A to Z: The Home Address Book

This handy household item is similar to The Appliance Binder, for keeping track of important phone numbers, important dates and other information.

You can use any small binder and customize each section to suit your needs. The sections I have in my Home Address Book are: Quick Reference, Names and Numbers, Dining Out and Holiday Card List.

Quick Reference - This section is the first in the binder for easy access. It includes emergency information for police, fire, hospital, animal hospital and poison control. It also lists important work numbers, name and number of our doctors, neighbors, relatives and schools. There is also a section for frequently called numbers, maintenance and other service numbers and important financial information such as the phone number for our bank and credit cards.

Names and Numbers - This is the heart of the Home Address Book. Each entry contains the name and address of the person along with email, home phone, cell phone and work phone number.

Dining Out - This section lists all of our favorite restaurants and includes menus for each. There is a quick reference page in the beginning that lists each restaurant's phone number and a note on if they deliver or not.

Holiday Card List - If you are overwhelmed by all the holiday cards you have to send out, this is a good way to keep track of all of them. This section contains the name and street address of everyone on my holiday card list. I also include a column for year, card received and card sent. That way I can easily see who I need to send a card to and passive aggressively keep track of who hasn't sent a card back.

No holiday card from you, Uncle Bill, for the last two years? You are off the list!

Over time you can pare down the list to save on postage and to really account for who loves you in your circle of friends and family.