My Planner System

Have you checked out the Organized Home Challenge yet?  The challenge doesn't technically start until Monday, but the first 4 days of January have been little things to help get ready.  Here's my progress so far.

Jan. 1 - "Set up a donation and selling collection station".  I admit, I don't really do this.  I have a large garbage bag for donation items and once it's full, off it goes.  Or if I'm heading to my chiropractor which is right next to the Goodwill drop off.   I do keep track of donations for tax purposes, but I'll talk about that in a minute.  As for stuff to sell...I don't bother.  I hate having garage sales!  It's just too much work, and I don't have enough to sell to make it worth all the time to me.  So, I donate everything instead.  If I decide to get rid of something actually worth much, I might try ebay or craigslist, but so far that hasn't happened.  I have sold some old text books on amazon, and that's been pretty easy.

Jan. 2 - "Create binder for household notebook".  I didn't really create a binder...and it's not really a household notebook.  But I do have a new planner system I absolutely LOVE.  After years and years of trying different things (Franklin planners, cheap calendars from the store, several different online things), I finally found something that actually works for me!

Have you seen these disc binders?  I love them!  First, they are so much easier to move things around than a regular three ring binder.  But best of all, THEY LAY FLAT!  Just like a spiral notebook.  Yes, you have to have a special paper punch for them.  But, it's a one-time, fairly small expense that is definitely worth it.  I bought this really cute binder, along with some tabs for it, at Staples.  I bought the hole punch off of amazon for a total of about $25.  That may seem a little much, but remember, all of that is reusable year after year!  It's just the pages that have to be replaced.

Ahh...the pages!  Where do those come from?  Most of them I ordered off of easy from a site called http://www.thepolkadotposie.com.  I love the layout, the fun colors, everything about them.  And all for only $10.  I could probably make my own, but this was so much easier.

The pages I really use are the calendar:

And the monthly meal plan:

I also have tabs for a to-do list (which I just do on the paper that came in the binder), plain paper, and for organizing.  The organizing section is new - this is my answer to this part of the organized home challenge.  I printed off the January calendar from the challenge so I have it in front of me.  I also will put any printoffs I get from the challenge that I find useful in this section.

I did add one other thing.  I found this donation record on www.clutterdiet.com (thanks to seeing it on the Today show), and it is really useful!  You just write everything down and add up the value.  Underneath that, I printed out the Valuation Guide from Goodwill, and stuck that in as well.

All put together, it makes a great binder!  I love having everything I need in one place.  I'll probably find more things to add to it over time, but I've been using it since July and so far it's been exactly what I needed.

Jan. 3 - "Create template for daily to-do list that works".  I'm still working on this one.  Right now I just use a piece of paper.  If you have any suggestions for what works for you, I'd love to hear them!

Jan. 4 - "Declutter or make place to store old Christmas cards".  I don't keep old Christmas cards.  Picture cards go on the refrigerator for a while, but regular cards I just get rid of.  I appreciate them, I do.  I just don't understand why I need to keep them.

So, I'm all caught up!  How about you?