Family Notebook

 Build your own with these free forms!  Just click on each picture for a printable Adobe PDF file.

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Time Management  |  Marriage  |  Cooking  |  Organizing & Cleaning  |  Finances  |  Hospitality  

Basics of an effective Family Notebook:

= 3-ring binder  =  plastic page protectors  =  

=  transparency (wet-erase) markers  =  3-hole punch  =  

= tabbed divider pages or stick-on divider tabs  =  

=  zippered pencil pouch to hold markers, pencils, paperclips, sticky notes  =  

What should we keep in a Family Notebook?  

=  school calendars   =  team schedules   =  class rosters   = 

  = cleaning routines   = sizes/measurements of family members   = 

  = babysitter instructions   =  church directory   = 

  = receipts (store in pencil pouch or large 3-hole punched storage baggie)   = 

Cover

Personalize your Family Notebook by mounting this cover on fun scrapbook paper.

Daily Agenda  

Use this form to help keep you focused on today's priorities.  Your first appointment and your first task are already filled in for you!

Time Tracker

This chart helps  evaluate and prioritize the many activity demands on your family. Chart each person's time commitments.  Seeing it in on paper will give you a truer sense the actual amount of family time you have.

Family Phone List

Use as your family "yellow pages" to record frequently called numbers.

Grocery List

= Check and circle the staple items you need.  Other items can be written in as needed.

= Fold in half lengthwise.  Use the food list while shopping, then turn it over and use the price match guide at checkout.

= Price Match column allows you to easily note which stores have certain items on sale, with size and price. Take the competitors' ads to your store when you go shopping!

= The Errands section prompts you to remember all the places you need to visit so you don't have to get out again.

Note:  We also sell these in pads of 25!  Click here.

Blank Spending Plan

(See also Sample Spending Plan)

= Print one each month and check off each bill as you pay it. Use however many pay periods that correspond with your income.

= Determine your bring-home monthly income--what's left after taxes, deductions, and tithe.

= List your regular fixed expenses (include some in savings), then a monthly amount for irregular expenses (like insurance premiums).

= With the remaining available funds, establish limits for "cash" categories (clothing and household expenses).  Withdraw cash using the Cash Out Card and place money in corresponding envelopes. (Prints 4 per page.)

Weekly Schedule

If you struggle with using your time wisely or can't seem to finish all your tasks,  this schedule may help structure the days in your week.

= Mark standing commitments (like carpool, Bible study group, work hours, ballgames).

= Reserve large open blocks for quality at-home time so you will have time for personal Bible study and prayer, exercise, and home management projects (cleaning, sewing, paying bills, gardening).

= Group errands (grocery shopping, bank, library) conveniently around activities when you'll already be out of the house.

Emergency Info 

This sheet provides a place to record important names and numbers your family might need in an emergency.  Space to give directions to your home (for 911 situations) also included.

Delightful Dinners  

= Look at your week's calendar and determine what types of meals you need to fix on each day (quick/easy for ballgame nights, grill meal for family night, crockpot meal for days you work)

= Write down your dinner plans for each day, including eating out or elsewhere.

= List which breakfast and lunch foods you plan to make available this week.  This will give you and your family members flexible options to choose from each day.

= Determine if there's a time you can invite guests over to share a meal with your family and note it on the planner.  Record specific details for that meal's menu, including any special theme or decor you will incorporate.  Will you need fresh flowers?  Which dishes or placemats will you use to set the table?

Storage Inventory Form

This form tracks all that stuff you have "stored away someplace."

= Use some type of sturdy, lidded boxes.

= Label each box with a large, readable number; begin with 1 and continue consecutively as needed; you may want to distinctively code some boxes, like Christmas decorations (C-1, C-2).

= Record contents/location of each box on Storage Inventory form in notebook.   Update records as the contents change.

= Find what you need by checking the form for the appropriate storage area and box.

Household Projects List

Keep up with all those projects you're going to finish "some day."  Use it to break large tasks into small manageable pieces.

Family Info Sheet

Record social security numbers; account numbers for banking and insurance accounts; passwords and PINs.  Do not keep this in your Family Notebook--hide it away someplace safe!