My husband and I are in University, so keeping track of our work load along with various appointments was becoming a bit overwhelming.  I was told about the website cozicentral.cozi.com.  They have a calendar that the entire family has access to, as long as they are given the login information.  Along with access, appointments and things can be scheduled and assigned to a particular family member, and will email a reminder to them.  It also has an app for the iPhone.  I love that it also has a note section, journal area, and a spot for recording the grocery list.  It has been such a time saver!  I like that I was also able to set it up to display Canadian holidays, instead of having to always be reminded of the US holidays.  Being in Canada, you can understand how the US holidays wouldn’t be very pertinent.  Oh yes…and did I mention…it’s Free!

We have a tabletop file box on our kitchen desk with a number of hanging files in it:  bills and statements, husband, high school, our Catholic school, ballet, swimming, you get the idea.  When papers come into the house I either file them in the appropriate file or deal with them immediately if they are quick turn-around items (permission slips, for example).  Every day I get the mail and open it over the recycling bin, putting what needs to be paid or reconciled in the bills and statements file and pitching the rest.  I’m an out of sight, out of mind person so if there’s something in a file that I have to deal with eventually I make a note on my to-do list or I may forget about it until I clean out the file someday.  This must be working for us because we don’t miss getting very many papers in on time. 

One last comment.  I have an iphone now, so all my appointments are on there, with plenty of alerts set so that I don’t’ forget anything!!!

We send each other e-calendar invites to events that involve the kids, meetings, events, etc. We’re smart phone/ipad users, so we always have bells and chimes going off here and there. (And I am thankful for that.) We used to use PDAs, so this isn’t new. Back then though we beamed events to each other. I kind of miss that ... but I digres.. We don’t have anything that resembles a normal schedule because we are self-employed. It works for us. A paper calendar was just useless. With regard to papers, etc, I have two banks of three basket letter-holder bins that are mounted to the wall under the bulletin board by the side door. Homework, bills, receipts, etc, go in those. Each bin has a purpose. Some are for current work that is always revolving, so kids can quickly find what they need, then put it back. Others are for things that just need to be kept, but gone through later. It works. I wish I were better organized. I used to be. But since the last two kids, I had to throw my hands up and say, oh well. This is where we are now.

Old Fashioned way - calendar.  I keep it near the computer and I immediately write down the date & time of an event.  School info is now via email, I get very little paper from school, except for permission slips.  Mail is minimal as well.  Bills go in desk, junk gets thrown out with recyclables.  It’s pretty foolproof.

My oldest child is a bit nostalgic and likes to keep everything, so every year, I purchase an expando file with a hard case for each child to store all of their school papers, artwork, report cards, class pictures (unfortunately, I don’t scrapbook!) and label it with their name and grade. As far as other papers go-from the school, mail, etc-I try to have a “touch it once” rule where I try to do with it immediately whatever needs to be done with it-filing,bill file, paying, signing, etc.-instead of putting it into stacks where they are never to be seen again or soon forgotten about. I carry my planner with me everywhere to keep track of the day-to-day. I call it my “master brain” and can’t do without it!

I’m the only one in the family with a cell phone and its rarely on, thank goodness.  So we stick to a central family calendar where all appts, dance classes, birthdays, social events, etc. are posted.  This way everyone can see at a glance if something is up that day.

For papers, I have a zippered binder.  When the mail comes in, most of it is recycled (a lot into a the shredder to be used as kitty litter), the bills and things that need attention on pay day go in the section of the binder “to be paid”.  (there are also sections in there for tax receipts, paid bills (til the next one comes in), filing to do, cheques, and a section for my daughter’s dance competitions. 

School papers are signed and returned the very next day (and BTW I keep a jar of small bills and coins in a kitchen cabinet to pay for unexpected small school expenses that come up, like a field trip or hot lunch). 

Anything else that needs filing or I need to look at later in the week goes in a basket in the kitchen and once a week (or two) I go through them and make a decision on what needs to happen with that item.  The things for filing go into a filing drawer, and the others get dealt with.