The first of the year always feel like a great time to determine to be more productive and organized. January 1st is to adults what going back to school is to kids! All the fancy new pens, highlighters and planners. But the same way those school planners are blank and those lockers are trashed by October 1, most adults have given up on their new planning method by the first of February.
So before I started scrolling through Amazon looking for the cutsyiest new planner for the year I thought I would take a moment to think about what systems and processes I’ve put into place in the past that we’ve actually stuck with. At this point I really don’t have any extra money to be spending on something I’m not even going to follow through with. I think most of us are feeling the need to tighten the budget after the holidays. Here are 4 different systems in my life that I’ve stuck with long term and that work for our family to help things run more smooth.
A Family Planner
Am much as I want to be a physical planner person I’m just not. I don’t always have it with me when I need it, and I need an option that’s convenient and accessible. What really changed things for us was when our oldest got her first job about 4 years ago. Keeping track of my, my husbands, and her schedule was just becoming too much to manage. We officially became a Google Calendar family. It’s just to easy because everyone adds their own plans and they all merge to one calendar. No more asking my husband 15 times what time he’s golfing Saturday for him to look at me with the “I already told you this” face. It took a little but to get everyone on board, but once everyone was on board it was a game changer.
A Blog/Content Planner
This is where I do use a physical planner. I’ve tried one of those other digital planners that businesses use for managing content and events but I’m just more the type that needs to be able to see all my notes right in front of me and quickly flip back and forth. There are all sorts of planners out there, and this is the one I’ve decided to use this year. I like that there is plenty of room for writing my content ideas and tasks in the daily boxes and I can see the whole month at a glance. It’s not uncommon for me to have to switch things around throughout the month, so seeing it all in one place is helpful. I can also fit a small sticky note in each box. So while I’m deciding what day for each content idea I can use sticky notes until I land on a plan that I thing will work well for me, then I fill it in with pen or pencil. I also liked that there are two fill sides of lined paper between each month. I take lot of notes about content ideas and this is a helpful way to keep it all in one place.
Meal Planning and Grocery List
Raise your hand if you love to meal plan. “Chirp, Chirp” Yeah, me neither. In 2016 a friend shared with me a meal planning service called Plan To Eat. GAME CHANGER. It’s like a digital cookbook where you can drag and drop your recipes into a calendar and plan out your week. THEN… it goes a step further and turns that meal plan into a digital grocery list for you to bring with you to the store. You can also easily add new recipes that you find online to your Plan To Eat list of recipes. The best part is the price can’t be beat, and with my referral code you can actually get 20% off and annual membership.
Budgeting
Full disclosure, until a year ago my method for budgeting was hot mess express. I’m the one in our marriage who handles managing the money and paying the bills. But with the exception of maybe a one week in high school on how to budget no one had taught me anything about how to manage a household (or personal) budget. I didn’t know how to plan for long or short term goals, or how to prepare for quarterly bills. I paid everything as it came in but it all always felt like a big mess. Then last year I was talking to myself and I said, “self, you can do better than this.” So I decided to look into a budgeting program that I had heard a few friends talk. I decided I would really put some intention into trying to learn it and make it work for 6 months. By month 3 I was hooked. I didn’t feel like such a mess anymore. I was able to plan for some big goals that we had for the year. I was also able to plan for and see where every dollar we earned was spent. I an no longer a scrap paper and pen user for my budgeting, I am a YNAB user for life. YNAB stands for You Need A Budget, and they’re not wrong. Having a budget doesn’t mean you can’t spend any money, it means you decide how and where your money is spent. YNAB is a subscription that cost less that a trip to your favorite fast food joint, but to say it’s saved me hundreds of dollars in haphazard spending over the year is not and understatement. Even better, if you use my code you will get a month free! (and so will I for sharing the good news). This is also a great option if you have a college student you’re trying to teach to budget. YNAB is free for all college students!
Thanks for letting me share what works for our family and my blog for planning, meals, and budgeting. I know what works for me might not work for you. But I know that I’ve appreciated great recommendations from friends of what they have tried and where they have found success. I’ve also rounded up a few of my favorite office and planning supplies if you’re looking for physical items.
Please share with me! What planning and process are your tried and true that have been successful for you. I’d love to find a good plan and workflow for keeping my home clean and tidy.
What do you think?