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Creating a Simple Home Organization Station & Binder

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simple home organization stationToday I wanted to share my simple home organization station and binder.

Emphasis on the simple. I know a lot of people out there have impressive home binders with cute printables and such.

My little home organization station and binder aren’t all that cute or impressive. But it’s simple and functional and you could whip up something similar for your home very quickly.

Having all of this information in one place helps us stay organized and saves time and energy, which is why I think something similar might benefit you too!

When we walk into our house, we walk right into the kitchen. Of course, that means that the kitchen is where most things get dropped, which also makes it the best place to put a “home organization station”.

I have desk in our office upstairs, but some things just don’t make it that far. I try to work with my natural tendency to look at things in the kitchen, and just put a little organizational spot there.

home organization station full view

Here’s what’s included in my home organization station and binder:

Day Planner

Every year I buy a cheap day planner to keep track of appointments, birthdays, and other important stuff. I keep this calendar in the kitchen where it’s easy to check and write down new things.

Every year when I get my new day planner, I transfer over birth dates as well as important phone numbers (like for our doctor).

Supplies

Most of my office supplies are at my desk upstairs, but I keep a few things in the kitchen.

I have a mug of pens and pencils as well as a small notebook and some sticky notes for list making. These are my favorite pens ever.

Can you see the tiny penguin on the coffee mug? That’s my flash drive (here’s the link to it)! I got sick of my flash drives being borrowed and not returned, so I got one that everyone would know is mine and I have it rubber banded to the mug so that I always know where it is 🙂

home organization station close up

The Binder:

I have a 1-inch binder that keeps all of the papers that I tend to reference often. Everything else is filed away upstairs in the office.

I use binder dividers with pockets to keep things separate. The pockets are super handy for my budget worksheet and other things that I don’t want to put in a page protector or use a 3 hole punch on.

Here’s what I keep in my home organization binder:

Budgeting Worksheet

Our entire monthly budget/spending tracker is on one piece of paper.

I keep it in the very front of the binder so that I am more likely to write down when we spend money. It makes it so easy to see where we’re at with our finances throughout the month.

Also, Austin and I both have easy access to it.

Related Posts: 

Our Actual Monthly Budget: Less than $1500/month

The Simple Way We Track Our Spending

home organization station binder

Work Schedules

When Austin was working a weird work schedule, I kept his schedule in the binder so that I could see far in advance if he was working when I needed to make appointments.

Meal Planning Papers

I have a big list of the meals we make most often so that I can have some inspiration when I’m meal planning and making our grocery list.

I keep the list in a page protector in the binder for easy reference.

home organization station pages

Receipts

Sometimes there are receipts that I want to save for a month or so just in case I might need to return something.

I throw the receipts in one of the pockets of the binder dividers so I know just where to find them.

Things to File

I usually end up paying our bills at the kitchen table on my lappy, so I write “paid” on each bill and throw it in a pocket to be filed upstairs later.

Every few months I go up and file everything all at once. In the meantime, I know those bills are paid and I can find them if I need them.

Takeout Menus

Important. Very important.

Goals

I write down my goals for the year and place them inside the front cover of the binder. This way I’ll see them often.

Things to Remember

I’ve got other things to remember inside page protectors and the pockets in my binder.

Things like return address labels, city recycling and brush pickup guidelines and schedules, new recipes I want to try, passwords… All of the important things that are easy to lose are all in one spot.

For me, it’s worth it to take up a small corner of my kitchen with a simple home organization station with the information I need to reference most.

Related Posts:

How to Fix Up Your House When You’re Broke

The 3 Best Places to Find Cheap Organization Products

How to Make Decluttering Easy & Painless

⇒ Do you have a home organization station or binder? What do you keep there?


Creating a Simple Home Organization Station & Binder

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Sherry

Monday 29th of August 2016

Thank you. Thank you for sharing your Budget and Spending Tracker; however, I do not see the blank worksheet, so that I can get started using your brilliant ideas.

Christine

Monday 29th of August 2016

Hi Sherry! What you download will be a .zip file. When you open it there will be the instructions as a PDF file as well as the spreadsheet file. The spreadsheet has my numbers entered in it currently. You should be able to open it in any spreadsheet program like excel, numbers, or open office to change the numbers around and customize it how you want it. Let me know if you have any trouble.

Sun

Saturday 16th of July 2016

I love this idea! I have a small binder. I don't leave it on the counter because I have young children that love to look through/write in it. ;)

Christine

Saturday 16th of July 2016

Haha! I can see why it's not on the counter, then.

Morgan

Thursday 14th of July 2016

Awesome! I love how bright and colorful this is. Binders have always been a huge tool at my disposal when keeping everything organized. Glad to see you've found something that works for you!

Christine

Thursday 14th of July 2016

Thanks Morgan!

Mandy

Friday 8th of July 2016

Just started following along as I desperately want to make life more simple. I felt overwhelmed by meal planning and your list of favorites is great.

Christine

Friday 8th of July 2016

Thanks Mandy! I wrote a whole post about meal planning here: https://www.themostlysimplelife.com/simple-food/meal-planning-made-easy/ All you really need to do is make a list of food you need and a list of all the meals you will be able to make from that food. That's really the simplest form of meal planning. You can do it!

Amanda-LivingFullyandFree

Wednesday 29th of June 2016

I love that you have one designated area for this and that you and your husband both have access to it. I don't know why I never thought to have our budget sheet accessible for my husband as well. I am definitely going to be doing this! I also love the meals list you have.

Thanks Christine!

Christine

Wednesday 29th of June 2016

Thanks Amanda! I don't think my husband really looks at it much, but he has access to it as least! :) And if I'm out and need him to check it, he knows right where to go.

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