A few weeks ago we had an administration fail at our house which resulted in Mr Bond’s work ute being driven 3 hours up and down the coast for 3 weeks without insurance. It was pretty scary to think of how badly we could have been caught out, I knew it was because our current paperwork systems were not practical and things were getting missed. Something had to be done. Previously my ‘system’ was essentially that I collected and opened all the mail, placed it on the desk in the office, closed the door and promptly forgot I even had mail. Clearly not a long term solution.
The biggest problem with putting all the paperwork in the office is that is also stores all of the things that we don’t want Skye getting into so I don’t go in there while she is awake and since it is right next to her bedroom, I rarely go in there when she is asleep. I am never going to remember that I have to pay a bill or fill in an application if I am not looking at it, so I looked at ways of keeping all of these files in a more prominent place that I would see everyday. After much research on Pinterest I decided that a Kitchen Command Centre would be more suitable. Since bench space in our kitchen is minimal I wanted something that could be placed on the wall and what better area than right next to the fridge and pantry!
Essentially the command centre consists of a monthly planner where I note special dates, appointments and when each bill is due. Below it is 2 plastic wall files which hold a “To Do” and “To Pay” folder.
On the front of a fridge I have a meal planner pad, shopping list pad and Skye’s Weekly Calendar.
I also love Gemma at My Big Nutshell’s cork tile solution for inside of her pantry for its tidiness and reduced chance of being adjusted by little fingers. I am considering moving the fridge items to the inside of the pantry for this reason. You can check that out here.
Once the papers have been paid or dealt with they are then put into the office for me to file properly at some later date. I try to do this fortnightly but really it’s more likely whenever I am working on the BAS statement for the quarter.
Resource List:
- Monthly Planner, Meal Planner and Shopping List: Kikki-K
- Plastic Wall Files and Yellow File Folders: Officeworks
- Plastic Files attached to the wall with Command Picture Strips
- Monthly Planner attached with blu-tak
