Homemaking Notebook

Remember I mentioned I was making a home-making notebook? Well, I made it back in November and thought I would use it for a bit before I did a post on it. I read about these on www.avirtuouswoman.org and used many of her print outs and suggestions. If you like what you see with mine, surely go check out that web-site. She has many suggestions and pictures, free print-outs, etc. to get you started.
This is the cover of my notebook. I used a regular 3-ring binder with a plastic insert on the cover so I could slide a piece of pretty scrapbook paper with a printout glued to the front. I thought it was kind of cute.
Now let's take a peek inside...

I put my most used subjects first as I refer to them several times a day. My first one is Menus and Shopping Lists. I used scrapbook paper with a pretty picture glued and inserted into a plastic 3-ring page protector for the first page. To get some pretty pictures to use, I went to google.com and clicked on images. Then I put in victorian pictures, or victorian cleaning... you get the idea.

Here is a print out from www.avituouswoman.org for menus. This keeps me well organized and I know what I'm having for meals and snacks at a glance. It's also a great way to make out my shopping list, which is in here, too.

Here we have Accounts. That pic shows an uptight Victorian woman tallying up her spending. Goodness, I hope I don't look like that! That pic always makes me smile... I use this subject nearly every day.

Here I keep track of all spending. Not bill paying, as I have another system for that, (I can post about that, too, if anyone's interested) but about everyday spending. Gas, groceries, coffee stops, you know, the day-to-day nickle and dime spending that you don't even think about. Trust me, once you keep a tab of every penny that goes out, it gives you a whole new perspective on where your money goes. This a THE BEST tool you can use to get started on living more frugally. My goal is to have our home paid off in the next several years. We built a beautiful home ten years ago and when the taxes skyrocketed in that town, we decided to move to a more tax-friendly town...er...state (just over the border), and keep track of our spending so that we could, in the forseeable future, be compelely debt-free. Hence, the frugality and tally-watching.
I did have some other pictures to show, but they came out quite blurry and not worth showing. But I think you get the idea. Below is a list of my subjects. Think of some of your own areas and insert those.
I have:
Menus and Shopping Lists
Everyday Recipes - which houses bread, yogurt, stuff that I make over and over again
Accounts
Daily Schedule/To-Do
House Cleaning & Home-made Cleaning Recipes - this section also includes a seasonal cleaning checklist
Current Crafts - came in very handy over the Christmas gift-making
Booklists - for both me and my children. Books I/we want to read, crossed-off when accomplished, and books I want to buy or borrow from the library
Pantry-Freezer Stockpile Inventory
Phone Book - Our personal white and yellow pages
Gardening - My gardening plans and useful articles from the web
Price List - helps me keep track of food prices and where to buy them cheapest
Also lets me know if I'm really getting a buy or not
Prayer List - don't want to forget anyone! Great to keep track of Bible reading, too.
Calendar - will put this into use once the calendar I'm using is finished in August. This will save me some money as the one I use now is truly beautiful, but I need to cut back where I can, and this is one place I can.
Chore Charts - This way I KNOW who's responsible for what zone! No pulling the rug over my eyes, anymore!
Holiday Planner - Wonderful tool to keep track of birthday's and if I send a card or make/buy a gift, it's all in here to help me plan.
Frugality - any tips I don't know of or can/want to try I put in here.
Natural Health - Again, any helpful information I can use, I put in here... like putting Vicks or garlic on the bottom of feet to help stop coughing. I didn't know that, but I do now and when someone is sick, I know I have the info in here.
My notebook is still in the tweaking stage, but I like it a lot and use it daily. It takes a few hours to put it together, but I have found it to be well worth the time.
Over the next few days, I will post some projects I hope to accomplish in 2009. Many are household cleaning projects and of course, craft stuff, too.

Just had to include this beautiful flower that came into bloom the other day. My dad always buys me something special before Christmas. It may be a poinsettia plant, a fiber-optic Christmas tree or, like this year, a bulb that blooms right around Christmas. Since I took this pic, it now has three blooms. Just beautiful. My dad and I have a special bond, and this little treat each year lets me know I'm still his little girl...