Home Management Binder

Salam 3alaikum girls,

I am in the middle of putting together a "home management binder" to help me organize all of the papers and schedules and information floating around my house.

Right now, I am just putting together things from around my house (free, yay!) to create a makeshift binder until I figure out how much use I will get out of these binders before investing more permanently.

So far I have 2 plastic brad folders and one normal plastic folder.

The brad folders look like this:

{via amazon.com}

One brad folder holds our receipts, budget, goals, account info, travel plans, and calendars (school, cleaning schedule, tv shows lol). It is green, like money O_o
The second brad folder holds online shopping account info, meal ideas, coupons, recipes, the grocery list and store ad flyers. It is orange... like an orange. Yes I'm so creative.
The normal folder holds our apartment info, lease agreement, and documented contact with the landlord/maintenance staff, and emergency information like family addresses, phone numbers, doctors names and numbers, etc. It is purple. Because I had a purple folder.

Along with normal notebook paper I am using a few plastic page protectors and some binder clips to hold lists and receipts and such I also have some tabs for the sections. Coupons, grocery lists, and calendars are stored in plastic pages. I have some plastic pages also to store any recipes I come across in magazines or online. I can just clip or print them and shove them in the book for later.

The 10 colored tab pages, 16 plastic page protectors, and 8 binder clips of varying size were $3 total at the Dollar Tree, so it really wasn't a big splurge to get this party started. Everything else I had laying around the house.

When I get a good system going inshaAllah I plan on adding more "official" printables instead of drawing all over notebook paper. Also I may buy a real binder.

Would you all be interested in my sharing the printables here? I know homemaking binders are becoming more common.

I think the first one I will make will be for my cleaning schedule inshaAllah. Right now I have it all written on scrap pieces of paper and stuck in the binder which isn't very helpful.

Do any of you use a homemaking binder to keep organized? Do you use some other method? I would love to hear about it inshaAllah!

Upcoming Projects

Salam 3alaikum girls,

While I was away from the blog, a lot of things changed up here! We are just getting settled into a new apartment in a new town mashaAllah. We are implementing a new budget to save up for "after graduation limbo" time. I am having to learn some new skills while we are adapting to our new environment, and I am striving to get more organized so that our little home runs more smoothly inshaAllah.

I am planning on putting together some new posts related to:

• home organization
• home management
• food/recipes
• my inspiration
• DIY projects
• beauty posts
• health and fitness

I have come to realize that I am a homemaker/ housewife that doesn't really know how to make a home! I love the idea of taking care of my house and my family, but I don't really know how to give myself some structure so that I really take my job seriously.

Right now I just do housework and such whenever it becomes absolutely necessary, like when the sink is full of dishes or we have no clean clothes to wear. I sit around a lot and put things off. I want people to have respect for homemakers, but I am not being very respectful toward my position. If I was on a "real" job outside, I think I would have been fired a long time ago. MashaAllah my husband is very patient with me, and very understanding, but it is not right for me to take advantage of that. 

So for a little while inshaAllah my posts will be pretty "home" related as I try to teach myself to be a better housewife.

What do you think??

<3

Quick Update

Salam 3alaikum ya akhwaaty,

We are just getting settled into a new apartment alhamdulillah and getting into the swing of school again. I feel like we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off for weeks now but inshaAllah ya rabb hopefully things will slow down soon.

We finally have an internet connection and everything so inshaAllah I will return to more regular posting soon.

Hope all of you are doing well inshaAllah!!!

xoxoxo

Affordable Beauty Tips #4

Salam 3alaikum ya banaat!

see what you can do with that stuff piling up in your medicine cabinet or laundry room!


Beauty in the Laundry Room/Medicine Cabinet!

Ivory Bar Soap: Cheaper than liquid body washes and also great for hand washing delicates. Before you go out gardening, scratch your nails across your bar soap to build up a coat under your nails, put on your gardening glove, then when you get done just rinse out the soap. It will save you time having to dig all the dirt from your nails later inshaAllah.

Bounce Sheets: Rub a bounce sheet on the bottom of your dress/pants/abaya to avoid static cling. Keep bounce sheets in your clothes drawer to keep that "just washed" smell. Bounce sheets are also great to smooth out fly-away hairs!

Aspirin: Crunch up aspirin, mix with a little water and use on skin to reduce puffiness and prevent razor burn after you shave. If you apply a paste to a pimple it will also reduce redness and pain and help shrink it up quickly.

Baking Soda: I use it for everything! You can use it to exfoliate your scalp (just add to your shampoo or conditioner) to deodorize your shoes, add to bleach and make a scrub for the bathroom and kitchen, exfoliate your lips by mixing it will oil or vaseline and gently wiping away with a warm wet cloth. Add baking soda to your toothpaste for extra cleaning power and toss some in the wash to help whiten whites.

Epsom Salts: Great for adding to oil for an exfoliating scrub. Good for tossing in the bath instead of those pricey bath salts. Just add some body wash/essential oils/leftover perfume in the bottom of the bottle for a great smell.

