What are you life admin tips?

[WhatWillSantaBring]

I am permanently drowning in things to remember - when do the cars need their MOT, what's the expiry date of my DC's passport, when's the dog next due its flea treatment, pay the window cleaner, change the water filter etc etc. I can do it, but it takes up so much energy, I want to have a list I can check AND more importantly, that DP can also check.

How do you organise yourself to remember everything? Lists? Calendar reminders? Is there an app or a book?

Please spam me with your bright ideas, oh collective wisdom of the Mumsnet.

[coodawoodashooda]

Take photos of important documents.

[WhatWillSantaBring]

@Gazelda

I've just realised you were only asking about calendars. Sorry to go off topic and bore you with my Bolognese schedule!

It's not boring. It's tips like these which make me love MN. I now do the meal calendar (28 day, so we do always have bolognese on a Tuesday, but only once every four weeks) thanks to a MN tip and it's a joy - I no longer have to think about meals, and DH can no longer say "I don't know what to make for tea" at 18.59 when I've just got back from a 13 hour day in the office....

[MrsJBaptiste]

@RainyDay2020

Good old fashioned family wall calendar split in to columns for each person
And (don’t laugh) but different coloured pens for different things.
Like birthdays go in green, medical appointments in red.

Exactly what we do!

Birthdays are highlighted so you walk past the calendar and think shit! It's Sarah's birthday tomorrow! 🤤

So yes, although we have a wall calendar on full view in the kitchen, I'm still a bit crap!

[RainyDay2020]

@MrsJBaptiste don’t get me wrong, having the birthdays in the calendar doesn’t always mean I’ll temper to send the card in time! (Maybe I should add an extra column for that - or is that going too far?!)

[BakedTattie]

Family wall calendar. If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not happening

I also carry a day to day diary.

I like to write things down. Can’t be bothered with apps and staring at my phone even more than I already do.

[SkiingIsHeaven]

There is an app called Trello. It is lists on steroids.

You can put lists within lists, set up notifications, allow others access, colour code, add notes, dates, numbers, set reminders etc. It is fantastic.

And it's free.

[lachy]

@SkiingIsHeaven

There is an app called Trello. It is lists on steroids.

You can put lists within lists, set up notifications, allow others access, colour code, add notes, dates, numbers, set reminders etc. It is fantastic.

And it's free.

I love 😍😍😍 my Trello boards.

I use them for work all the time (and one note) and put one together for DH. Told him I was going to project manage him decorating and revamping our house. He wasn't terribly impressed, but he is a bit of a "half a job Bob"

[MyOctopusFeature]

I have tried so many things in the past, paper and digital. But I give you.....

A roll of wallpaper.

Unroll it blank side up. Draw a visual map with a felt tip pen. You can create a timeline and add all sorts of ad-hoc arrows and shapes to highlight importances and urgency. You roll it up at the end, then keep rolling it out to update your charts as you go. It is easy to store and never gets torn, wet or wiped.

It might not look cool, but for me it just works. It took me a long time to discover too I might add.

[Daffodil21]

TimeTree app works for us. We both have access and can add events. You can have different calendars and share with multiple people. Also set reminders, make event recur and colour code. You can access via the app or on the website. It's also free

[Susannahmoody]

Meal planning is a great time saver. I've got 31 meals/recipes in a folder.

^
Derail but is there any chance you can post these? Just the meal, not recipe etc

[aibutohavethisusername]

Just cam to ask if someone could post their list of meals.

[aibutohavethisusername]

*came

[GappyValley]

Dogs get flea stuff on the first of the month
If you need to do anything else monthly, that’s when to do it.
It’s automatic after a while, pinch punch new water filter day



Reminders for EVERYTHING go in my phone with alerts at appropriate times beforehand

1 month for insurance,
1 week for birthdays etc

And when the alert goes off, it gets dealt with there and then, or a new alert is set

[wendz86]

I have a Busy b diary which has a page for each week and also meal plans and a to do list each week . I just put everything in there and always check it at the end of the week for the next week .

[Daisyroselondon]

@Gazelda I love your meal planning! Please tell me more. Do you get each week of food delivered on a Wednesday?

[Champagneforeveryone]

I'm a devoted iPhone user and love a good app, but I have yet to find an app that works for us as a family. We've therefore resorted to a paper calendar and the understanding that if it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist.

I also have a monthly list, so for example,
1st- water filter
2nd- houseplants (repotting, feeding etc)
3rd- hoover filters

[Piglet89]

Shared family calendar in iPhones, with reminders for everything that pop up at appropriate times.

[Piglet89]

@GappyValley is right about it being imperative that it’s dealt with the moment the reminder pops up. I’ve just missed preparing for a birthday that way and will have to pop round to the celebrant’s home with a card and flowers in person tomorrow (thankfully she lives relatively locally!)

[Sometimesonly]

I use a combination of Google calendar and a 5 year diary/notebook where I write down what I've done (eg gifts bought etc) so I can see more details. My meal planning is very much based on what is on special offer so the schedule wouldn't work. I'm also intrigued as to whether it is the same throughout the year - surely you need to adjust for the season?

[Camrette]

One thing that has made a huge difference to how organised I am is is to have a dedicated 30 mins every day where I deal with (personal/household) admin related stuff. So rather than trying to fit stuff in around other stuff it has its own time slot in my day
Anything from my self assessment to meal planning, online shopping for birthday presents to booking the car in happens then. Obviously some phone calls need to happen at other times but if it can happen in that half an hour it does. As far as remembering it all there’s still room for improvement but I definitely remember more because that half hour gives me the headspace to go through what needs to be done. I’ve used apps, diaries, calendars, whiteboards etc but the problem is that you actually need to use them 🤣

Cat flea treatment, changing contact lenses etc happens on the 1st.
My coffee machine tells me when it’s time to descale and change filters so I use that and do the kettle at the same time.
Bit lax with service washes on dishwasher and washing machine.

[Wallywobbles]

Multiple calendars
So one for the farm
One for family
One for each company I work in
One for DH
One for DSC access (shared with them and their mum)
One for holiday rental

All reminders go in calendar

We all have access to all of them but have them muted when not needed. But you can see when someone is available or not.

I write weekly lists in my bullet journal/calendar as well.

Best solution I've found so far.

All documents are scanned into Evernote using scannable. Literally everything is in there. Passports, logins, accounts, scans, X-rays, salary slips etc

All kids have a shared notebook in there too so they can share anything they need to with appropriate parent.

And we share a password app (DH & I) in case something happens to the other one.

[Wallywobbles]

Hope this works. It's our regular meal lists. Kids can do most of them.

[SGChome20]

Yes please to posting the meals for inspiration! Or do we need to start another thread for that??

[Bettyisboring]

We use a traditional wall calendar too.

[Blossominspring2021]

Yes apple calendar. I put in birthdays, vets, as recurring events and put reminders on them. If I miss say ‘book vets’, I always just open my ipad, put my finger on the event and move it to next week so it reminds me again!

I also have lists, and sometimes paper diaries but using them less now. Basically use quite a lot! I still forget stuff but it’s way less.

I don’t know how anyone remembers anything without these huge big lists.