Home Management by Neat Obsession

My mom is a great homemaker. I always thought it was an easy job because she’s at home and ‘ONLY’ takes care of us. Now that I became a mom too, I realized that there’s more to it than meets the eye. Home management is not a walk in the park.

Our generation is so blessed because there are now workshops that tackle home management. Last July 20, I was one of the tag-along of Isabel Dizon on the Neat Obsession’s Home Management workshop facilitated by Ms. Issa Guico Reyes. It was sponsored by the Moneygment app, Kurin Water, Elephantique and Recovery Mode.

Today, I’ll be sharing my 8 key takeaways from that event.

1. You need to define first your happiness.

Few of the questions that may help you find your answer are:

- How do you celebrate when you are happy?
- What do you feel when you are happy?
- Does it spark joy?

To help us further understand, Issa shared how she started the Neat Obsession. When she was a little girl, her dad regularly showed her how to clean the house. Growing up, she learns how to be an effective homemaker. She wanted to highlight that there is happiness in homemaking.

I, on the other hand, grew up resenting cleaning and organizing. I used to think that it’s a task that I need to accomplish. But today, I am already feeling a certain joy in homemaking.

What makes me kilig now are…

- Clean and squeaky bathroom
- Empty laundry hampers
- Clean and empty sink
- Organized refrigerator
- Dust-free electric fans

2. Shared Home Management

What is Home Management? It is a process to effectively run a household.

- Homemakers act as household managers and bookkeeper
- Make any household purchase that is needed
- Pay bills and set household budget
- Take care of maintenance

3. Define who are the members of the household

Parents
Children
Household staff
Pet and Plants (because they are living things that are included in our responsibilities)

4. Know how to manage your household staff

Our household staff is also human like us. They have feelings and emotions. They get tired too. We must treat them right so we’ll get to earn their trust. Here are the few ways on how we can appropriately manage them:

- Pay appropriate wages properly (According to the law, the minimum wage for the helper is Php 3,500)
- Provide government secured benefits (These people don’t have access to their insurance, that’s why we must help them get SSS, Philhealth and Pag-ibig)
- Prepare schedule and scope of work
- Let them rest during the day
- Provide enough food and essential
- Allow them to sleep at least 8 hours every night
- Respect them and show gratitude
- Be open to advancement in career and living

5. Start a HOME FILING SYSTEM

If you’ve been following the Neat Obsession, you’ll notice that Issa always says, “It’s always about you finding a system that works.” There are many suggested ways on how to organize your files. Here are some of them:

accordion envelop
folder/ring binder
clear book
filing bag/cabinet
labeler / pen/ label stickers
shredder

6. Know what are the important files to keep

Important files are sorted into 3 classifications: Proof of Life & Identity, Asset Ownership & Security and Insurance. Here are the important files that you should have. Please take note that some, like Birth Certificates, have expiration dates.

NSO Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Passport/VISA
Transcript of Records / Diploma
Current Employment Contract
Insurance Policies
BIR/Tax Documents
Property Documents
Car Documents
Company Incorporation / Ownership related Documents

Here are the papers that you may keep for a limited period:

Billing Statements
Receipts
School Activity Sheets
Newspapers/Magazines
Manual
Warranties
Paper Bag

If these papers have sentimental value on you, Issa suggests that you do an electronic filing instead which will be discussed in the next bullet.

7. Electronic Filing

An electronic filing is a system of organizing files using a local drive or online drive.

Scan/Digitize Important Documents
Label/Name the files accordingly
File them in the folder with the correct category
- IDENTITY
- ASSETS
- INSURANCE
Back up in the hard drive
Back up in the cloud
Review every year

Another way is to have a copy save on your e-mail

Scan/Digitize Important Documents
Attach in email and include details in the subject
Send

8. Managing of Finances

On this topic, Ms. Jes of the Moneygment app took over. We started with an activity wherein we create a board which shows:

Expense Tracker
Total Monthly Income
Short term goals
Long term goals
Action Plans to achieve these goals

At the end of the session, we were asked if our short term and long term goals are achievable considering our expense and income.

Then, she introduced the Moneygment app that aims to help us manage our finances through an app. I’ll further discuss the application on the next blog.

Final Say

The workshop is very interesting. We were so engaged throughout the talk that we lost the track of time. We were surprised that it’s already the end of the session. It was also one of the most generous events that I’ve been to -from the food, loot bags and raffle prize.

The event was held at Happy Garden Café. They prepared sumptuous meals for us.

To share, here are the goodies inside the loot bag:

– Travel Container Kit and Cosmetic Pouch or Gadget Pouch by Elephantique

– Kurin All-Purpose and Kurin Bathroom by Kurin Water

– Moneygment merchandise

We also enjoyed the back massage by Recovery Manila

At the end of the day, they raffled 1 Samsung A50. My #aweSAHM friend Katrina Camille won!

But what makes this event extra special, is the event was well-attended by few mommy bloggers, vloggers, and influencers.

PS. Thank you to my #aweSAHM friends. Mommy Nikki for the photos and Mommy Sab for modelling your loot bag.

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Home Management by Neat Obsession

Today, I’ll be sharing my 8 key takeaways from that event.