My 2013 Planner!

I am a loyal follower of Jen at IHeartOrganizing!  I stumbled across her blog through Pinterest--she was actually the first blog other than my friends' that I started following--and boy am I glad I did!  Her habits and home are ones over which I swoon...  She does such a great job at not only organizing spaces (and keeping them that way), but also making them all visually appealing and just so much fun!

At the beginning of the month, she posted her planner that she created, and I immediately fell in love.  Enough so the I ordered the planner kit from her, as well as the similar system she used to hold the pages.  Well, it all came in today and I am SO pleased with it so far! 

(If you go look at hers, which I strongly encourage you to do, I will warn you that it is SO much prettier than mine!  The girl has skill--perfect, beautiful, Midas Touch of Organization skill.)

I loved the planner documents so much (purchased electronic files) that I visited her Etsy shop and got a few more organizational documents that I could use in our family planner.  Oh, the color and coordination and personalization is almost too much for me to take in!  I just love it.

*The pictures are horrible because the lighting in my house is horrible--but I went ahead and took them without any natural light because I have time to blog and I'm just that excited about it!*

I ordered the Discbound System (by Martha Stewart) from Staples.  I loved this pattern; although, the one Jen got was the Discbound System also, her cover is a different material and offers other features (pocket and pen holder) that mine doesn't.  Had I known that, I might have swayed my choice; but regardless I still love the pattern!  Mine is also a soft cover so it bends like a notebook would. (she got the textured cover--offered in Black or Blue Wave--and I got the smooth)

There she is!  I love the cover sheet (well, I actually just love all of the pages SO much!) as the first thing I see when I open it.  All of my little tab labels off to the side add a bit of character while keeping things in order.

Each month gets a full page calendar like this one...

and also a full spread per week like this one (LOVE this feature).

The full spread includes a space to write out the meals you have planned for that day, making it super easy to get a glance at your complete day.  Each page also has a space for notes--we all have to have those little reminders--and that quote that I have come to love as such a fun reminder: 

"It's a FABULOUS day to have a FABULOUS day!"

The year, month, and week's end are also written at the top of the left page of the week at a glance.

While a full month's view of the past, current, and future months and a space for the weeks goals are on the right page.

I also have coordinating "Notes" pages at the back for those random lists that I always find myself writing; a Special Dates page where I have important birthdays and anniversaries are written out in one easy to see format; an idea sheet for blogging (personalized); and a media inventory list (I'm a bit of a movie fiend--and the worst is being at the store and not remembering if I already have the movie I'm thinking about getting--especially in a series...).

I've only had it for 5 hours and I already LOVE it!  Who wouldn't want to look at all those fabulous colors and layouts on a daily basis?  So pretty and yet so functional!

I started a family binder last year (again, after following Pinterest to a blog of ideas...).  I've seen multiple variations since and will probably use this more and more as our family grows.  However, since I was already on a spree, I went ahead and gave it some sprucing!  Since I am a sucker for all things chevron, this cover design had me at first sight.  And now all of the colors and patterns blend between it and my planner which makes me super happy :)

I had a flimsy planner in the front of this last year and it was my main family calendar.  It worked well except carrying around a hard binder all the time or to go grocery shopping or on trips was just annoying.  It was too bulky, and I didn't need to tote around all of the information in the other tabs all the time.  So I printed out the same calendar that's in my planner (only the whole month views).  So I still have a calendar here that gives me a reference, but it's no longer my main source of schedule organization.

With the planner kit came these fabulous meal plan sheets.  I had used a variation of these last year, but they weren't near this pretty!  I love having the space for the meals and the grocery list so that all of the planning gets done at once (my other sheets also had this feature so it's already something I appreciate, but again, they were just too dull).  I have 52 of these bad boys printed out and ready to go for 2013.  My plan is to fill out my menu and grocery list as I'm able to--even weeks at a time--and then when pay day/grocery day comes around, the two weeks I'll be shopping for will get punch and put in my planner.  I plan to carry that planner most (hopefully all) of the time, so this way I won't be carrying anything extra to the store.  I tried shopping with that bulky binder a few times last year and it was terrible (especially now with trying to juggle it and a toddler).  Then I resorted to just taking the paper, but I ended up folding it and shoving it in my purse or just flat out forgetting it at home--both of which strongly annoyed me.  So hopefully this method will ease my shopping woes!

I ordered this Babysitter planning sheet to fill out when we have a sitter (especially someone who doesn't sit for us often).  Again, I already had something similar to this, but it wasn't as pretty and I liked the info spaces on this one better.  Since they're digital files that I now own, I can print out as many as I need whenever I need them! (huge score in my book...)

I love having a place that I can organize my gift ideas and what I've already bought.  Plus this design has a place to track your spending budget--all must haves in one pretty location!

Here are the party planning documents that I fell in love with!  I regularly find myself hosting some sort of shower or shindig, making so many lists in so many different places that I can't keep track of them all.  This way, I can keep all my info together, and I can always write random thoughts and tid bits on the back.  Regardless, it's all together.

I also ordered the Password Log (who doesn't need help remembering the usernames and passwords to all of those online subscriptions and memberships?!) and the Paint Color Reference (to keep track of where you used a color and what it's name was) that both live in the binder.

How pretty are all of those pages?!  She is such a great designer of all things, but here we're focusing on those printables.  Again, these are sold as digital files, so once you get them, you can print them out as you need them.  The personalization is something else that gets me giddy.  Function + Beauty + Organization = Happiness and Sanity

I'm so excited to get this year going!

What do you use as your planner/home organization system?  I'd love to hear any tips or ideas you have that work for you and your family!

love, angie

Reminder:  I bought these printables from Jen at IHeartOrganizing.  Please visit her blog and her store and show her some love for her fantastic work!  You'll fall in love quickly!

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