Kid Memory Binders

I just came across a fabulous post over at Reluctant Entertainer!

Kid Memory Binders: Organized and Easy!

I was so happy when I read this post, or maybe it’s kind of sad to say that I was happy to hear that other moms are too busy to scrapbook too!

I have had some great intentions of someday creating scrapbooks for my kids. I have the actual scrapbooks, the paper and some other fun little stuff to go in the scrapbooks all stored in an organizing tote under a bed. What I don’t have is the time to sit down and actually do the scrap-booking right now!

I also have stacks of papers, cards, pictures and special items that I have saved with the intention of, someday, getting them into a scrapbook!

This idea, with the binders and page protectors is something I can do! It does not feel too overwhelming to me, and if I want I can start with this year! I don’t have to start at the very beginning when my kids were babies, and what a perfect time to start… Jan 2010!

So, head on over to Reluctant Entertainer and read Sandy’s post:

Kid Memory Binders: Organized and Easy!

She gives some great tips and instructions for putting together a Kid Memory Binder ~ Thanks Sandy!

The 2010 printable calendars are perfect for your Household Planner, Home Management Notebook, Household Notebook or whatever you may call it!

You can also print out these calendars to hang on your wall or on your family bulletin board for the whole family to see.

Keeping an accessible calendar that you can record your family events, activities, appointments etc. on is an essential part of keeping you and your family organized and your every day routines running smoothly!

I have just added the 2010 Free Calendars to my Calendars Page, there are a few different versions available. There are dated calendars with US Holidays or dated with no Holidays, I also have some blank calendar templates that you can fill in your own dates.

Click here to visit my Calendars Page and to download a Free 2010 Printable Calendar

If you are looking for a little more structure and organization to your calendar, I also have Customized Printable Calendars that are designed for busy moms and women. They include customized sections and places to record goals for the month.

Uses for a Printable Monthly Calendar:

• Household Planner, Notebook or Binder
• Put it on the Family Bulletin Board
• Hang it on the Wall or Fridge
• For your Teens or Tweens

Share with us what type of calendar keeps you and your family organized! Leave a comment below!

PR: 0 I: 184 L: wait… LD: 203 I: 13 wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

Christmas is coming! As much as we try to deny it and push it out of our minds, it is on it’s way… 8 weeks and counting! Ok, I’m sure that some of you are already on the ball and  have started your Holiday Planning.

I’m having a hard time getting into it, but I know I had better get started and the first thing I always like to do is figure out my Christmas Budget.

It’s time to get your Holiday Budget figured out and start planning your Christmas gift spending.

When you have a plan and have an idea of what your expenses are going to be, you are much more likely to stay on track with your spending and stick to your budget.

Hopefully, you have some money set aside for the Holidays or can save it up in the next 2 months so you don’t have to Finance Christmas. I have heard a lot of talk from folks who are going pretty simple and frugal this year (myself included) and if this is you, there are still some expenses to be expected.

I have a little Christmas present for you…

5 Free Excel Christmas Budget Worksheets

These worksheets will help you figure out your budget and keep track of all of your gift spending and even figure out your budget for next year so you can start saving in January of the new year!

There are 5 worksheets that will automatically calculate when you enter your numbers!

• Christmas Budget – figure out how much money you need for various expense categories this Holiday Season
• Family Christmas Gift Budget – for the immediate family, keep track of the gift, storage location, budgeted amount and actual spent for each family member
• Christmas Gift Budget - for extended family & friends, keep track of the gift, storage location, budgeted amount, actual spent for each person and your remaining balance
• Grandparent’s Christmas Gift Budget – for the kids, grand-kids & great grand-kids, keep track of the gift, storage location, budgeted amount, actual spent for each person and your remaining balance
• Next Year’s Christmas Budget – calculate your expenses for this year and estimate any additional expenses for next year, get your total and start saving in January for a debt free Holiday in December

Feel free to share this Christmas Budget with your family & friends, or post on your blog or website! http://www.thehouseholdplanner.com/gettingorganized/free-excel-holiday-budget-worsheets/	Free Holiday Budget Worksheets Grab this Code: <a href=”http://www.thehouseholdplanner.com/gettingorganized/free-excel-holiday-budget-worsheets” mce_href=”http://www.thehouseholdplanner.com/gettingorganized/free-excel-holiday-budget-worsheets” target=”_blank”>Free Holiday Budget Worksheets</a>
Click Here to Download the Free Excel Christmas Budget Worksheets (office 2007 version) If you have problems downloading this version, you may need an older version. Click here to download the Free Excel Christmas Budget Worksheets (office 97-2003 Version) All of the pages are included in one workbook or file, to get to a different page just click the page tabs at the bottom of the sheets. Be sure to save this file to your computer after you download and open it. If you do not have Excel on your computer, you can download for FREE, OpenOffice which has a Spreadsheet Program by clicking here.	Here’s what you will find: Christmas & Holidays Budget
Family Christmas Gift Budget	Extended Family & Friends Christmas Gift Budget
Grandparents Christmas Gift Budget	Next Year's Christmas Budget

Good luck with your Holiday Budgeting this year and I hope this helps you out a little! Be sure to check out The Holiday Planner, it is filled with checklists, charts and templates to help make your Holiday Planning as stress-free and organized as possible!

Please share your thoughts on the Excel Christmas Budget Worksheets by leaving a comment below!

Making a Household Planner, Home Management Binder, Home Organizer, Household Notebook or whatever you want to call it, is easy!

You first need to decide what you want to include in your planner. The great thing about a household planner is that you can customize it! This is not a “One size fits all” type of thing, every household has different needs. A family with small children will need different pages in their planner than a single woman with no children at home.

Be sure to read What is a Household Planner? to see a list of possible categories.

Household Planner Materials Needed:

Lots of inside pockets – Fantastic!

• 3 Ring Binder – standard size
• Tabbed Dividers
• 3 Hole Punch
• Pocket Folders (optional)
• Page Protectors (optional)
• Business Card Holder (optional)
• Your Printed Household Planner Pages!

Household Planner Supplies

<< Shop The Household Planner Supplies on Amazon >>

1. Print out your Household Planner Pages

3 Hole Punch & Household Planner Pages

You can add as many sections as you want or leave out the sections you don’t need. You can also start simple and just add a few sections at a time. It’s your planner so do whatever works for you!

How to find Printable Planner Pages:

• You can make your own planner pages
• Search online for free templates to download – “household printables, household checklists, home planning pages, printable organizer”
• Visit my Free Household Planner Printables page or my Printable Products Page for pre-made, ready to use Planning Pages including the Household Information Forms, Calendars, Weekly Planning Pages, Phone Directory, Housework Planner, Meal Planner, Financial Planner

Printing Tips:

• Print your pages back to back to save on paper
• For a smaller planner (8.5″ x 5.5″ page) you can print 2 pages per sheet, cut and trim your pages and then you will have smaller pages to fit your smaller planner

So, print out those pages and punch holes in them so you can pop them into your binder!

2. Label your Dividers and put them into your Binder

Depending on what sections or categories you are planning to include in your Household Planner, label your divider tabs. You don’t have to use actual divider tabs, you could make your own by putting plain or card-stock paper into a page protector and adding a self-stick tab.  You can decorate your dividers if you wish.

Organize them by putting the sections you will use the most in the font of your binder. This is something the whole family can use, so if you have older kids, be sure to make the information easy for them to find too.

My kids are little, so it’s just me looking at my Household Planner.

My personal dividers are:

• Household Info
• Daily Planner
• Work (I work from home)
• Housework
• Meal Planner

I keep my Financial Planner in a separate binder, aka… the Financial Binder:)

I also plan on adding a School section this year, I now have 2 kids in school and am anticipating more activity in this category!

