The Household Binder {FREE Printables!} Part 1: To Do's, Food, & Home Maintenance

 

You've seen them around--the Family Household Binders. I've pinned them, read about them, and have been dying to put one together for quite a while now. Well, I finally did it! Now before you say, "I've seen this before," keep reading. Yes, it's a household binder like many others, but the difference here is that I'm providing the printables for FREE! Yep. Just because I like you that much!

Let's get starting putting our binder together, shall we? Here's what you'll need:

• At least a 1 inch binder but bigger would be better. I squeezed everything into a 1 inch but will be getting a bigger one when I have a chance.
• Page protectors
• Section dividers. The ones with pockets are great for this!

Today, we're going to go through the first three sections: To Do's & Calendar, Food, and Home Maintenance. Let's start with the first section, because, well, the beginning is a great place to start!

Section 1: To Do's & Calendar

To Do Section:

 
Start off the section with the To Do's Cover Sheet PDF.

 
Print the Weekly To Do's/Schedule PDF.

I put mine in a page protector, so I can fill it in with a dry erase marker and reuse it every week.

If you'd prefer to fill in your own daily items, you can download a version with a blank Daily Items section here.

Write these items down as you think of them and then schedule them on the “Weekly To Do’s/Schedule" as you are able.

You can download the To Do's & Project Ideas sheet here.

Calendar Section:

Download and print the Calendar Cover Sheet.

It's always nice to have a calendar to reference, so I printed this one from ellinee.com. Write events, birthdays, vacations, etc on the calendar. You can also use it to schedule monthly cleaning items.

Section 2: Food

Menu & Shopping List

Download and print the Menu & Shopping List cover sheet...

 ...then print a Menu and Shopping List sheet. You could even put this in a sheet protector, so you can use it over and over. I like writing on the paper for this one, but I also printed an extra one and put it in a picture frame to use as a dry erase board. The menu goes Sunday to Saturday (not as it's pictured above). 

Click here to download a one week Menu & Shopping List.

Click here to download a two week Menu & Shopping List.

Grocery Prices Tracking

I want to try to track the prices of certain groceries at different stores. Enter the Grocery Prices Tracker. It'll be a handy reference to help me decide if it's worth going to a separate store to buy an item on sale or if I should just buy it at my favorite grocery store. Can you guess what that store is?

Download the Grocery Prices cover sheet here.

Here's the Grocery Price Comparisons sheet. There's a place to write the item name and then four columns to compare prices. Since everyone likes different stores, the columns in the downloadable version are labeled Store 1, 2, 3, and 4 and then there's a place at the bottom to designate which store is which.

Download the Grocery Price Comparisons sheet here.

Coupons

You can insert your own coupon organizing method here. There are lots of ideas out there. Right now, I’m just putting my coupons in one of the divider pockets and making a list of the coupons I actually have to refer to when I’m planning shopping trips. I also used to organize my coupons this way. I don't get too many coupons anymore though, so this method is working for now.

Download the Coupons cover sheet here. 

Section 3: Home Maintenance

I used a bunch of Martha Stewart's checklists as a starting point to create home maintenance and cleaning checklists. Some of hers were so perfect that I just printed them without making my own. I'll link to those ones below when appropriate. 

I think of these lists more as wishlists than to do lists though, because if I'm honest here, there's no way I'd get everything done on the lists and still have time to do anything else...let alone blog! But you know what? I'm okay with putting off vacuuming of light fixtures if I get to spend some time with my family or chat a little with you all. That light fixture will still be there later.

 On to section 3!

Daily Household Items

These are little cleaning items you'd like to get done everyday like running a load of laundry, doing the dishes, picking up the house...you get the idea.

You can download the Daily Household Items cover here.

My daily cleaning items look like this. You can download my list here or you can download a blank version to fill out with your own list here.

My list is in a page protector, so I can use it again and again with dry erase markers.

I stumbled on the Declutter Calendar from My Simpler Life, so I printed it and put it in the Daily Household Items section too. Yes, I did accidentally print the 2012 version. No, I don't get these items done everyday, but it's great to have if you have a few extra minutes in your day. Extra minutes you say? It happens..sometimes...maybe. Okay, rarely, but when it happens, I'll be ready!

Weekly Household Items

Download the Weekly Household Items cover here.

Like the Daily Cleaning Items list, I place this list in a page protector, so I can reuse it every week. Martha's weekly cleaning list was very detailed, but I wanted mine broken into days of the week. Not everything gets done every week, but it's a good reminder, so things don't go months without being done (dusting light fixtures for example).

You can download my Weekly Cleaning List here or your can download a blank version here to fill in with your own weekly cleaning list.

Another fun item to add to the Weekly Household Items section is the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home Challenge from Home Storage Solutions 101. Some of the items overlap with the decluttering calendar in the Daily Household Items section, but when that happens, you can take a break!

Monthly Household Items

Download the Monthly Household Items cover here.

There are always those items that need to be done but only every once in a while. Print the Monthly Cleaning Items list and place it in a sheet protector, so you can mark them off each month. I try to spread them out throughout the month, so I don't have one overwhelming day. You could also pick a weekend once a month to tackle them all. 

Seasonal Household Items

For those items that just need to be done every few months or so, I created seasonal sections. I printed these seasonal lists from Martha and have links below.

Spring/Fall Household Items:

I'm going to try to complete this list both in the Spring and the Fall

Download the Spring/Fall Household Items cover here.

You can find Martha's list for Spring Cleaning here.

Summer Household Items:

Download the Summer Household Items cover here.

You can find Martha's list to prepare your home for Summer here.

Winter Household Items:

Download the Summer Household Items cover here.

You can find Martha's list to prepare your home for Winter here.

Whew! Have you gone download crazy? Are you getting excited about this Household Binder thing? I know I'm loving it! Remember, all the printables listed above from Taking Time To Create are free and will stay free. The printables linked to the other websites are free as of the writing of this post (February, 2013). 

If you're interested in a cover page like the one at the beginning of the post...

...please let me know. Since it's such a custom cover, I'm considering making printables on an individual basis for a small fee (like a dollar or two) through my Etsy shop. I haven't decided for sure yet, though, so let me know if that's something I should do (leave a comment or email me). I'd love to be able to share the cover too!

If this is the first post of the Household Binder series you're reading, don't forget to check out

Part 2: Finances, Activities, and Health & Fitness

Part 3: Blog, Etsy, Small Business, Gifts Inventory and Memories

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Mondays: Sweet Sharing Monday |  The Girl Creative | Destination: Cutesy Monday | What's In The Gunny Sack |  Made by you Monday | Make It Yourself Monday | Mop It Up Mondays | Make The Scene Monday | Make It Pretty Monday |
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