write down information on how to deal with that emergency.
For instance, if there is a hole in the roof, who will you call?
List of Important Dates
Do you ever have that feeling that a day feels special for some reason but you don’t know why. Like there is something about that day you should remember, but you don’t know what it is.
Well to avoid missing family and friends’ birthdays you could write down these important dates in one big list.
Then you’ll know at a quick glance, “oh yeah, today is Aunt Helga’s birthday.”
Cleaning Schedule
Do you feel like you never quite get around to cleaning everything?
Or do you have spots in your home that have gotten dirty due to neglect? (Such as kitchen cabinet doors covered in food drips.)
Well, creating a cleaning schedule or cleaning checklist section in your home binder can help keep you on track.
It doesn’t have to be exotic. A simple cleaning plan is usually adequate.
And you can designate different tasks to different family members: spread the labor around. And keep track of what gets done in this section.
You could put kids chores and responsibilities in this section too. (More on this below.)
The cleaning schedule printable in the picture above is from OvCreativeStudio on Etsy. And not only is it printable, but it’s editable too.
You can print it out blank (like shown), or you can edit it on your computer to add in the cleaning tasks you want done and on what day. Very cool.
Other Ideas to put in your Cleaning Schedule Section:
- daily cleaning checklists
- weekly cleaning checklists
- monthly cleaning schedule
- yearly cleaning schedule (often ties in closely with home maintenance)
- Spring Cleaning Checklist
- Fall Cleaning Checklist
Meal Planning
Some people like to have a section of their home binder dedicated to meal planning.
This could include extra blank meal planning templates that are printed out when needed.
Or it could include a list of your family’s favorite meals (this can make meal planning easier).
You may want to have a grocery list section too.
I like to use meal planners that have a shopping list right on it.
Check out these free printables I made. (It’ll take you to my article dedicated to meal planning.)
They’re in PDF format and they allow you to plan out your weekly meals.
Plus, you could keep a page dedicated to monthly meal and food expenses. (This ties in with the “Budget” section described later in this article.)
Monthly Calendar
You may want to use your home binder as a home-based planner too. This is especially true if you’ve got kids in lots of extracurricular activities or school groups.
You can keep track of family members’ appointments, games, school activities, car appointments, doctor’s visits, and more on the monthly calendar.
A full-page “month at a glance” calendar works for most people…as long as the calendar boxes are large enough to allow multiple entries per day. Below is an editable PDF monthly calendar (all 12 months) from SunnyLoveCreations on Etsy.
Another option would be to buy a smaller calendar, one that’ll fit in a sheet protector, and keep that inside your ome binder.
(Most people still keep their daily schedule in a different smaller planner or on their phone because they don’t want to pack around a letter-size piece of paper with them everywhere they go.)
Important Papers and Documents
Some people choose to put their important documents inside some page protectors or zippered sheaths, and then store them in their home binder.
This could include:
- passports
- birth certificates
- insurance papers
- titles for vehicles, property, etc…
- mortgage documents
If you don’t want to keep these documents in your home organization binder you could store them elsewhere in your house and write down instructions on where to find those documents. Keep the instructions in your binder.
For instance, you could write on a paper something like, “The kids’ birth certificates are in the shoe box in the closet.” Or some other way to trigger your memory so you can quickly find your important papers when needed.
A Budget Section / Money Section
In this section you could track your family’s budget and bills.
I’ve found an easy solution to keeping track of household bills…and making sure I pay the right amount.
I created it in Microsoft Word. It isn’t fancy.
I separated the page into 4 quadrants. Each quadrant represents a month. Then under each month I write the name of the company that I pay the bill too.
I print off the three sheets and I’ve got a monthly bill template for all 12 months.
Then when I receive a monthly bill I use a pen to write the bill amount next to the company’s name.
I have made a generic form of my bill utility template in a Word Document that you can download and edit it to suit your needs. (For instance, you can change “Cell Phone:” to the name of your cell phone provider. And the same with “Credit Card”.)
Below is a screenshot my blank bills template. It is a Word Document ( docx format). Click the pic below to download this document and start organizing your bill payments.
The Budget Section or Money Section in your Home Organization Binder could contain:
- Credit Card Debt Tracker
- Credit Card Repayment Goals
- Savings Goal (what are you saving up for? Keep track of it with a savings goal sheet.)
- Loan amounts and payment schedule
- Household Purchase tracker / Expense tracker (keep track of where your money goes each month)
Chore Charts and Responsibility Charts
With a documented chore chart you won’t hear the “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that” excuse anymore.
