The Homestead Binder

Often times it's about that feeling of "Where Do I Even Begin"!  Ever had that feeling?  Sometimes getting organized can seem like the hardest thing - but really, it's just like everything else......... it needs to be done a step at a time.

My "old" Binder with photos on front & New Binder

Since I've had lots of questions about my Homestead Binder, I thought this would be a great place to start.

I use my binder to help keep things at hand, all in the one place, organized and streamlined.......... and best of all............. IT WORKS!!!!    I've had one for several years now and every so often I change it over.  This has mostly been because we have moved house, and moved hundreds of miles at the same time......... so what is needed in one home is a little different sometimes to what is needed in another one.  For example-   renovations, business cards for contacting people, your "to do " list etc etc.

My Homestead Journal is a very simple and cheap Ring Binder (I tend to go for one that has just the 2 holes so that most things can be fitted into it).  Have some fun and decorate the outside of it to reflect something about your home, or you, or what you like.  This latest one I decided to cover in some material I had here....... but as you can probably see......   It still revolves around chickens! LOL

Sooooo what do do you put inside it????  Mostly that will depend on you, but I will do, is go through how I use mine.  My homestead Binder contains information to help keep my home (all aspects of it), running smoothly.  That means I have it divided into various sections to make it easy to find things.....with tabs that stick out to make it easier to find things and I have a photo on my division page (this one shows our house soon after we bought it and started to make improvements to it)
.........It contains things like a 5 week menu plan,  what types of foods I want to grow in our vegie garden to help reduce trips to the supermarket , a section that holds all the business cards related to things being done around the "homestead" eg plumber, electrician, vet, car repairs, pump repairs etc etc,  a section for Christmas Plans; an "ideas" section for things that need to be improved or changed around the house......... and the list goes on. 
How you divide your binder up is totally up to you......   But here I will take you through mine one step at a time so that you have the opportunity of building your own binder up in easy steps.  SO.......

Step 1:   Get yourself a binder, have fun covering it and also get some dividers and you may also find it helpful to have some of those plastic pockets to put things in.   At the very front of my binder I have some plastic sleeves that have little pockets to hold business cards (avaiable from Office Works)   
Step 2 to follow soon............