A household notebook, also known as a family planner or household planner, is a tool that allows families to consolidate all their important personal and household information into one centralized location. While the overall contents of a household notebook will vary according to the specifics needs and wants of each family, its core content tend to remain fairly similar. The most common components of a household notebook include to-do lists, cleaning information, grocery and cooking information, and contact information. All of the information is organized into a large binder or other storage device and kept in a frequently used area of the home where it can be accessed easily.
The to-do list section of the household notebook may contain a variety of different lists within it. These can include task lists for long-term home projects, such as renovating a room or re-landscaping the yard, or weekly to-do lists with various chores that remain consistent from week to week, such as dry cleaning and dog washing. The to-do list section can include a list of tasks that need to be done on a daily basis. These may also take the form of a schedule and detail items such as children's bedtimes and school drop-off and pick-up times. Some people also choose to incorporate a calendar into this section, listing important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, and school vacation schedules.
Cleaning checklists are also quite common in a household notebook. The daily cleaning list could include clearing the dining room, doing the dishes, and cleaning the kitchen, while weekly tasks could incorporate dusting, mopping, vacuuming. Seasonal cleaning checklists, on the other hand, should be used to detail more intensive cleaning tasks, such as spring cleaning. Some of these tasks may include shampooing the carpets, cleaning the windows, and washing the curtains.
The grocery and cooking section of the household notebook may include a checklist of grocery items that must be restocked every week, including staples such as milk, bread, and yogurt. It can also include a grocery inventory to help track exactly how much of any particular item is on hand, which is also helpful in determining when something needs to be restocked. The cooking section can include favorite family recipes or special holiday dishes. It can also include smaller grocery lists that detail which items need to be purchased in order to make each particular recipe.
A household notebook should also ideally include a section of contact information for various people and places. There can be a list of parental contact information that a babysitter can use to reach the parents in an emergency. It may also include contact phone numbers for the children's schools, doctors and any other groups they may belong to, such as sporting teams.