So not to say my parents failed me but like most kids I didn't grow up specifically being taught how to handle adulthood. I watched my parents and grandparents do it but there was no "here this is how you organize and this is what you need". Probably because they didn't either and now that I'm an adult I realize just how much they were making it up as they went along.
I'm starting to get a handle on this whole adult thing. We've bought a car- several actually- and a house, gotten health insurance, life insurance, homeowners insurance, car insurance, filed taxes. I've even managed to plan meals and learn to make butter and bread and cheese. I've raised a cow, and goats and pigs. Slaughtered our own animals and nursed sick ones back to health. I think I'm doing pretty good for the crash course life has given me. I may not be valedictorian but I think I'm at least on the honor roll. But I'm hoping to save other people from having a crash course.
So today I'll start by talking about creating a family planner. I tried for several years mostly unsuccessfully to manage a household with no organizational skills. I'm one of those people to whom organization doesn't come naturally. Given my nature my house could have best been described as "there appears to have been a crime" or a "someone played jumanji here". Eeek! Not how you want your house to look either for yourself and you hope your guests think that even though you live on a farm you don't live in one. Plus its not very conducive to your sanity to run around like a chicken with its head cut off doing a million different things. The thing that changed my life was having a family planner.
There is no right or wrong way to have a family planner. Each family has different needs. You might be able to get away with a cheapie one from Walmart that just has weekly and monthly but for us that wasn't enough.
So here is what you might want to include in yours. You can find all these nifty print outs free on Pinterest and I'll include links to a few favorites here:
At the front:
- Chore chart -these are great to laminate and stick on the fridge!
- Cleaning plan- truth be told I created my own by reorganizing this to fit our needs and layout of our house but its a great starting point. Another one that definitely should be on the fridge.
- Yearly bill schedule -instead of just putting a checkmark mark the date they were paid, that way if you have a dispute you can flip exactly to your bank statement or checkbook and show paid without digging
- Important information- don't forget poison control, and the utilities especially gas if you have it, laminate and stick a copy to the fridge so you aren't fumbling through when you need it. Remember you lose manual dexterity in an emergency the less you need to move your fingers the faster you'll get the info.
- Utilities Providers
- Address Book
- Dates to Remember
- Website logins and passwords- Remember don't put your bank stuff on here for the world to see.
- Tax Checklist- keeping on top of things through out the year can mean a bigger tax break when the time comes.
- To Do List- This is your master to do list and goal setting spot. Every big project for the year goes here.
- Month at a Glance
- To do list- printed on the back of the month at a glance, its the same one as above
- Budget This is another one of those you might be better off using a blank
- Weekly Planner (for us this includes a meal plan and grocery list)
- Bank account information
- Credit or Debit Card numbers
- Birth Certificates
- Social Security Cards
- Homeschooling plans
Remember this an overview. If you put to much really in depth stuff in it you'll miss things. This is also a binder that will be used frequently and sitting out for the whole world to see so don't put things you wouldn't want the world to see.
Now all of my favorites are linked if you click on each one but if it doesn't suit you head on over to Pinterest or Google and find your own favorites. If you don't see anything that suits your needs both Canva and PicMonkey are free online and allow you to create your very own with a little time. If you don't want something as fancy there is always Microsoft Word. If you don't have that Google Drive is easily available online for free.
So this post wouldn't be complete without a brief explanation on how I use mine and some other ways you might want to use yours. First thing is first I fill out everything in the front section. I print a copy of the chore chart and laminate it, that goes on the kiddos bedroom door. You can use stars, or dry erase markers to mark off things done. Its a great way to keep them on task and you can break chores down to as big or small portions as you need. A 3yr old might need a sticker showing a made bed, and a toy box. An older child might just have it written down to clean their room. Cleaning plan also gets an extra copy printed and laminated. You can check mark or cross of things as they are done. Yearly bill schedule gets filled out using the monthly budget. It keeps us on top of making sure things are paid on time every month. Important information is another one to go on the fridge. Our fridge gets crowded so only important info and cleaning go there. The rest of the yearly is mostly self explanatory. I see the tax checklist missed a lot but being on top of that can pay dividends so I think its worth including. We also have monthly envelopes to keep track of everything on the tax checklist by month.
