Thursday, June 9, 2011

"I Love Me" Book

I was asked what an "I Love Me" Book was... Let me educate you young grasshopper so you can spread the word. An "I Love Me" book is a binder of everything about you. It's your army life in a nutshell.
This is my "I Love Me" Book

It is a combination of civilian, military, and post military things. I have one, the hubby has one and I made one for my son. My son is mainly birth certificate, social security card and shot records/growth charts but it will expand once school starts. Ok This is whats in my "I Love Me" Book. I use dividers to make organization easier. I keep each section in chronological order with most recent first.
1st Divider: Civilian
In this divider I have:
  • Marriage Certificate
  • Birth Certificate
  • Social Security Card
 Some people choose to have their familes birth certificates or other important paperwork in this section(i.e EFMP, daycare info, Emergency Contacts)

2nd Divider: Orders
I keep all of my orders (PCS, TDY, Deployment and discharge) under this category. I keep them in chronological order from most recent to oldest. In my husbands book I put a sticky note with the date and location of all his orders. Just something to make things easier.

3rd divider: Certificates/Training

This section you put every certificate of training you have ever recieved. Certificates of Completion, DA 1059, Drivers Training, Licenses, AIT, Basic, whatever class/computer course you have taken put proof in this section. It makes things very easy when updating promotion points worksheet. I like to keep the DA 1059 behind the certificate for easy sorting.

4th divider: Awards
I like to put the DA 638 behind the certificate. It helps keep things together and easier to sort through. I also keep my promotion orders in this section or you can put them in the "Orders" section. My husbands book has a "Promotions" section.

5th divider:???

This divider can be anything you want. In my book I have all my college info, transcripts, VA approval, separation checklists, DD214, GI Bill info, Power of Attorneys my husband has given me, and paperwork turning me from a sponsor into a dependent (:( sniff: sniff)

In my husbands book this is for his enlistment paperwork. His reserve, active, and re enlistments. This would be very helpful to keep, to make sure pay and years in service is kept straight.

So these are our "I Love Me" books. I hope this was helpful. I know there are more elaborate ways to organize things but I think this is a simple and easy way. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions please feel free to comment below. Also leave suggestions for upcoming entries.

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