How to Create a Home Life Folder

The old money tradition of using helpers to run a household would come in handy for most families today. Sadly, most of us have no help. But every so often, we all need it. We need to let someone step in to fill our duties as household managers so that we can work or vacation or recuperate. What to do then? Have a folder ready to go with all the information needed to take care of your family, their schedules, and references for anything that might need to be handled unexpectedly.
It sounds like a lot of work. Let's work on the project together.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A 3 ring notebook
• Divider tabs
• Paper
• Computer
• Printouts
• Your address book
• Business cards from various specialists and companies that you use

1. 
   Address book, Blackberry, iPhone, Google Calendar, Rolodex, Palm Pilot, Filofax...

   Gather your contacts.
   
   When you need to get something done, what do you reference? For me, it's my personal address book, my business card wallet, the memory on my phone, and my google calendar. Those four contain with all my current professional contacts for family and home needs. For you, it might be your Blackberry, iPhone, rolodex, Palm Pilot, Filofax...whatever YOU use.

2. Cull your entries.
   
   Which contacts are crucial for someone stepping into your shoes? Think in categories: Family, Neighbors, Work, Home Fix-Its/Maintenance/Service Providers, Activities.

3. Create tabbed sections to represent the important parts of your life.
   
   The above step shows some that I need to reference in my Home and Family Life Folder. Add labeled tabs to a 3 ring binder for easy, non-computer dependent reference.

4. Organize into appropriate sections, copy info or print out the important stuff.
   
   Put into the appropriate tabbed section of your 3 ring binder.

5. Add any other pertinent info.
   
   Include medicines and dosing, schedules for particular family members (especially children and pets), trash and recycling pickup, people who have an extra key to your house, locations of emergency cutoffs for water, electricity, gas and numbers for corresponding utility providers, closest hospital and/or hospital covered by your insurance, drugstore and grocery store locations, etc.

6. Look over your list. Does it look like your life?
   
   Could someone navigate through your days with the info provided? If not, add what's missing.

7. Prepare for emergencies involving your children.
   
   If you have children, you MUST include a Parental Emergency Medical Consent form so that your children can receive the appropriate care in the event of your absence. (click on the link in resources for a good example of what to include.) Without this form, medical professionals will only be able to stabilize your children until you are available to sign the necessary paperwork, and in the event of a true emergency, that wait may be deadly. May multiple copies with required parent(s) signatures!
   
   Note any medicines (when taken, dosage, location of meds), medical history, allergies, pediatrician's numbers, etc.
   
   The same info can be used for your pets, to insure their care.

8. Create a Title Page for your notebook.
   
   Include your family members' names, your street address, your home phone numbers, your cell phone numbers, and emergency contacts.

Resources

• Planning for Medical Emergencies from UC

[ramblin62]

on 9/11/2009 Very good idea to keep a Home Life Folder of all pertinent information. I'll keep this one in mind. Tx.

[pennynickols]

on 9/9/2009 Your article, "How to Create a Home Life Folder," is excellent — it's in my Favorites to do very soon!