Witch Hazel: This is another great antiseptic/astringent. It does amazing things for ingrown hairs and razor burn. Just put some on a cotton ball and swipe over the area. Follow up with olive oil/vitamin e/ coconut oil or your favorite moisturizer! Witch hazel is really cheap but I would spend the extra couple dollars to get one that doesn't have such a strong smell to it, because the smell is quite definitely an acquired taste... You can also try adding an essential oil to cover the smell, but shake the bottle each time before use. Witch hazel also helps heal bruising and sun burns.

Affordable Beauty Tips #3

Salam 3alaikum girls!

In continuation with the "affordable beauty" series, here are some tips for using what you have in your home office or at work!


Beauty in the Office!

Elmer's Glue: Use kids white school glue as a peeling face mask. Apply to skin, wait to dry, and peel off.

Liquid Paper: Use this white correcting fluid to fix a chip in your french manicure instead of going to get a fill in. It also works to cover up black scuffs on white shoes in a pinch!

Scotch Tape: Removes powdered eye make up really quickly if you want a change or if you get extra powder all over the place. Just press the piece against the make up you want to remove and it will lift away!

Magnetic Paper Clip Holder: Holds all your bobby pins in one easy to access place.

Post-It Notes: Use small ones under your eyes to catch any loose falling eyeshadow, fold in quarters with the sticky side facing out and use to clean under your nails. The sticky catches the dirt.

Paper Clips: Use an unfolded paper clip to make polka dots with your nail polish.

Circle Paper Hole Reinforcements: Use to make a clean curve with your nail polish during manicures, like the "half moon" manicure and french manicure. You can also use cut up strips of blue painters tape to make straight lines!

Affordable Beauty Tips #2

Salam 3alaikum sisters,

This is a continuation of my "Affordable Beauty Tips"!
There are many ways to make what you already have in your bathroom work for you in many ways to help stretch out the life of your beauty products. Its all about the multi-taskers!!

Beauty in the Bathroom!

No More Tears Baby Shampoo: Great for removing make up and cleaning make up brushes. You can keep a small bottle with a few drops of shampoo mixed with water to use as a make up remover and brush cleanser.

Tinted Moisturizer: Mix your favorite moisturizer and foundation to make a lighter feeling "tinted moisturizer" and stretch your bottle of foundation! I use this one from St Ives that you can get pretty cheap at walmart. The tub lasts forever and is really light. I can reapply every time I make wudhu without feeling too greasy. It is made for reducing wrinkles, which to me is totally off the point since I just like the weight of it, but I guess an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure inshaAllah!

Left Over Lipsticks: That small amount of lipstick in the bottom of the tube can be gently melted in the microwave and added to moisturizer to make a cream blush. You can also use lipstick and gloss leftovers as a light cheek stain in a pinch. Also you can try mixing colors if you get tired of a certain lipstick color. Mixing with vaseline will make a less intense color as well.

Vaseline: Vaseline has so many uses I might be able to make a whole post about it... I especially like the new vaseline with cocoa butter. Use it to protect eyelashes at night, as a cuticle cream, on rough skin patches, as chap stick or gloss, mix with eye shadow to make a cream eyeliner and apply with an angled brush, vaseline and kool-aid make flavored lip gloss, use to tame eyebrows, apply to cracked feet and wrap with plastic wrap them put on socks over night.

Conditioner: I use one conditioner (Suave Naturals, Tropical Coconut) to cleanse my scalp (instead of shampoo) and as a shaving cream. You can get a huge bottle for just a couple of dollars at walmart! I like this one because it doesn't have any silicones in it that require a harsh shampoo to wash out, plus it smells great.

Affordable Beauty Tips

Salam 3alaikum sisters!

As a newly married lady, I am always on the hunt for affordable beauty tips and tricks. I thought I should share the wealth! I'm hoping this will be an ongoing project inshaAllah.

Beauty in the Kitchen!

Sugar: Mix granulated sugar with your favorite body oil or honey and exfoliate. Add used coffee grounds for a great smell and caffeine that helps firm skin!

Corn Starch and Cocoa Powder: Mix a small amount of cocoa powder with corn starch to make a cheap "setting powder" that reduces shine and is SUPER cheap! You can adjust the amount of cocoa powder to match your skin tone. You could make a slightly darker version to use as a bronzer, and try adding cinnamon for a little more "rosy" hue. Be careful to apply sparingly so as not to dry out your face too much.

Rose Water: Dilute some rose water with a few spoons of water to make a great facial toner. Its affordable, natural, and smells great! Keep only a few ounces mixed at a time in a tightly closed bottle to keep it fresh.

Olive Oil, Coconut Oil: Great skin and hair moisturizers and great for use on dry cuticles and cracked feet! And its something you probably already have in your house. I also sometimes use olive oil to remove waterproof makeup.

DiY Blush: Mix a couple drops of red food coloring into a couple spoons of water. Add baby powder or corn starch until it makes a powdery paste. Add more or less food coloring to adjust the color. The color of the wet paste will be darker than the dry paste, so don't freak out! Press the paste into an old clean empty blush compact.

InshaAllah the next installment will be coming up soon!