I love the smell of new planner in the morning....

Okay, not really, but I am excited... all the pieces to my 2012 planner have arrived and I have assembled them how I want them.  If you are not a planning junkie, this post might just prove to you how crazy I am.... Even if you are a planning junkie, this post might just prove to you how crazy I am.

 

Here is the view from the outside.  My new binder isn't as colorful as this years (which was a beautiful burnt orange color), but I wanted to save some money- since I was replacing my whole system and not just getting refills (also, I wasn't paying).  So I chose this nice, simple black zipper binder.  This is actually the second one I chose... the first one was a snap closure, but it arrived broken and I found the rings weren't big enough for all I would need (the amazing customer service at franklin covey replaced my damaged binder with no fuss ans even sent the new one with express shipping so I didn't have to wait another week for it to arrive). 

Here is the inside... Not sure what I will do with all the pockets... maybe I will actually put all those store cards and business cards that I have just thrown in a dresser drawer in here (because I sure never have them when I need them with the current situation).    And yes, that is a picture of my youngest nephew (he is probably 3 times this size now but still just as cute!)   in the neat little wallet pocket page.

This is the planner I chose from Franklin Covey (love them!)  It has monthly calendar pages and then 2 pages per day.  Each Season the design changes. 

The first few pages in my planner are just general information.  There is a page that you can list the clothing sizes, blood type and other information for each family member.  Then, there are the future planning pages, with calendars, for the next few years.

Next, comes the monthly calendars.  I like the lines- because I am a messy writer!

After the monthly pages there is a Master To Do list (which I have placed a ruler by so I can easily find it).  Next, I inserted a monthly expense tracker (I bought a budget pack to go with my planner).  I like this tracker because I can just enter my expenses here and then add them to the budget a few times a month, instead of updating the budget everytime I spend money. Speaking of budgets....

That is directly behind the expense tracker.  I had to change some things on the budget because we don't have children (that section got changed to pets).  Next comes the fun part...

 As mentioned my calendar has 2 pages per day.  On one page it has a to do list, appointment schedule and then a place where you can note emails, voicemails or other info.  The other page is for notes.  After Jan 31, you get Feb's monthly calendar, expense list, budget and daily pages.... which repeats for every other month.  Right now I only have the daily pages for 2 months, and will add the next months half way through a month.  Behind the calendar are some fun tabs.

First I have a Yearly Finance tab, which I will add the budget info at the end of the month... This is meant to help me track my budget month to month and help with creating 2013 budget.  Next is bills where I can write down my bills and how much was due, what I paid, etc. Next tab is debt elimination where I can list my debt elimination information (will be nice to have this in my planner--- at the moment it is all in a folder and it becomes a mess).  Next is a place where you can list your accounts along with monthly balances.  The next tab is Auto information where we can keep track of our auto servicing (again will be nice to have this in my planner since now it is just thrown in a folder).  Next tab is medical information where we can keep track of our tests results and other medical info.  The last white tab is websites, where I can list websites and passwords.  Behind that is my address book.  Attached into the back cover is a place for note pads, where if I need to add extra notes to sections I can.

I also bought a starter pack which has some great forms in it, including goals and mission statements and stuff like that.  I had that with my planner this year... and I went through and did the personal mission statement and goal stuff, but I didn't do much else with it... I am hoping to make more use of this feature this year.  I haven't decided where this info will go in the planner yet, probably between the website and address book.

I can't wait to start using this planner.  It is definitely more involved than this years planner, which I like because alot of times this year I was wanting more places to keep track of stuff.  Also, I am happy that this year I can move some items that I have in other (less organized) places to my planner.  I love Franklin Covey and all the options they have and I am hoping that each year I can add/take away parts of the planner to make the system work perfectly (or as near as possible) for me.

You might notice one thing that is not here... Menu Planning/Shopping Pages.  I had originally bought some forms for this.  However, in between the time I ordered them and the time they arrived (which was only a week) I came up with another system for both of these.  The menus will stay in my weekly folder till I need them and I have a notebook for shopping pages.  My planner is already pretty full and I am really happy with the system I have come up with for the menu and shopping, so I will be returning those pages.

What kind of planner do you use?  I really would like to hear how some of you use your planners.  Do you buy one, make one?  Do you keep the same system year after year, or do you try new systems to find the best fit?  Please post your comments below!