Organize Your Family with a Family Binder

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

I’ve had a lot of questions and comments about raising six kids, which I have to admit is a bit of a challenge (and one that I thoroughly enjoy!). Most questions arise around the finances of a large family (which I’ve addressed before) and how to stay organized. I’ll address one of my favorite hacks for the latter question – our Family Binder.

Basically, there’s a lot of different information your family needs on a regular basis that often ends up being scattered around the house. The Family Binder makes it easy to keep everything together, in one reference book.

Putting one together is easy: Just get any kind of three-ring binder, and a bunch of plastic sheet protectors. Then just print out a bunch of forms (you can make your own, as I usually do, or find them on the internet) that you can fill in as needed.

What goes in the family binder? Anything you need. Here are some ideas (including some that I use) — but you should feel free to customize it as needed:

You can probably think of other ideas. Make this notebook your own. But it’s probably one of the best tools possible for keeping your family organized.

Have your own ideas? Let us know in the comments.

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Some resources elsewhere:

Other family day articles: