Ok, so that is a long title for a notebook, but I haven’t figured out exactly what to call it yet. Any suggestions?
You have probably seen people talking (well, posting) about their household notebooks. Some call it a home management binder, or something similar. I have one and absolutely LOVE it, so I took the idea and adapted it for another area where I felt it would help.
We have recently began bulk shopping at Sam’s and Costco in an effort to become more efficient and also to save money. I have research new recipes and planned menus to use ingredients that we can buy in bulk. With all of this research and new way of shopping, I needed something to help me stay organized, thus the new notebook.
I keep a clip on the front to hold my shopping list (yes, I take it along with us, and yes, I have gotten a few comments about being very organized, hehe). In the front pocket I keep our current menu for the week, and any recipes I might need. I punched holes into a zip-lock bag to store my highlighters (yes, I color code, hehe), a pen, and a calculator. My first divider is titled “Grocery Price Lists”. In this section I have a spreadsheet where I write each item and it’s size, cost, and unit price, and what store we bought it from. As I write the price down, I highlight the item on the receipt so that I know it has been entered. I use color coding to know whether it is a recurring expense, a one time purchase, or an item that needs to be returned. I then put the receipt in a pocket under the last divider, titled “Receipts”. I have a pocket for each month.
My second divider is titled “Shopping Lists”, and that is where I keep our shopping lists once we are finished with them. I like to date them and keep them so that we can track whether we are staying on track or buying items that we did not include in our list. (we are sooooo bad about doing that, especially at Wal-mart, hehe).
The third divider is “Menus”, which is where I keep all of our menus.
The fourth divider is “Pantry Inventory” which has a spread sheet to inventory our pantry. I have not completed it yet, but it’s on my to-do list.
The next divider is “Freezer Inventory”. Same deal as the pantry one, and also on my to-do list.
Then I have a section for “Notes”, which is there in case I need to jot something down, or make a note to myself while shopping, or menu planning.
And then the last section is “Receipts”. Here I have a sheet protector for each month, and after logging a receipt I just slip it into the pocket. I like to staple my receipts into categories (Wal-mart, Bulk Shopping, Restaurants, Gas…) to make it easier for me to find a receipt. I have found this makes it so simple if we need to return an item, we know exactly where the receipt is.
Ok, so reading back through this, I have to acknowledge that I am a total dork and probably have obsessive compulsive tendencies (probably?), but hey, it works for us. I have to admit that I have my household management notebook, and a notebook for homeschooling in addition to this one, oh and I have one where I keep activities for the liturgical calendar too. Well, ok, I probably have an organization addiction, but my husband thinks it’s cute:)
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