This article may contain affiliate links, but each link has the Saver/Security Money Personality pledge. I only recommend if my Saver/Security Money Personality would actually buy it.

Older sisters always know what their younger sister’s weaknesses are and if you were to ask my big sister what mine is, she’d say, “organization.” I struggle. I want to be organized because I love how it takes the stress out of my life. I really love it when others get me organized and then all I have to do is keep it organized. My fault is creating the organization.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I can harness other people’s organizational skills and utilize them to ease the stress that chaos causes in my life. I once traded services with a friend to help me get my laundry room organized. She was amazing!

So, when we started the adoption process and then fostering to adopt, the paperwork was killing me. We got paperwork for the homestudy, the attorney, DCS, fostercare classes, court visits, and doctor’s visits. I wanted to be organized, but there wasn’t a specific place for me to put all of the documents.

The Solution To My Problem

I found out about Smart Money Mama’s from a Facebook group that I’m in and several people in the group were raving about her Emergency Binder and I thought, it can’t be that great. Since I crave organization to help with the chaos, I checked it out. I kept looking at the website for 2 months. I kept thinking, “Do I really need this? Is it worth spending $39? Is this a part of our Spending Plan? Will it really help me? Could it help my clients? Should I do it?” So, finally after 2 months, I decided to purchase the Emergency Binder. It’s as comprehensive as the reviews stated. I don’t regret my purchase.

Below are some important parts of the Emergency Binder that have helped me organize and keep all adoptive information in one place. If you are like me, you’ll love how clearly she put this together and you’ll want to buy it too.

To purchase the Emergency Binder:

Click here

Medical Information

I’ve sat in doctor’s offices and stared at the sheets in front of me and wished I had the information they were requesting for my child’s birth parent’s medical history. Do they have a history of high blood pressure? Has anyone had heart issues? These are some of the questions I wished the caseworker would have gotten or the hospital had obtained. This Emergency Binder has a fillable form to make it easy to collect that information. Maybe it’s in the huge binder that you received when meeting with the adoption worker, but separating the medical information from the actual case can be helpful; especially when all you need is the one form to take with you to the doctor’s office. (If you are getting ready to go to the ICPC wait time, then take this document with you, so you can have all of the information in one place.)

Pro-Tip: I’d have an original of the medical information at home and one that you can take with you to the doctor.

Caregiver Information

As soon as we finalized the adoption for our boys, we updated a will and established guardians for our 3 children, if anything happened to the 2 of us. I’m sure my brother and sister-in-law would appreciate receiving the information in the Caregiver Information Section.

1. School contact information
2. IEP and special needs information
3. School activities and extra-curricular activities
4. Best friends and their contact info (Can you imagine losing your parents and also losing your best friends because your new guardian doesn’t know they even exist?)
5. Therapist information (I know we have had occupational, speech, and developmental therapy and it’s helped our son leaps and bounds. It’d be shame for the appointed guardians to know nothing about this therapy.)
6. If you have an open adoption, this is the place to put contact information of the birth family. Make your wishes known that you want this relationship to continue even after you have passed. (Their contact info can also be included in the Household Information section.)
7. How do you celebrate birthdays and adoption day? Who’s invited? Do you have activities or a special plate for their special day?

Family Insurance Policy Details

This location will be vital for your family to know how to financially take care of your children if you both pass away. If you have a spouse that doesn’t physically pay the bills, this section will be very helpful to them as well. They only need to look in one section instead of searching around your entire office, file cabinet, or closet.

If your child or children receive state insurance, please notate how long they will continue to receive it. (For those of you that adopted out of Foster Care, you would have received that information from the adoption caseworker right before your adoption was finalized. They’ll also need information about any state or federal subsidy and how long that child will receive that money. This information can be put in the notes of this section)

Key Personal Documents

1. Adoption Decree
2. Marriage Certificate
3. Original birth certificate
4. New birth certificate after adoption
5. New social security card

I’m really glad I could share a little bit about how the Emergency Binder has helped me get organized and keep all of our Adoption information in one place. I want you to be organized as well and enjoy that feeling you get when everything is on one spot and you don’t have to go searching all over the house frantically trying to figure out what is going on financially. Sign up below if you are ready to harness the organizational skills of someone else and make your life a dream when it comes to being organized with the financial aspect of adoption.

Click here

 

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