With the new year comes new year’s resolutions. And one that my husband and I have decided to achieve together is to become more organized. And it is perfect timing to do so–he just got hired at a new job out of state, so we will be moving within the next month! Between that and having our second son, it will be a pretty stressful, rushed time! However, once it’s all said and done, we’ll have a new home in a new state and, therefore, a clean slate to work with (plus, having just moved, we’ll have gotten rid of a bunch of junk!).

One way I have been able to keep organized in the past is by keeping a Home Management Notebook (also known as a Home Management Binder; I’ll refer to it as an HMN for short from here on). I use this notebook presently, but not as extensively as I used to.

Well, when we resolved to become organized this year, I decided to revive my HMN to its fullest potential. So I purchased a new 3-ring binder, some plastic tabbed dividers (I hate the cheap cardstock ones for something I’m going to use often like my HMN), then designed a bunch of helpful papers to put to use in it.

Here’s how our HMN is organized (you can find printables for most of these items below):

• Front of Binder
  • Quick Contacts
  • plastic sleeve for business cards
• Tab 1: Finances
  • Billing Checklist
  • Billing Schedule & Contacts
  • Budget
  • Transactions
  • Credit/Debit Card Information
  • pocket to store bills that need attention
• Tab 2: People
  • Contact Information
  • Birthdays & Anniversaries
  • pocket for birthday/anniversary cards
• Tab 3: Food
  • Menu Items
  • Menu Plans
  • Master Inventory Chart
  • Master Grocery List
  • Grocery List Categorized
• Tab 4: Home
  • Housecleaning Checklist
  • Tasks
  • To Do List
  • Upgrades Checklist
• Tab 5: Health
  • Immunization Records
  • Medical Records
• Tab 6: Other
  • Insurance Information
  • Internet Passwords
• Tab 7: House Notes
  • instructions on how to use the remotes for the TV and DVD player for guests or babysitters
  • instructions on where to find things and take care of the kids for guests or babysitters
  • instructions on how to feed the animals for guests or house sitters
  • instructions on how to use the washer and dryer for guests

What You Need for Your Own HMN

To make your own HMN, here’s what you’ll need:

• a binder (a 1-inch binder should do, but if you’re really stuffing it, get a thicker one)
• dividers (I like these plastic ones)
• zipper binder pocket (optional, but nice for storing pens and pencils for quick access)
• plastic sleeves for business cards (optional, but helpful for keeping important business cards)
• binder pockets (optional, but come in handy for several things)
• blank notebook paper (optional, but convenient for jotting things down)
• some (or all) of the free printables below

Free Printables

• Front of Binder
  • Cover
    • A cute cover that says “Our Home Management Notebook.”
  • Spine–.5 inch, 1 inch, 1.5 inch, or 3 inch
    • Techincally not for the front, but kinda-sorta is. Maybe.
  • Quick Contacts
    • Has boxes to enter important information such as emergency contacts, ICE contacts, doctors, and commonly-used information (such as hubby’s workplace info).
• Finances
  • Billing Checklist
    • This is to keep track of which bills are auto-pay and also to check off which bills have been paid each month (prevents late bill payments).
  • Billing Passwords
    • Keeps track of usernames and passwords for online bill paying.
  • Billing Schedule & Contacts
    • Lists when each bill is due as well contains information of each billing company should need to get in touch.
  • Budget
    • A standard sheet for planning where your money goes.
  • Credit/Debit Card Information
    • Lists each credit or debit card company, their contact info, and the last 4 digits of each credit/debit card.
  • Debt Tracker
    • Helps to keep track of what debts you owe, how much, and how much is being added or subtracted from these debts.
  • Zero-Balance Budget
    • A budget system based off of Dave Ramsey’s teachings.
  • Occasional Expenses
    • Helps to remind you of occasional expenses such as car registration.
  • Transactions
    • Helps you to track where all of your money is going.
• Food
  • Grocery List Basic
    • A blank, basic grocery list.
  • Grocery List Categorized
    • A blank grocery list sheet with broad categories.
  • Master Grocery List
    • A pre-filled out grocery list which checkboxes. This is especially handy to look over before you go shopping in case you forgot anything on your basic or categorized shopping list.
  • Master Inventory Chart
    • Helps you to keep track of what you have in the pantry, fridge, freezer, and in storage (both food and non-food).
  • Weekly Menu Plans
    • Has boxes for each day of the week to fill in your menu plans.
  • Two-Week Menu Plans
    • Has boxes to fill out each day for two weeks.
  • Menu Ideas
    • A chart split into various food categories so you can write down every dish you regularly make. Makes menu planning really easy because you just look at this list and decide what dishes to make.
• Health
  • Breasfeeding Tracker
    • Tracks things like when you breastfeed, what side, and what baby does in his diaper.
  • Diabetic Health Record
    • Tracks your blood sugar levels and ketones.
  • Fertility Chart
    • Tracks your cycle (perfect for birth control or trying to get pregnant).
  • Immunization Record
    • Tracks your child’s immunizations (print one per child).
  • Intake Record
    • Tracks what you’re eating and drinking (great for weight loss plans).
  • Medical Record
    • Tracks family history, medications, and more.
  • Baby/Toddler Dosage Chart
    • Gives the dosages of acetaminophen and ibuprofen recommended for babies and toddlers. You can find a cute duck-themed version of this printable in my Totally Toddler {And Adult} Friendly Bathroom post.
  • Over-the-Counter Pregnancy Safe Medications
    • Informs the expecting mom what medications she can take and which to avoid (always ask doctor first, too).
• Home
  • Daily Tasks
    • A blank list to write down what chores must be done daily.
  • Weekly Tasks
    • A blank list to write down what chores must be done weekly.
  • Monthly Tasks
    • A blank list to write down what chores must be done monthly.
  • Annual Tasks
    • A blank list to write down what chores must be donw annually.
  • Tasks
    • A blank list to write down what chores must be done daily, weekly, monthly, and annually.
  • Housecleaning Checklist
    • A list detailing what housecleaning chores must be done each week (has blank lines to add more).
  • To Do List
    • A list to write down what repairs and maintenance items need done about the house.
  • Upgrades Checklist
    • A list to write down what upgrades need or want to be done.
• People
  • Birthdays & Anniversaries
    • Has monthly boxes to write down loved ones’ names, the special date, and to mark whether each event is a birthday or anniversary.
  • Contact Information
    • Basically a printable address book to put in your binder.
  • Gift Tracker
    • Helps you to keep track of what gifts you got family/friend members. Great for long-distance relationships and for tracking gifts that are already wrapper.
  • Wish List
    • A sheet to write down wish list items for holiday shopping.
• Other
  • Calendar
    • A monthly calendar.
  • Important Numbers
    • To list individualized numbers like social security, driver’s license, medical card, student ID, and so on.
  • Insurance Information
    • Keeps track of all your insurance info and when it expires.
  • Internet Passwords
    • Tracks your usernames and passwords.

Are you a blogger? Be sure to check out my Blogging Binder post with free printables.

Want a binder just for money matters? Check out my Money Binder post with free printables.

Trying to lose weight with Trim Healthy Mama? Put my THM binder printables to us.

Can you think of anything else that’d be helpful in a Home Management Binder? Leave your ideas below in a comment and I might make a printable based off of it!

Important Note: These printables took time to make. Please respect my work for giving them away freely and do not copy or sell my ideas. Thank you kindly!