Some call it a home journal, or household notebook. I call mine my home management binder.

 It is the master plan for how I run my household. It is important that I balance all the roles that I am given and do my best to keep things running smoothly. Because I am spread so thin between my children, husband, work, friends and other family members I need to 'go to paper' so that my thoughts and ideas are not heavy in my head.

The front cover has a wise quote from proverbs about the Proverbs 31 Woman. It says " She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness". When I was first married I tried to adopt this as a theme for my life. I must add that I always struggle with this ideal.

The sections in the binder so far are:

1. Family Finances: This is where I keep my budget, bills to pay, savings goals, debt reduction and net worth calculations.

2. Household Routines: I have been a flylady fan since 2000. This is where I detail my morning, afternoon and evening routines and have my overall cleaning and organisation plans. If you don't know what I am talking about visit http://www.flylady.net/

3. Shopping and Meals: This is where I have my grocery list ( I use a standard sheet in the order of the supermarket isles) I also have a list of favourite meals, menu planner (Although I generally use a magnetic fridge version), price book.

4. Travel and Organisation. This is where I keep my going away list, picnic list, camping list, first aid list, emergency preparedness list etc

5. Resources The final section is where I keep printouts of articles, ideas, budget tips, management tips etc. I am always on the lookout for ways to improve my family management and make my household run smoother.

One day I sat and asked my Grandmother detailed questions and took my laptop and typed out what she said. It took many days to complete this process. I will share her wisdom further on this website. It is a topic that is very close to my heart. I think that many families are out of control today because they have forgotten ( or never learnt) age old principles and methods of life management.