How To: Organize by Creating a “Home Bible”

My friend, Aloha Mom, asked me to write about organization, particularly on how to make things easier for working moms.  That was about 6 months ago, so clearly I am not that organized.  But during the last two weeks, I have been ticking off those things on my personal “To Do” list like annual medical appointments and other yearly pain-in-the-neck errands that I realized the value of the “Home Bible” I created a few years ago for myself.

This was not my idea; I got it from a magazine article, written by Carolyne Roehm, the former fashion designer turned home guru.  Her article was on tips from millionaires/billionaires.  The premise: they must be doing something right, so here, copy what they do.

The Home Bible is simply a 3 ring binder with business card plastic inserts – the kind you buy from Staples —  in which you organize all your service providers by category.  Carolyn was impressed when a Hostess-with-the-Mostess could whip up an elaborate birthday party in fifteen minutes (and so am I!).  The Mostess Hostess said it was easy because everything related to a birthday was organized into her book (flowers, cake, entertainment, invites, etc.) so she just had to make half a dozen calls in swift succession and voila!, a lovely party!

So, my tabs are:

• Advisers (attorneys, accountant, etc.).  I put this first in case we both die and no one knows who to call to locate our will.  In fact, the attorney who does that has a handwritten note on the card which is first that says, “Has Our Will and Trust.”
• Birthday Party Ideas.  Yes, I needed something fun to balance my first tab.  Cards for cake bakeries (nut-free, of course), entertainers, and places that have birthday parties.
• Medical. You’d be surprised how many business cards of doctors we seem to have.  But we need:  nutritionist, dermatologists (3), the best pediatric orthopaedic surgeon in Boston in case my son breaks his arm and requires 3 pins again, etc.
• Home Service Providers:  carpet cleaning, junk removal, appliance repair, auto repair, taxi service (only one company in my town!), piano tuning and more.
• Children’s Activities: strangely blank.  I need to collect some cards to their gymnastics place, flute teacher, Spanish tutor, and more.
• Real Estate Agents and other sundry:  a photographer, cards for helpful sales people at department stores, bankers in case we need to set up a new bank account, etc.
• Restaurants:  so it’s easy to make a reservation or get an idea for a place for a date night.
• Frequent Flyer Numbers:  plus other cards with ID numbers for the car security.

This is what I need to keep track of.  How about you?  What are your organizational tips and tricks?

Guest Post by Pragmatic Mom

http://www.pragmaticmom.com/