3. Put your Planning Pages into their Proper Section

Kind of self explanatory:)

If you find that you have too much info in one section, don’t be afraid to create another section or to customize it to suit your needs. This has to work for you or you won’t want to use it!

4. Add Optional Accessory Items

These items are not necessary, but can be quite functional and nice to have!

• Pocket folders are great for catching receipts or notes that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle. Definitely keep one in your Financial Planner and in the front of your Household Planner.
• Page Protectors are fantastic for chore checklists or any checklist that you could re-use, use with dry/wet erase markers. They are also great for those pages that will get plenty of use, like your Phone Directory.
• Binder Clips will help you quickly find a favorite spot, like your Daily Planner.
• Business Card Holder Pages are perfect for what? business cards, of course! Contain and keep track of them here.

5. Fill It In

This is not the most fun part, but is absolutely necessary! It won’t work for you unless you actually take the time to enter all of your important information! The best part is that once you fill it in, it’s done! You don’t have to throw this planner away at the end of the year, all you do is replace your calendar and you are set for next year!

Space it out, there is a lot of information to fill in, maybe you can fill out one section per week. I’m sure there are some extremely enthusiastic organizers out there who can get their info transferred in a matter of days, but for the rest of us… do what you can, when you can until you get it done. You will be VERY happy that you did:)

Just imagine… you need the policy number for your home owner’s insurance, “Oh, where did I put that? In that foot high pile of papers over there?”  – “Oh, wait! I recorded it my Household Planner! Yeah!!!” & a mini touchdown dance.

Saving yourself 20 minutes of looking for an important document… Priceless!

Making it Work for You!

The most important aspect about a Household Planner is that it is actually helping you to Get it Together & Get it Organized!

Once you are using it, you should feel that you are more organized and that you are more in control of your time and your days. You may have to adjust some things to get it to “fit just right” for you and your family.

If you have a Household Planner, please tell us about it by leaving a comment below!

I just got a fantastic deal on a Columbia Vertex jacket & snow pants plus a Gap hat & scarf for my little guy on eBay!

I did not have any luck at garage sales this year finding winter jackets, snow pants or boots for my kids. These are items that I do NOT buy at retail prices, so the next place I look is eBay ( I  love eBay:)!

These winter items are cheap on eBay right now because it is the beginning of the fall/winter season!

I got the full set for my son for $39.50, plus $7.95 for shipping, not bad. In the full swing of the selling season, this set would probably have sold for $60-70 or more. If I remember right, I think I sold my sons set last year for $60 on eBay.

I also got a pair of black Columbia snow pants for my daughter for $5.24 plus $4.99 for shipping! I had been looking for these all last year, but they were selling for at least $20 plus shipping.

So, if you are going to need winter coats and other winter gear and don’t want to pay retail prices, be sure to check out eBay!

Here are a few tips for buying or selling your winter items on eBay:

• Buy Brand Name Items - these have a much higher resale value on eBay. I have bought used Columbia sets on eBay, let my kids wear them for a year and then sold them the next season for the same price or more!
• Buy items that are in EUC (Excellent Used Condition)  and try to keep them that way!
• Sell your items in EUC – You will get more money for your stuff if it is in great shape!
• Group Items Together - sell your winter stuff in sets, ie. jacket & snow pants, you can even throw in the matching hat and mittens to make your set more valuable! The boots should probably be sold separately because foot sizes do vary, but boots are great sellers too! Again, name brand and great condition for the boots too.
• Buy your winter items in the Early or Late season to get the best prices – meaning right now (Sept/October) or late (Jan/Feb).
• Sell your items in the winter selling season, late October – December to get the best prices for your stuff!

Take a look…Search Columbia on eBay right Now!

Good luck and let me know if you find any fabulous deals!

Where do you find the best deals for your kid’s winter clothing?