Organizing frugal info

[naturallyadiva]

Hi i have a whole section of bookmarks filled with frugal info and saving money info. I wanted to go through all of these and write down the ideas and tips I found most helpful to me. What would be a good way to organize these tips? Have any of you done this? Looking for any tips! TIA!

[Broken Arrow]

Outline software?

[Ima saver]

Tell us some of the tips that you found helpful!

[tinapbeana]

something to consider is freeware that allows a tree structure, like KeyNote or treeDBnotes. i personally use keynote, so it's the one i'll describe.

you create one actual document, so there is only one file, called a note. when you open that document, it's broken up into nodes (essentially a mini-document) all within the main note (the main doc). all the nodes are organized in a tree structure on the left (think they way your bookmarks are organized in IE, that's a tree structure) so you can navigate and organize really easily.

plus, KeyNote offers the ability to export all or part of a note or node to another text format.

[naturallyadiva]

Well most of them have been from this board to be honest with you, but I would not mind sharing its the fact that they are everywhere. And I did not know if anyone else used index cards or a special notebook to write down frugal ideas and money saving tips. Because it seems like when they are out of sight they are out of mind and I really want to practice more the tips I have found. But thanks everyone for the input so far.

[Broken Arrow]

When I first started out managing our personal finances, besides using physical envelopes to track and save up for funds, I also wrote down all of the relevant financial information on index cards. One bill per card. Each bank account also got an index card. It was then separated by tabs, and placed in a small index card holder. Convenient, effective, and cheap.

Since then, I've slowly but surely evolved to using my PDA exclusively. Then, when my ex and I separated, I gave her the old index card set to use. Although I was the one who managed all of our personal finances, she was afraid that I would "cut her off" somehow. I would never even dream of such a thing, but I agreed to have her take over the finances so she would have the peace of mind she wanted. That was back in the day when I thought we can patch things up....

[Broken Arrow]

On another note, I love tree-hierarchy outlining software. I've been relying on softwares like it for years to organize just about everything under the sun. Better than free form, IMHO, because I don't like not knowing where things are properly stored.

On my PDA, I use Life Balance. Technically, it's designed to help you "achieve your balance in life", but I use it because it's one of the more versatile and reliable outliners available for the Palm OS.

That and it's got a Mac OS X equivalent software it can sync to. Not as big of a deal, but definitely important enough for me to consider. Prior to this, the King of the Hill of all outliners for me was OmniOutliner. If you use Macs, I simply can not recommend this enough.

Anyways, here's a quickie shot of Life Balance:

[tinapbeana]

BA, i get the feeling you and i are kindred spirits. any chance you've ever been by 43 folders, david seah's, or pocket mod? if not, you might wanna visit. they're, well, you'll see.

if it's not out there, i should start a website called "you might be a dork if..." and then basically describe myself.

"you might be a dork if you find a productivity blog entertaining"
"you might be a dork if you get excited by office supplies"

yup, i'm a dork

[PetMom]

I usually print a really good tip and have all these sheets of great tips.

I have them all just in a pile in a shelf organizer as money saving tips.
I reread them often enough to recognize them.

I don't have anything computerized to organize it and I want something
'hard' to work with if my computer should go down or hubby is using it.

[naturallyadiva]

Thanks again, i like the index card idea and the printing out the tips.

[fairy74]

I organize them in a spreadsheet (have various ones for various categories) i.e. home, banking, gifts, etc.. then print and put in a binder. Handy to tote around and a good reminder before I go to the grocery store, out to buy a gift, etc...

[ShoppingInsider]

Had a book about home organizing which included a system you keep in a recipe box. Daily labels, and you'd put an index card with reminders/info in it for what you wanted to do on Monday or Tuesday or whatever.

Different colored cards went in for things you did less often, like monthly chores.

Don't see why frugal info couldn't be stored in a recipe box, either alphabetically or by type of info.

Diana

[PRICEPLUS]

I have downloaded articles into a windows folder and arrange by subject and #.