Suggested Dividers for a Household Notebook

By Cynthia Ewer
Editor, Organized Home

Binder Tabs

Inside the Household Notebook, dividers organize information and make it easy to find what you need ... fast!

Whether you use simple tabbed dividers from the office supply store, or create personal dividers using page protectors, dividers form the backbone of any organized Household Notebook.

Include these dividers in your Household Notebook to supercharge your homekeeping tool:

Planning Divider

To start your Household Notebook, begin with the basics: planning and time management. Claim your time with a Planning Divider!

What belongs here? Calendars, schedules and to-do lists direct the course of family life. In-depth planning tools, like mission statements or goal planning worksheets, do the hard work of translating goals to reality.

Visit the Forms Library to find free printable monthly calendars, to-do lists, daily and weekly planner pages for your Household Notebook.

Use a three-hole punch to add work schedules, school calendars and events lists for church and civic activities.

Money and Finance Divider

Tracking dollars and cents makes sense, so add a Money and Finance divider to your Household Notebook. Keep track of household finances with budget pages, inventory sheets and household information. Here are some examples of the kinds of information that can be included behind this divider:

Meals and Menus Divider

In the kitchen, the Household Notebook helps plan meals, create menus, and track food supplies.

Use this section to hold grocery shopping lists, pantry and freezer inventory sheets, monthly and weekly menu planners and price book forms for maximum savings at the super market.

To speed cooking chores, include a section for favorite recipes and recipes to try. Page protectors hold kitchen appliance manuals ... so you'll always remember how to clean the coffee machine or change the oven clock on Time Change Sunday!

Phone Divider

Calling all phone numbers! The Phone Directory is the most useful, most-consulted section of any Household Notebook.

The Phone Directory is a single place to put class rosters, take-out phone numbers, club directories, emergency phone numbers and phone messages. No more scraps of paper, missing numbers or scribbled phone books!

Home Management Divider

Bring it all back home! The Home Management divider holds information central to house and home. Cleaning, entertaining, decorating and household storage information find a home here.

Consider these ideas for the Home Management divider:

Family and School Divider

Family is where the heart is--and deserves its own divider. This section tracks information needs of family members and family life:

Families with school-aged children will want to add a school divider to hold:

Health and Fitness

Organize family health care with a Health and Fitness divider. Have a medical emergency? Grab the Household Notebook on the way to the Emergency Room. Visit to the pediatrician? Use this section to record illnesses, medication and medical history.

Types of information to file in the Health and Fitness section include:

Travel and Activities

Time for fun! The Travel and Activities divider covers the extra-curricular activities that make life worthwhile. Hobby, church, club, sports, volunteer, vacation and travel ideas are included here.

Your Household Notebook may have several dividers for this purpose. Are you part of a musical chorale? Give it a divider. Do the children play serious soccer? Divide it up!

What belongs in these sections? Any and every piece of paper pertaining to that activity. Prayer chain lists. Sports information sheets. Lists for travel and camping.

These sections will vary from family to family, but here are some ideas: