I used to have a “control journal,” a la FlyLady.  I ended up dismantling it, though, as it really didn’t work for me.  However, in early 2006 I came across a blog post (unfortunately now defunct, and not archived) with links to several other ladies’ binders which used an overall structure better-suited to my needs.  Besides, just seeing how so many different ladies compile their binders helped spark my more creative side.  So, I decided to recompile my binder and try again, and this system, with occasional minor tweaks, has served me well for many years.

Home Management Binder Overview

My home management binder/household notebook has the following sections:

• General
• Cleaning
• Kitchen
• Child Training/Homeschooling
• Projects
• Health & Fitness
• Emergency Preparedness
• Ideas/Fun
• Holidays
• Articles
• Decorating

The rest of this post will give a quick overview of what’s in each section, but the links lead to additional posts that explain more thoroughly.

General

The “General” section of my home management binder contains overall household plans.

• daily routine/schedule
• weekly plan

Cleaning

The “Cleaning” section of the household notebook is fairly self-explanatory, and includes my:

• zone rotation list
• deep cleaning task lists

Kitchen

The “Kitchen” section may include:

• menus w/ their master shopping lists
• master grocery list (for copying)
• bulk foods list (maybe)

Child Training & Homeschooling

I planned this out before I even had school-age children, so what I anticipated putting in here and what I actually put in here may not be the same, but your needs may vary. The “Child Training/Homeschooling” section could include:

• list of verses I’d like the kids to memorize (eventually)
• “school” activities log
• list of items (verses, etc.) to work on currently
• basic weekly plan
• Dewey Decimal chart (by 10’s)

Projects

“Projects” includes:

• master project list
• notes for current projects

Health & Fitness

“Health & Fitness” includes (or may include):

• exercise log (& master for copying)
• medicine log master (for copying)
• vaccination exemption form and/or letter
• basic records (Files will go in filing cabinet.)
• the social services page everyone keeps talking about (maybe)

Emergency Preparedness

“Emergency/Preparedness” includes:

• list of emergency numbers
• emergency info – location of fuse box, etc.
• housesitter information sheet
• petsitter information sheet
• list of items for emergency evacuation backpacks
• home inventory
• list of locations of important documents
• copy of will
• list of credit card numbers, bank accounts, etc.

Ideas/Fun

“Ideas/Fun” could include:

• list of movies to watch
• list of movies to buy
• list of fun family activity options?
• reading log (may stay separate)
• library lookup list
• “ask ____ about ____” list

Holidays

The “Holidays” section of the home management binder includes:

• gift idea lists
• notes of this year’s holiday dates
• holiday book (more info later)
• cookbook (more info later)
• list of hopechest ideas
• list of ideas for “special” birthdays

Articles

I keep an “Articles” section in my household notebook for some key homemaking/femininity-related articles I find particularly inspirational.

Decorating

“Decorating” wasn’t part of my original plan, but I found it useful to add it later. This is a space to keep ideas for décor, paint chips and/or fabric swatches, etc.

Prayer

My original plan tentatively included a Prayer Journal section, and some readers may still prefer this. I personally have a separate Prayer Notebook, so I don’t need a section for this in my home management binder.

Other

You can also click over to find information about my cover, and miscellaneous notes.

For instance,

• Include a pen/pens, a dry erase marker, and/or post-it flags in a zipper pouch.
• Keep the Scripture passage I’m currently working to memorize in the front of the book.
• Use portions of Scripture verses for section headings, as inspiration.  For example, “She makes her arms strong,” for the exercise/health tab.

Updated 15 Feb 2025. Originally posted 10 Feb 2006.