Planner Peace? - Happy Planner
Hey there!
At the beginning of the year I made the decision to create my own planner for 2017. My thought process behind that decision was that I'd be able to change my planner plan at any point during the year without having to buy or create another planner. Well, that lasted about 3 months folks.
Don't get me wrong. I love my DIY planner. It was fun to make and I had fun decorating each page. But, the one thing that I missed from the previous year's Erin Condren planner was the ability to use readymade stickers and embellishments for decorating. Yes, creating my own embellishments are fun but have you seen some of the collections that have come out lately? Yeah, you understand!
So I decided that it was okay to make the switch to a different planner. After thinking about what kind of planner I wanted, I decided on the Happy Planner by Me and My Big Ideas (MAMBI). It had many of the elements of the Erin Condren planner but without the price tag. The planner itself is $29.99 but no one pays full price! I used a 60% off coupon at Michaels and paid $11.99.
I chose the "Hooray For Today" 2017-2018, 18 month planner because the pages spoke to me. It has a "get out and enjoy life" kind of vibe. I definitely like that idea! The page set up has minimal decorations and allows me to add my own pop of flare. And, the dividers for each month are awesome! It's like a pep talk for the month to come!
And because Michaels was having a sale on planner items, I picked up the Memory Planning sticker sheet, the teal expander rings and the 6 month extension pack.
The 6 month extension pack means that I can start using my 2017-2018, 18 month planner now. The planner itself doesn't begin until July so the extension pack means I can take 3 monthly sets and add it to the planner.
Enter the teal expander rings. The rings that come on the planner are just fine but we all know that I am going to add enough things to my planner that I'll need expander rings. The original rings are 1.25". The planner as is fits your 18 months just fine but after planner girls add shaker pockets and dashboards and puffy stickers, etc., you are going to need more room!
Yep, you can remove some of the older months or you can add these cute, teal 1.75" rings and keep it moving!
Someone asked me what will be different about this planner from my DIY planner. Well, I add appointments to all my planners so that never changes. I didn't decorate my DIY planner though. I have maybe 4 or 5 weeks planned out of the 14 or so weeks that we've had in 2017 so far. My goal for this planner is to not only list my "to dos" and appointments but to also capture my "I did this" and journal a bit about my goals.
I've always had calendars. If you look at my wall calendar, you see every movie that I plan to go see, every event that's coming up in my life, every meal that I am planning on cooking. I want this planner to be that for memory keeping. I want this planner to tell the story of my year, month, week, my day.
I have big plans for this planner! It has a lot to live up to. Stay tuned and see if it makes the grade.
