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In this technology driven world, there are countless people out there still addicted their paper life planners, and I’m one of them.
I tried very hard to cross over to the techy side of life, I really did. But my life took a nose dive and soon after I went back to the “old-fashioned” method which always suited me well.
Now to be totally transparent I actually have two planners. One for my business and personal life. For business, I use the 90X Planner and the other is for managing the house, meal planning, budgeting and the grand nugget’s schedules. For that, I use my Living Well Planner.
Today, I’m going to focus solely on the Living Well Planner and why it might be the perfect solution for reigning in your life!
Why You Need A Life Planner
As many of you know, I live with my daughter and son-in-law and my grandchildren Lucas and twins Madelyn and Aubrey. Life can get pretty hectic here because of our schedules. So when Ruth Soukup from Living Well, Spending Less announced she was creating a Life Planner I was immediately intrigued.
I purchased my life planner and to be honest let it sit there for a bit before I started using it right away. At first, I wasn’t sure how to use it most effectively for my personal living situation. Eventually, my daughter and I sat down, and we mapped out a system to use the planner most effectively for our unique living situation. Once we had that figured out, it made using the planner super straightforward and efficient.
So What’s In The Planner?
First, I love the layout, design and color choices of this planner. It’s a happy planner and the colors and design almost scream positivity.
What I love best about it is how the most important things about running a home are included all in one place! No other planner on the market does this. Plus, it’s organized by the month, so everything you need to reference is right at your fingertips when you need it. Meal planning, budgeting and the like is all together for each month. I thought that design piece was brilliant. Oh, and you can buy a planner and start whenever you want as you fill in each month as you go along. It doesn’t start and end on any specific date. I like that too!
Here’s an overview of how the planner is laid out for each month:
- A motivational quote on a sturdy cardboard divider
- A monthly goal planning sheet
- A monthly calendar overview and note strip
- A two-page monthly budget
- A monthly expense tracker
- A “Thoughts and Thanks” page with notable moments
- A page of “Notes and Ideas.”
The very first section is all about long range planning. What do you want out of your life and what do you want to eliminate. It’s that high-level view and a perfect place to put down those “New Year’s Resolutions.”
It also has some other year at a glance stuff and a sheet for identifying information in case your planner was lost.
How I Use My Life Planner
Month in Review: General big stuff goes in this section. Holiday’s, if someone has the day off, the babysitting schedule for Lucas also goes in this section.
Goals: In this section, we put things down that we want to work on as a family. So we may indicate something related to the house or that we’re going to add a vegetarian meal to the mix, eat more veggies or waste less food. Whatever we feel need to work on collectively goes in this section. Personal goals are not shared here unless someone wants to be held accountable.
Project Planning: I love this section because we always have a project going on at the house and this gives us a place to keep track of it all. This section was super useful when we were working on clearing our land as we got ready to install our pool.
Budget:
The budget sheets are what really set this planner apart from the rest. Having a well-executed budgeting worksheet directly at the start of the month is exactly why I purchased this planner.
This is why this is a LIFE planner and not just a calendar.
Your monthly budget is broken down into eight major categories and 47 subcategories.
This part of the planner was very helpful for both my daughter and son-in-law. It has helped them to see their budget in black and white. Since I manage the food, they know what I’ve spent each month.
Weekly Plans:
Spacious with plenty of room to put in appointments and things that come up. It has a notes section and a short to do section as well.
The best part is you can meal plan right within your weekly schedule. So easy to do this and have all the information you need right at your fingertips. I love this part of the planner!
All in all, I love my planner and how it’s laid out. It’s super easy to use, and the whole family can find information related to meal planning, budget tracking and project information by just a flip of the page.
If you’d like to purchase the planner go here and start organizing your life!
And if you know someone who loves planners, this planner would make a wonderful Christmas or Holiday gift.
Go here to check out the Living Well Life Planner!
