Thriving Parents

shifting Parenthood from barely surviving to thriving

A New Planner to Fit My Needs

I talked a lot on my Facebook page about how I was designing my yearly planner.  Last year I used an Erin Condren planner and while I loved it, it was missing some pieces that are essential to organizing our life: larger pages, a menu planning page, and a grocery list.  I decided to use some software that I had on my own computer to design my own planner. 

The beginning of my planner is for month-at-a glance planning pages.  I tried to make it colorful and each month matches the week’s planning pages so essentially the months are color coordinated.

Next, I have monthly planning pages:

These pages allow us to plan ahead for specific events.  I’ve listed birthdays, graduations, communions, etc on these pages.

I made the weekly pages a similar layout as last year’s because I liked it, but made it a full size 8×11 paper because I needed more room. 

Here’s a closer look at each side of the calendar page:

Each column is for a day of the week and has three sections underneath it.  I can use the sections for morning, afternoon, and night but I tend to use them for morning, blog/ shop scheduling, and afternoon/evening. I like that I can change how I use them week to week based on what’s on our schedule.

The most important part of the planner for me is the menu planning page and grocery list.  I NEED to menu plan each week.  It just makes me feel so much more prepared for the week – whether I stick to what I’ve planned, or not.  

The week is located at the top but the page is split into two sides:  The left is for the menu plan and the right is the grocery list.  As I make the menu for the week, I can add what I need on the grocery list.  When I am done, I take a pair of scissors, cut down the middle of the page, and take the grocery list to the store.  

The way I organized the planner now, the menu planning pages are in between each week.  Next year, I’ll place all the menu planning pages next to each other in the back of the book.  This way the calendar pages can all be back to back and I won’t be using as much paper.  However, in the meantime, I use the left hand side of the page to write down all the things our family would like to eat that week and then I narrow it down to how many days I’ll be cooking.  You can see my notes in the next photo:

At the very end of the book are 6 Notes pages.  They allow me to jot down anything I need space for.  Typically, I use it in school board meetings or in classes or workshops.

I printed out all the pages on to a heavier stock paper (28 lb) than normal paper (20 lb) to make it more durable.  I made sure the pages were in the correct order and I took the planner to Kinko’s.  They were able to laminate the cover pages and bind it for me into a spiral bound notebook in about 10 minutes and for about $11.
I am so glad I took the time to do this.  It was time consuming but the great thing is that I was able to do it while sitting on the couch next to Matt, and not in the sewing room at the sewing machine.  Even better is that now I have a template done and can change the dates for future years.
What kind of planner do you use?  Are you solely digital or do you use paper?
xoxo
–k

Kristina Grum is a Certified Parent Educator who has over a decade of experience working with children, including being a classroom teacher. She currently teaches parenting classes in her local area and writes about shifting parenthood from barely surviving to thriving.

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Comments

  1. Marcy says

    I love this! And I love how you are so organized! Oddly enough, I don't use a planner. I write everything on my wall calendar in the kitchen, and have a shopping list pad on my fridge, and another pad for my menu ideas on my counter. Not organized at all. But I've managed to hold it together, somehow, all of these years! With one going off to college in the fall, I'm hoping I gain more space on my wall calendar 🙂

  4. Unknown says

    I really like your color choices. FINALLY someone that knows what colors match the months correctly. All the planners out there have color schemes that MAKE NO SENSE! Who associates October with anything but orange? It frustrates me so much!
    I have been going crazy looking at the stupid planners out there. I guess I will have to make my own too.
    Can you tell me what software you used? Thank you! 🙂