Be Intentional Challenge #27 – Put Together Your Home/Finance Binder (Free Downloads Too)

We are now on day #27 of our Be Intentional Challenges! We hope it has been wonderful, productive and life-changing so far.

And if you don’t know what we are talking about….. read our original post HERE with the links to the previous 26 challenges!

We are going to jump right into today’s challenge.  It is another step in getting your life, home and finances organized and in order so that you can spend less time manage everything and be more productive each and every day!

So…. Be Intentional Challenge #27 :

Put Together Your Home/Finance Binder

During this whole Be Intentional Challenges, we have already provided several downloads for you to put your binder together.  You may or may not have worked on getting one together, so today’s challenge is to start it or finish it!  It is amazing what having this in your hands will do for your day!

I like to use a 3-ring binder, but first try to find something around your house that will work to help keep your costs low. But if you did need to invest in a 3-ring binder, you can pick them up for just a few dollars or less.  No matter what you use just know that having the right tools from the beginning will help you start off on the right foot!

I really like having it in a 3-ring binder, it is the easiest and most practical for me.  Plus I can keep it up in my kitchen cabinet next to the fridge.  It is the easiest and most convenient way to manage my planning, no matter the season.  I have a few 3-ring binders on hand for different planners that we made for all sorts of purposes (like our Christmas planner).

Second, if you use a binder of sorts, I love having the page dividers with tabs.  I actually use the erasable tab page dividers so that I can re-use them to help save a little money.  They are very cheap and worth the investment.

You can get 8 page dividers with erasable tabs for only $1.28 with any $25 or more order on Amazon (check out other sales on Amazon in our Amazon category HERE to bundle into your order for maximum savings!) Walmart is about double the price, but still very affordable!

Another thing that is nice to have is the pocket dividers.  I actually have the binders with the pockets in the front and back built in.  Whether you use these or the pocket dividers shown below, they can all be very helpful.  I actually use the one’s pictured below for my coupon binder (I will explain why later) and I haven’t yet had a need for more than the 2 pockets in my home binder.  But customize it the way that makes sense for you.

For an example, Amazon has the plastic pocket dividers on sale for $5.88 for 8ct. with free shipping with Amazon Prime or a $25 or more order.  Again, this is cheaper than Walmart, but Walmart is still an affordable option.

One of the reasons I like the pockets…. when Alex and I do our financial reviews at night, and when I am completing my Daily Planner, I will make notes about things he has asked me to do.  For example, I have already started my weekly planner for 2/18 and one of the tasks is to cancel a service that we don’t feel we need any longer (and as we re-evaluate our budget to continue finding creative ways to cut 2% out).  I write the note under my “F” for “Finances” on my weekly planner and then stick the paper with the account details in the pocket of my binder so that I have the phone numbers and information needed to cancel it on the next business day.  I usually have a few of these types of things to take care of each week. Or let’s say that I am wanting to try a new recipe. I will stick it in the pocket to remind myself and then if we love it, it will then be 3-hole punched and stuck under the recipes tab of my binder for future use too.  Really, anything like this!

Here’s a sample of me already planning out next week, including the service I need to cancel with the paper in the front pocket.

So with the right binder and the right dividers, you can literally manage and handle your life in one place with easy access.

Use as many tabs as you need to file however makes the most sense for you.

Here’s the tabs I have in my binder (just a note, under the finance tab, I have the downloads and budget summary – our finances are managed all online and not by hand – again, a recommendation as we use something like Manilla or Mint.com plus Excel or Quickbooks.  The finance tab allows me to quickly glance at what our goals are, our current budget, etc. – not intended to manage them). Besides, Alex is a Software Engineer by trade, so you bet that every bit of our finances is managed online and in software 🙂 But I am a visual, hand’s on person and love having my financial summary sheets in my binder to help keep me on track.

We have lots of downloads all around our site, as well as other DIY docs to complete yourself that we have talked about in all of the challenges.  So be sure to review the full list of challenges to see what else you would like to add to your binder. You can also print the cover to your binder from the download image provided below.

1. Finances with these downloads and information
   1. Budgeting Forms
   2. Debts Overview Form
   3. Overview of Debt Payoff Plan
   4. Questionnaire for Developing Family Economy 2013
2. Planning with these downloads and information
   1. Weekly Printable Planner
   2. Write out your schedule and stick it in your binder
3. Home and Home Map (I keep articles, recipes for cleaners, homemaking tips, etc. under this tab) plus these downloads
   1. Home Map Downloads
   2. Printable shopping list for 26 Homemade Cleaners with Recipes using 9 ingredients for around $12
4. Menu/Recipes/Shopping List (I keep our menu and the Shopping List Price Comparison Download Here and then any printable recipes that our family likes and use often I 3-hole punch and put here too – I have many recipes I find, so most go into another book/file in my kitchen – just the common recipes otherwise this binder becomes a recipe book :))
   1. Create the Normal Shopping List with Price Comparisons
   2. Here’s a link to our recipes section of our site for more recipe ideas
   3. Menu Planning page with our popular “No Waste Food Menu Planning Download” 
5. Money Making
   1. Money Making Brainstorming Ideas
   2. Monthly Income Goals Form
6. Stuff for the Kids
   1. Develop a fun chore system – we use bag chores and there is a free download here too!
   2. Use an online chore system
7. Holiday Planning Downloads
   1. 17-Page Christmas and Holiday Planning Downloads for Free
   2. 

   Here’s a sample of my Home/Home Map tab with the Home Maps first.

   That’s how I organize mine, but create more/less tabs for your families needs.

   It is crazy how just a few minutes of putting together your binder could save you hours of time and save you loads of money! And perhaps a bit more sleep too

   The binder cover can be printed below in either color or black/white. Again, it uses very little ink either way! The picture above shows the two print options!

   Please note, if you are reading this email in our rss feed or our email newsletter, you may have to click to the post HERE to print this download. 

   <== Download your printable Home Binder Cover HERE

   One final thing….. we also have a Facebook Group where you can engage in discussions, receive encouragement and talk to others that are participating in the challenges too for more ideas! Head to the Be Intentional with The Thrifty Couple Facebook Page HERE and ask to join us there! You can also invite friends and spouses too!