Organizing Life

Last month,I took the bull by the horns and decided to streamline the information in my life.

A year ago,I made a "Life Book",in which I had notes,and information about gardening,places we wanted to go,farm animals,etc.I also had a binder from a year before that with phone numbers,menus,and school info. I also had an address book. So I had three different areas for information,in three different places. I decided to put it all in one place,so I bought a 3"binder,tab dividers,and plastic sheet protectors. I also wanted to make it a bit fun and pretty. This is what I came up with:


I have Chapters with Sections.This is how I set it up:

-HOME
-Phone #'s-emergency,utilities with acct #'s,family and friends,VA,National Guard,army buddies,town of Middleton
-Addresses (includes birthday and anniversary lists)
-Menus from local restaurants
-School info
-Organization -cleaning tips,water filter info,My Routine list

-GARDENING
-Misc-seed starting dates,seeds ordered last spring
-Seed Starting-notes from last year,how to start seeds,outdoor planting dates
-Square Foot Gardening-how to's,diagrams of my square foot gardens with planting dates,notes
-Reference-info about various herbs

-FARMING INFO
-Chickens (ordered dates with prices,misc info)
-Possible future animals ( goat info)

-SELF RELIANCE
-Soapmaking-notes,recipes for hand and laundry soap.I keep records of when I make laundry soap and when I have to purchase materials so I can see how much I save over time
-Maple Syrup Notes
-Misc Projects-knitting info,do it yourself home projects,trapping info

-TRIP INFO
-Information on places we want to go on our cross country trip

-LWI
-Laura Ingalls Wilder sites we want to visit,Homesteader Newsletters


This is a fluid book,meaning things get taken out and added over time. It's a good size book,but I don't need to go to three different places when I need to look up something or add something to the book.It's all right there,next to the microwave.

My next big project is to reorganize the file cabinet.