Writing down the chores and responsibilities of each family member for each day is one of the best ways to ensure everyone knows what is expected of them.
Just like running a company, when you’re “running” a family it is important to set expectations. Chore charts and responsibility charts help do this.
What could you include in your chore charts?
- Who takes out the garbage and recycle
- Who feeds the animals or cleans up the waste
- Who does their own laundry and on what days (especially if you’ve got teens fighting over the washing machine)
- Who empties the dishwasher or does the dishes on certain days
- Who sweeps and/or vacuums the floors and on what days
Want some free chore chart printables? Click here to check out the 5 weekly chore charts I created.
Home Maintenance Section
A section dedicated home maintenance is a good idea to have in your home organization binder.
This could include To Do Lists, Spring Checklists and Fall home maintenance checklists.
For instance, to prepare for winter you may have to turn off exterior water faucets and blow-out your underground irrigation systems.
Write this stuff down and have it in one convenient document.
It’s a good idea to include the contact information for the service companies you use too. Write down the plumbers you use, HVAC company you deal with, irrigation company, etc…
Then you’ll have all this information is in one convenient location. This is an especially great idea if you go away and have a house-sitter or someone checking in on your property. If they spot a problem, they’ll know who to call.
To save some time you could staple the companies’ business cards to a piece of paper.
Other Things to include in the Home Maintenance Binder Section
- paint swatches (keep track of paint you used during remodeling)
- receipts for home repairs
- warranties for home appliances
- copies of the home inspection from when you bought the house (you can use as a checklist for what repairs to make)
Vehicle and Car Repair/Service Records
A properly maintained and serviced vehicle will be more reliable and will better retain its resale value.
Keep track of what repairs have been done, what needs to be done and when they should be done. When a vehicle repair or maintenance should be performed can depend on either driving a certain number of miles or a set period of time.
In this vehicle section of your home organization binder you could have:
- a vehicle maintenance log
- mileage tracker
- warranty information
- contact information for the car dealer, warranty provider, load provider, and mechanic
Password Tracker
It seems like every second website wants you to log in nowadays. Keeping track of all those passwords can be difficult.
To make it a little easier you could create a section in your home organization binder dedicated to passwords and website log-in usernames.
You could also list passwords for any streaming services you subscribe to, online bill payment companies, and more.
Health Information Section
In a health information section of your home organization binder you could write down:
- list of diagnosed medical conditions and allergies for each family member
- what to do in certain medical situations or crises
- name and contact info for family doctors, specialists, other involved health care professionals
- list of prescription medications including number of refills remaining
- Pharmacy contact number and address
- Health Insurance provider and contact information
- and other information pertinent to your family’s medical conditions
Depending on your family’s needs this could become quite a large section. And important one too.
It can be confusing remembering different medications, when they’re due to be refilled at the pharmacy, how many refills left, etc… This is the kind of thing a well-organized home organization binder could really help you with.
Pet Information Section
We don’t want to forget about our pets.
In a pet information section you could write down the name of your pets, a description of your pet and even attach a photo of each pet to the paper.
This section is particularly helpful if you have pet sitters.
You could write down the veterinarian’s contact information, feeding information, medication information, likes and dislikes, and lots more.
Home Utilities and Service Providers Information Section
If you want to quickly find the contact information for the companies that provide your home services and utilities like natural gas, electricity, cable, phone, etc… then consider having a dedicated section in your home organization binder.
You could write down the name of the company, the service they provide, the usual cost per month, the contact information for the company, and perhaps any website log-in information.
Plus, you could document when you started receiving the service from the company and any special discounts you may be receiving and when they expire.
(Then you could negotiate at the end of the discount and say, “I’ve been with you for ____ number of years now…”)
Home Organization Binder Printable Bundles
As you can see there are lots of things that you could put into a home organization binder.
You can create your own sheets and lists or buy premade templates from websites like Etsy.
You could buy individual printables that suit your needs: like one for budgeting and one for cleaning schedules.
Or you could buy a printable pack where you get a whack of home management printables in one convenient bundle.
Below are some popular home organization bundles on Etsy. Do any of them catch your eye? Do they have the sheets you need to better organize your home life?
Click the pictures below to see more details of the bundles on Etsy.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this list of home organization binder ideas.
And I hope these ideas will help you implement a household management system that gets things running a little smoother around your house.
If there any ideas you think I should add to the list, please leave a comment below.
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