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Family organization and routines

Household binder

A binder or folder that keeps a home's key information in one place, from contacts and schedules to copies of important papers and account details.

What It Means

A household binder is a physical binder, folder or file where a family keeps the information needed to run the home and to cope if something goes wrong: contacts, account details, insurance, medical information and copies of key documents. The term is informal, and families fill theirs differently. FEMA and Ready.gov publish a free version aimed at emergencies, the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK), which gives a ready-made set of sections and forms.

Try It: Check Off Your Household Binder Sections

Tick each section your binder already has. The six sections are the ones in FEMA's Emergency Financial First Aid Kit; the examples are Buhata's.

Sections done0
Out of6

Start with household contacts and medical information; they're the pages people reach for most in a hurry.

How It Sounds at Home

  • "The insurance info is in the house binder."
  • "Grab the binder, the plumber's number is in the back."
  • "If anything happens, everything's in the blue binder."

The Breakdown

Household binder checklist

  • Household identification: copies of IDs, birth certificatesBirth certificateThe official record of a birth, kept by the vital records office of the state or territory where the birth took place. See more, passports
  • Household information: who lives here, the home's address and details
  • Financial and legal documents: insurance policies, lease or deed, wills, powers of attorney
  • Financial accounts: banks, credit cards, loans, and who you pay each month
  • Medical information: doctors, prescriptions, allergies, insurance cards
  • Household contacts: financial advisorsFinancial advisorA general job title for someone who helps with money and investment decisions; the title alone says nothing about their license, training or duty to you. See more, health professionals and service providers such as the plumber or electrician
  • Day-to-day extras: the wifi name, the trash and recyclingRecyclingCollecting used materials such as paper, cardboard, glass and some plastics so they can be processed and made into new products. See more schedule, school contacts

The first six are the sections of FEMA's Emergency Financial First Aid Kit; the items listed under each and the extras are Buhata's own examples.

How to put it together

  1. Download the EFFAK checklists and forms from Ready.gov, or use a plain binder with seven tabs.
  2. Fill one section at a time, starting with contacts and medical information.
  3. File copies, and keep originals of anything hard to replace somewhere safer.
  4. Tell the other adults at home where it is.

Try it today. Write the household contacts page: every doctor, insurance company, utility and repair person you'd need to call, with their numbers.

Good to Know

FEMA and Ready.gov suggest storing important documents in a safe deposit box, on an external drive or in the cloud so you can reach them in a disaster, and keeping records in a waterproof, fireproof container. The EFFAK also suggests having contact details for your financial advisors, health professionals and service providers, even tucking in their business cards. Buhata's own suggestion: since a binder full of account numbers is sensitive, keep it out of sight of visitors and leave full passwords out of it.

FAQ

What goes in a household binder?

Contacts, account details, insurance, medical information and copies of key documents. FEMA's Emergency Financial First Aid Kit organizes these into six sections you can use as tabs.

Where should I keep a household binder?

Somewhere safe that the other adults at home know about. FEMA and Ready.gov suggest a waterproof, fireproof container for records, and a copy on an external drive, in the cloud or in a safe deposit box.

Is a household binder the same as a family command center?

They overlap but do different jobs. A command centerFamily command centerOne central spot at home, often a wall by the entry or in the kitchen, where the family keeps its shared calendar, papers, lists and everyday items. See more is out on the wall for the week's schedule and papers; a binder holds private reference information and stays put away.

Do It in Buhata

Vault (Plus), Household Notes

Keep scans of the binder's papers, from insurance policies to the lease or deed, in Vault (Plus) in Buhata, and put everyday details like the wifi password and bin schedule in Household Notes.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

  • Home inventory

    A room-by-room record of what you own, with photos, values and receipts, kept to prove a loss to your insurer after a fire, theft or storm.

  • Family emergency plan

    A written plan a household agrees on ahead of time for how it will reach each other, where it will meet and what it will do in a disaster or emergency.

  • Family command center

    One central spot at home, often a wall by the entry or in the kitchen, where the family keeps its shared calendar, papers, lists and everyday items.

  • Emergency kit

    A packed set of water, food, light, first aid and other basics that lets a household get through several days on its own after a disaster.

Family organization and routines

Sources

Ready.gov, "Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK)"; FEMA, "Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK)"; FEMA, "Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK)" toolkit (PDF); Ready.gov, "Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) Checklists and Forms"; Ready.gov, "Financial Preparedness"

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