The binder system is an effective way to organize your home, finances, and your day.

In 2000, I moved from Grand Rapids, MI, to Holland, MI. My kids and I stayed with my grandmother and auntie for a few months. I was on public assistance while looking for work. I had to take a life class as part of the process; one of the things introduced to the class was organizing with binders.

It was an inexpensive way to keep your life organized. I only need to buy a few supplies :

1. Binder
2. hole punch
3. stapler
4. dividers

So, you gathered all your bills and put holes in them to place into the binder. Then you divided your bills; each type of bill had its own section, for example:

Rent

cable

house phone

cell phone

Internet

electric

water/ trash

hospital

debt/ unpaid bills

When a bill was paid, I stapled the receipt to the account that month or I would write the reference number on the account. I called it my bill binder. I loved and still love this system because it makes life very simple and easy to maintain. I still used my planner at this time, and they worked very well together.

Years later, I have a complete system that I live by, and I tell anyone trying to get their home and life organized how to use it. However, I have seen other people on social media that have their own virgin of the same system.

So, what is this excellent binder system.?

Will you need 5 binders( this is what I started with)

One Binder is for keeping with your paper bills/ or debt- I call mine my debt binder now, due to all my bills being auto pay.

One Binder is for your day-to-day planer (I stopped buying planers and just make my own with pintables)

One Binder is for keeping track of my couponing and meal plans (I also keep recipes that we use, but if you like, this can be in its own binder)

One Binder is for cleaning routines (I have daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedules)

One Binder is for House Management (this is where I keep important Information about the household, I use sheet protectors (I don’t pick holes in these documents). I also keep emergency information; I know some people use this binder to organize how they run their whole house.

The great thing about a binder system, the system is based on your household.

You can have a binder to keep up with appointments.

You can have a binder for Information needed for a baby setter.

You can have an emergency binder – use this as a family plan for what to do in an emergency.

You can have a binder for keeping track of your exercise routine

The list could go on and on.

Another great thing about this system is that it can grow with you and your family, or you can remove items as your kids get older or you downsize. They can be any size binder you choose, and you don’t have to spend much money.

I have seen people decorate their binders in all kinds of ways. However, if you are anything like me, simple is just fine.

I love that everything is in one place. I put my binder system on a bookcase in my home. I keep them in a color-coded system, so each color represents what is in the binder. This way, I don’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong binder, and it looks better (well, I think so), and there is no clutter of paper all over the house.

One of the best places to get a binder for your system is as follows:

Dollar Tree

Amazon

Walmart

Staples

Office Depot

But you can get them at any store that sells binders like Walgreens and CVS (but I must tell you that you can get them much cheaper in the stores listed above than at these stores).

You can have any style you want as well. I really like the leather binders. They look very organized, professional, and aesthetically pleasing to me. Yet you can have hard plastic (these last a long time) or cardboard; you may like a soft cover over a hard cover. It’s really up to you.

This is the best system for you if you want to organize your life and declutter your home. It really kills two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Well, that’s all I have for today; I hope this helps you on your journey.

Thank you for reading Everything Frugal

Below are a few binders and supplies I found on Amazon that may be useful for you and your household. I would like to inform you that Everything Frugal is an affiliate of Amazon; if you buy anything from this link, I will make a few dollars from the sale at no extra cost.