After all that is prepped, we fill out each month's info. I start by going and highlighting pay days. Then we have a different color for doctors appointments, school/work stuff, and social occasions. You might find it easier to use different colors for different people. We also have a monthly to do list based on the yearly master to do list. Often we have large projects that need to be scheduled months out but we can't nail down an exact time til its closer. We tend to have yearly goals we want to accomplish and this is a way to break them down into manageable chunks both financially and time wise. It allows us to set aside the needed money ahead of time to get things done or save longer term. The monthly budget is more in depth than yearly bills. Its an actual budget (don't worry we'll talk about that later too), and it includes EVERYTHING. Our weekly planner is our life force. Where the monthly gives me a heads up of major occurrences weekly gives me enough for day to day life. Our weekly schedule includes a meal planner at the bottom and grocery list. We do shopping once a week so its perfect to plan meals out and pick up the stuff needed. (Another one we'll hit on later). Some people may find that a daily planner is better for them, it really depends on their schedule.
To print all this I ran through 1 box of ink for $24 (to be fair we were already really low) and got a binder for $1.50. Not as cheap as the basic ones at the store but much cheaper than the $50-60 designer ones and the best part is its exactly what you need. If you don't already have one and you feel like your life is chaotic and needs some organization, this is really a must have.
Its January now, so a perfect time to get started on a Family Planner. Commit to checking first thing in the morning and reviewing it just before bed to make sure you are up to date on everything.
So this post wouldn't be complete without a brief explanation on how I use mine and some other ways you might want to use yours. First thing is first I fill out everything in the front section. I print a copy of the chore chart and laminate it, that goes on the kiddos bedroom door. You can use stars, or dry erase markers to mark off things done. Its a great way to keep them on task and you can break chores down to as big or small portions as you need. A 3yr old might need a sticker showing a made bed, and a toy box. An older child might just have it written down to clean their room. Cleaning plan also gets an extra copy printed and laminated. You can check mark or cross of things as they are done. Yearly bill schedule gets filled out using the monthly budget. It keeps us on top of making sure things are paid on time every month. Important information is another one to go on the fridge. Our fridge gets crowded so only important info and cleaning go there. The rest of the yearly is mostly self explanatory. I see the tax checklist missed a lot but being on top of that can pay dividends so I think its worth including. We also have monthly envelopes to keep track of everything on the tax checklist by month.
After all that is prepped, we fill out each month's info. I start by going and highlighting pay days. Then we have a different color for doctors appointments, school/work stuff, and social occasions. You might find it easier to use different colors for different people. We also have a monthly to do list based on the yearly master to do list. Often we have large projects that need to be scheduled months out but we can't nail down an exact time til its closer. We tend to have yearly goals we want to accomplish and this is a way to break them down into manageable chunks both financially and time wise. It allows us to set aside the needed money ahead of time to get things done or save longer term. The monthly budget is more in depth than yearly bills. Its an actual budget (don't worry we'll talk about that later too), and it includes EVERYTHING. Our weekly planner is our life force. Where the monthly gives me a heads up of major occurrences weekly gives me enough for day to day life. Our weekly schedule includes a meal planner at the bottom and grocery list. We do shopping once a week so its perfect to plan meals out and pick up the stuff needed. (Another one we'll hit on later). Some people may find that a daily planner is better for them, it really depends on their schedule.
To print all this I ran through 1 box of ink for $24 (to be fair we were already really low) and got a binder for $1.50. Not as cheap as the basic ones at the store but much cheaper than the $50-60 designer ones and the best part is its exactly what you need. If you don't already have one and you feel like your life is chaotic and needs some organization, this is really a must have.
Its January now, so a perfect time to get started on a Family Planner. Commit to checking first thing in the morning and reviewing it just before bed to make sure you are up to date on everything.
