Organizing With Binders, A Kitchen Binder

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Confessions Of A Reformed Clutterbug

As most things go, I'm a fairly organized person these days. Much better than I used to be, though. But it wasn't all that long ago that I was a completely scatter-brained clutterbug.

It used to be that opening a cabinet in my kitchen is a job for the Corps of Engineers! Too many of this, constantly running out of that, enough junk drawers to supply Inspector Gadget for a lifetime. *sigh*

And my "science experiments" in the back of the fridge??? eeeeew!

Finally, after too many missed appointments, loosing way too much grocery money having to throw food away and never being able to find clean clothes, I reformed! I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. As the Flylady says, I was suffering from CHAOS, Can't Have Anybody Over Syndrome. Enough, I said!

It took some time to take my "organized" self to another level; about a year. I'm still clearing the clutter and organizing my house! This lens will show you one of the tools I'm using to do it with.

One of my best tools resulted from all this work ~ My Kitchen Notebook! I love that thing! Let me share with you what's in mine and how you can make one for your home.

Now, I keep a planner with a calendar, lists, address book and all the trimmings. I use notebook binders to organize different areas of our lives. I have daily and weekly routines! God Bless Flylady!

What's A Kitchen Binder?

...and why do I want one?

A kitchen binder is a tailor made notebook just for you, your kitchen, your family, your lifestyle and your preferences. The best way by far to build one is with a plain old 3 ring binder. Don't worry, we'll get into that.

You want one if:

*You're tired of being disorganized in the kitchen.

*You don't know where your coupons are and most of them expire before you can use them.

*You have favorite recipes, recipes to try out, and want to add more but the ones you have are everywhere, including the junk drawer.

*You can never find your grocery list and/or a pen, especially at the same time.

I bet you get the idea and can add a bunch more reasons by now, eh?

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What Do You Put In A Kitchen Binder?

How Does A Notebook Organize A Whole Kitchen?

The contents of your Kitchen Binder are uniquely up to you, but here some ideas for what to keep in your Kitchen Notebook:

Meal planner forms

Grocery lists

Once A Month cooking recipes & ideas

Information sheets like substitutions, measurements, storage time limits, etc.

Price comparison book (pages); I shop at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, dollar stores, Big Lots, Sun Harvest and my local grocery store. I compare the price at the warehouse club, Wal-Mart, my grocery store and Walgreens, which are the places I shop with coupons most often. It had a few surprises! If you do this, be careful to compare price per ounce or pound.

Favorite Homemade recipes; homemade bisquick, shake-n-bake, hot chocolate, etc

Favorite Homemade concoction recipes (LOL); beauty, cleaning, gardening, laundry, pet, etc. Lots of natural homemade cleaners, bug treatments and such are made with stuff from the kitchen, so I keep my 'recipes' in my kitchen notebook.

Favorite recipes & family recipes, naturally.

HouseWorks, By Cynthia Townley Ewer

Very, Very Good Book!

Houseworks: Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos

Amazon Price: $8.74 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

I've read this book front to back and back to front several times now and I keep it on my desk. It's an extremely helpful resource for organizing and I highly recommend it!

Starting Your Kitchen Binder

Supplies You'll Need To Set Up Your Organizing Notebook

Let's start by making a list of supplies that are handy but not mandatory.

1. Binder of the size desired; I'm using a 3 ring, 2 inch capacity binder. I picked one of those with the clear plastic covers in front so I could put some artwork in the front and back. I'll also put a label in the spine. Now I think I want to take the recipes out and put them in their own binder.

2. Hole Punch for your pages if you're not using sheet protectors. I would recommend using the sheet protectors though.

3. Sheet Protectors; I recommend these to protect your pages from stains in the kitchen!

4. Legal pad, steno pad or other paper for jotting notes on, especially during the time you're setting it up. Or, just some plain lined 3 hole paper in the front of the binder.

5. Pen, pencil, markers, stickers; your preference

6. A pencil pouch; OR a clear zip close pouch that has the holes for the binder. I happened to have one of these already. You can find them at the office supply if you'd rather have one of these. They're usually pretty cheap.

7. A coupon pouch; I keep mine here so I can plan my meals & make my grocery lists.

8. Paper. You can use any kind of paper you want. Swipe some of your kids' school paper; use colored paper to print the final versions...it's all up to you. It's YOUR binder.

Want To Use A Pretty Binder For Your Kitchen Notebook?

Organizing With Pretty Binders is Even More Fun!

Retro Cherry Recipe Binder binderIn the Kitchen binderBW silhouette kitchen Binder binderKitchen Accessories Recipe Binder binderChef Kitchen Cook 1.5 Recipe Binder binderMrs. Cow Has Coffee binder

Use Sheet Protectors To Avoid Staining The Pages In Your Notebook

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Helpful Decluttering Videos

Full of Great Ideas To Conquer The Clutter!

I don't know about you, but I do better when I can "see" things. So, here are some decluttering videos for you and me. Hope you like them as much as I do.
Decluttering a Kitchen Drawer
by ASlobComesClean | video info

14 ratings | 3,465 views
automatically generated by YouTube

REAL Help For Organizing Your Kitchen

FlyLady Rocks! FlyLady's book "Sink Reflections" really made a big difference for me. The biggest single revelation? Use a 15 minute timer! You can do anything for 15 minutes!

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Kitchen Gadgets - Pink Mug mug

Blogs About Organizing Your Kitchen

Lots of helpful tips for getting your kitchen organized

Beauty Clutter; Organizing the Essentials
I dumped out the bag on my kitchen table, like a child going through their halloween candy. I immediately put anything I didn't want back in the bag for a friend. Every since I was a child and went make up shopping with my mom, I have been hooked.
Toss, recycle, donate: It's free
Create a shopping list of the staples in your kitchen. Before heading to the store, check the fridge and pantry to see what you really need to buy. This will keep you from wasting money on items already in stock. Pull out that cake stand collecting ...
17 Tips To Organizing A Stress-Free Get Together
Let people bring things or help out in the kitchen. Just know that having people give you a hand is not a sign that you are not a good hostess. It is, instead, a tip for making everyone feel welcome, involved and part of the celebration. 3.
Burning Man Festival Regulars Lose Out on Tickets
This year, event organizers here replaced their first-come-first-served online ticket sales with a lottery system, which they hoped would make ticket distribution more equitable. But organizers did not anticipate the deluge of more than 80000 people ...

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I am a wife, mother, and grandmother with a real passion for knitting, crochet, reading, and Squidoo. Here on Squidoo I am a Giant Squid, member of the... more »

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