Household hacks: home computer maintains family’s sanity

Posted on 22. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, my life, parenting, technical

I’m a nerd who hates chaos. So when it comes to organizing my life, my computer is my greatest ally.

In case you need a few tips for keeping your house / family / kids in order, here are some ways I use my computer to keep our family sane:

Address list: Of course, it’s on Microsoft Access. I use it to print labels and reports, and have fields such as “Send Christmas Card” and “Invite to Birthday Party.”

Allowances: I discovered early on that it was tough to remember to give my kids their allowances each week, and tougher to keep track of how much I owed them. So I opened Banco de Mama, which is actually an Excel spreadsheet that tracks debits, credits, and interest for each kid. Each kid has a worksheet within the file, and each worksheet has five columns: Description, Date, Credit, Debit, Balance. I’m a generous banker – they get 1% interest on their balance at the end of each month. When I’m in a nasty mood, I add all the credits and say something like, “Wow, did you realize you’d have $XXXX if you hadn’t spent your money on things like that Hello Kitty wallet in 1999?” Moms can be so evil.

Calendar: I’m probably the last techie parent on Earth without a Blackberry or Treo, but since I’m usually chained to my desk, I don’t need one. Instead, I find that keeping track of the family calendar on my computer with Calendar Creator works best. I just print it out each month and put it on the refrigerator. I also print it when something changes. Sometimes I make it into a PDF and email it to my husband.

What to bring on vacation: I’ve got a Microsoft Access database that lists each item we could possibly need to bring on a vacation, as well as a few “to-do’s” such as stop newspapers, etc. There’s a yes/no field for each vacation we might take. So when we go to church camp, for example, I just check the “bring to church camp” button next to each item we want to bring there. Then, I have a report for each trip. It’s amazing how many times this has saved me from forgetting something such as a cell phone charger.

Vacation planner: When we go on a road trip, I make up a binder with hotel confirmations, Google maps, phone lists, articles about tourist spots, etc. that I slip into plastic sleeves. We keep it in the front passenger seat.

Text messaging: I send text messages to the kids from my email to remind them of things such as doctor’s appointments. I try to do it when they’re on break.

To Do list: If I print out a list of what household tasks we need to get done and put it on the counter, the kids are far more enthusiastic about helping. I think it’s because they know what to expect, and aren’t caught by a surprise, “Oh, and can you also do this? And this? And this?” When my kids were younger, I had an Excel spreadsheet for each of them with a column for each day of the week and a row for each task they had to complete, such as “Brush teeth” and “Practice instrument.” We don’t need it anymore.

Cable TV channels: Our cable tv channels are different on our main tv than on other tv’s in the house. I’ve got a list of the “other” tv’s channels that I’ve printed out and put next to those tv’s. I think we have this situation because there’s a cable box on only one tv.

Reminders: Every day at 3 pm, AOL Reminders sends me an email that says “headgear.” I shout downstairs to my son, “Are you wearing your headgear?” Inevitably, the answer is “no,” so he scurries off and puts it on. I also use this service for birthday reminders, eBay reminders, and random reminders such as “find soppy college graduation article in such-and-such folder” set for years in the future.

Shopping list: I used to have a database with items I could purchase at the grocery store, sorted by aisle. I’d post it on the refrigerator and just check off what I needed each week. I don’t use it anymore because there are four different grocery stores I go to, and they’re all configured differently. Besides, I found some cute Snoopy and Westie magnetic notepads I keep on the fridge, along with a magnetic pen.

Magazine labels: I print labels that say, “Already read: ___ Mom, ___ Dad, etc.” and put them on each magazine (other than National Geographic!) that comes through the door. When all the relevant people have checked off their names, we pass the magazines on or toss them. (When I say “relevant people,” I mean that I don’t read Runner’s World or Sweet 16.)

Finances: Microsoft Money.

Labels: My Brother P-Touch labelmaker is great for individual labels for files, cameras, sports equipment and more.

These are only a few of my computer household / parenting hacks. Besides these, we also print out invitations, placecards at Thanksgiving, luggage tags, recipes, signs at parties that say “Go to backyard,” lists of what can/can’t be recycled, a spreadsheet with the number of hours my daughter has driven, etc. Be creative!

Please comment below to let me know if you have any great ideas I’ve missed here.

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Tags: chaos, cool websites, organization, productivity tools, software