Thursday, January 24, 2013

Sister Spotlight: Jenna & The Amazing Binder!


     We want to introduce you to a Seattle Sister from Renton.  
Jenna
Mother of 2 , college grad and CEO of her home!

Why we know your going to love her? She's organized and real. She gives us a peek at her real-life organization binder that she has been using for years. This is no Pinterest fling... Jenna's the real thing! She shares her simple tips that anyone could do, and ... we have a surprise for you!


How long have you been in the area?: 
"I have lived in the Seattle area about 6 years with my husband. We now have two kids ages 3 and 5. We moved from Cheney after graduating from EWU."
  
What made you into the uber organized woman you are today?
"I have always loved organization but right after my oldest was born, organization became essential for me. I had just left my full time job and needed some direction at home.
I started with a good look at myself both physically and spiritually/mentally and decided on some goals."

What was the first step to getting you and your family organized?
" I took my goals and then I started a family binder."


Can you help us see how your binder is laid out?
 "Here's a personal tour... On the first page I placed a copy of my goals and objectives as a reminder. Then I placed tabs with main headings – 
Calendar, Financial, Household, Menus and recipes, Kids and Projects."

Jenna went into a little more detail for us hopefully you can get some great ideas from her:
  • Calendar
I put this first because I refer to it the most often. You can put a monthly or weekly calendar here. I like to put both. In addition, this is where I have my “list of 7.” I write 7 things to do for that day in order of importance. If I don’t get to it all, I just start where I left off for the next day. 
  • Financial
In this section I have our family’s budget broken into fixed and variable amounts. The fixed amounts include bills that I am sure to get every month. After I pay them I put a check number next to that bill’s entry. The variable amounts have a separate page. They include items like gas, groceries, entertainment ect. And I keep track of them throughout the week.
  • Household
I don’t know about you, but I can’t keep everything clean all of the time so, in addition to the regular upkeep I have certain days of the week that I focus on specific parts of the house. For example, on Wednesdays I deep clean the bathroom. On Thursdays, I hunker down and get laundry done. This section doesn’t have to be fancy –just something to help you to remember your plan.
  • Menu and Recipes
Here I have my basic menu for the week along with some tried and true recipes placed in sheet protectors. It will only take you a second on the internet to find a ton of menu templates. The ones I like the best includes a spot to write down a grocery list.
  • Fitness
I have always found it helpful to keep track of my exercise and it is so easy. It can be on any type of paper. Just make 4 columns: Date& Time, Activity, Duration, and Mood log. As you write this information down you can use it to adjust your routine according to your personal fitness goals.
  • Kids
My kids section includes my son’s preschool schedule, any calendars for sports or other community classes they may be signed up for. Lastly, I have a list of my favorite places to go in the area. They include directions to museums, zoos and our local library schedule. I also have a list of websites on my computer where I can find easy craft or game ideas for the kids. 
  • Add on Pages/Specialty   
Additional pages could include an information page for your babysitter, a list of family birthdays, addresses or online passwords.  The possibilities are endless.
  
This looks like a lot of work... How do you keep it up and use it? Any tips?

"Now here is the tricky part. You need to put the binder where you can see it and use it every day. It will not only save you time in the end to have all you information in one place but it will give you peace of mind. And who couldn’t use some of that? :)"
  To help make you life a little easier we have compiled some of Jenna's Great Ideas and a few of our own. We have been trying to master Jenna's art of organization and want to share with all of you what we have been working on!
Take them all or choose those that will help your family the most.


Please do not post these pages on your own website, sell them or download and redistribute.

The Seattle Sister's Home Management Binder

Following this link will take you to the list of Free Binder Printables. Get started today organizing your family in style. We have put a lot of time into these, please let us know how you like them! If you have success stories of organizing your life, or want to share your binder with us, please do!

You can't get organized with out a calendar.
Don't forget to get the new 2013 calendar for the year!

Seattle Sisters 2013 Calander

5 comments:

  1. This looks like a great idea, but I tried to download the calendar and it told me I didn't have permission. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your right!! sorry wee opened the permissions and you are free to download :)

      Delete
  2. I just downloaded it. I was suprised there are so many. 24 different pages-I am sure there are some there that will make my life better. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Totally need to do the basic medical and emergency contact to have on the refridge. Jenna is the Best!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It's fun to connect and share together! Please keep all of your comments uplifting and kind. We share because we care! Any comments that aren't becoming of a stellar sister... will be deleted at the soul discretion of the sisters.