I really want to thank everyone who has been hanging out with me this week!
It’s been so much fun sharing some of my home managements tips and ideas with you!
On Monday we talked about meal planning.
Tuesday involved chatting about the 10 best ways to save money on groceries without using coupons.
Revolutionizing your laundry routine was Thursday’s topic.
Today I want to share where we keep all of our family’s important documents.
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Do you have a system for keeping your important family documents under wraps?
Maybe you have these papers in file folders or a box? Maybe they are kept in a safety deposit box, but you still need to keep copies at home for various things. But can you find those copies easily? I would like to show you how I have our family’s documents stored.
Hello Family Documents Binder!
You are such a wonderful friend for keeping all of our documents so neat & tidy & easy to find.
This is such a simple project to create.
Only a binder is required….along with some dividers, page protectors and a sheet created on the computer.
Create some custom tabs for the categories needed on the computer.
Print off the sheet.
Cut the tabs and stable the tabs to the page dividers to make categories.
You can make as many categories as you like!
I like to use this binder for official government documents, but you could add as many things as you wish!
Insert page protectors in each category to hold the documents.
Below is the page protector which holds our family’s passports, along with a photocopy of each passport number and photo to leave at home when travelling.
Store all your documents in one place…. an organized binder!
For me, I don’t feel that these things belong in a home management binder because I don’t want them to be out in the open or the children to have access to them…just in case.
So I keep this binder in a private area of our home.
The binder can be stored in a safe for protection if you wish.
This system works so well!
I was out doing errands one day when my husband called from his work to ask for his passport number as he was booking a plane ticket for business travel.
I was able to call my 15 yr. old daughter at home and ask her to get out the binder and look up her Dad’s passport number and call him back.
She easily found it….thanks to the Family Documents Binder.
And trust me, it is such a good feeling to have these important papers in one place.
When I need a copy of a child’s birth certificate, or baptism certificate, I know exactly where to look!
These items have a permanent home!
Share the Love!
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I do this very same thing but I also include health history, doctor's phone numbers, list of medications, wills, death/burial plans, and life insurance policy information.
Hi Angie,
This is a fantastic idea! I am forever looking for things that I "put in a safe place" but then can't remember where I put them. I just had to pay for copies of some of these documents to enroll my son in school because I couldn't find my copies (they are in a "safe place" somewhere). Creating a binder is a great idea to keep everything together and organized!
Thanks so much ~
Happy Friday!
Danielle xo
If I ever got organized I would want to do it cutely just like this!
Great idea I'm adding this to my list of to do's
This is a good idea – I have the important stuff in a file cabinet in the garage, but maybe I should make a second set of copies in case anything were to go wrong and heaven forbid, we'd have to get out of our house fast!
What a fantastic idea! I see binder shopping in the very near future! Thanks!
I agree with everyone else, Angie ~ this is a great idea! I keep all our important documents in a safe place, all together, but this would make it so much more organized. Since moving I have had to locate these documents more than ever before, especially birth certificates and car titles. I'm looking to see if I have a couple of binders here I can use {I'll do one for my daughter, too}.
Great idea, but I keep very important documents that we don't need often in a safe deposit box at our bank. This is in case of fire or a house break-in.
what a great idea…and it is so easy to find everything at a glance! I should try this – someday!
What a great idea! I need to do this for our family.
yep this is what my "deployment book" is like! i LOVE having everything in one place. and make sure to keep it in a fireproof safe when not in use. trying to get all those documents back is no fun and sometimes impossible. some other things i keep in mine are a current photo of kids and family. list of phone numbers in case of emergency (my go-to emergency contacts know they can find EVERYTHING in my deployment book) so if anything happened to me numbers for husband, his unit, my parents etc would be available to those who needed to contact them. again just make sure to keep this locked up if it is not being used and in your possesion! 😉
Oh my gosh, what a wonderful idea! I don't know why I never thought of it. I'm going to have to work on putting something like this together for us. Thanks for the inspiration. I'd love for you to share it here:
http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/02/shine-on-fridays-13-and-some-fabulous.html
This is an absolutely wonderful idea!! It's so annoying trying to find everything that you need when it's all in different spots or you don't remember where you put it!
Great ideas. Oh to be so organized.
Drop by another fellow cdn I'm having a giveaway.
You've just reminded me that I need to update our family notebook as well!
Another fantastic idea!
Great thinking! I love being organized too, especially when you need something like that!
This is very inspiring! I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time but just haven't made the time. I imagine it would make my life much more easier! I am inspired to get this going! Thanks for sharing!
I totally need to do this!!
I'm an AB girl, too!
Sarah
This is a great idea. The binder is super cute too!
This has to be my next project! I keep moving the birth certificates/Social Insurance cards around because I'm not sure where to keep them. I love this idea! So simple but genius.
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea. I just finished making the binder at home and now I'm very happy because I'm pretty certain we (well, my husband) won't have difficulty finding those important documents 🙂 Take care 🙂
Baseball card holders work great for holding SS cards,other ID's and paid off credit cards. My binder is a bit more detailed but I love knowing that I know exactly where everything is and can get to it fast if needed.
Good thinking! Keeping a family binder for important documents is a practical thing to do. More than being organized, it’s wise to be prepared in case of unforeseen circumstances. You’ve got to think ahead, and save yourself from more worries should you come across those stressful situations.
Ruby Badcoe @ Williams Data Management