The Journal...

For many years now, I have had a planner. You know, the zipper type, with the calendar and stuff in it. I got it at Franklin Quest, which was bought out some time ago and is now Franklin Covey. That's how long I have had it. Anyhow, I hardly use it anymore ~ the pages have gotten really expensive to buy and it just didn't have everything in it that I wanted. On another blog that I occasionally follow, she blogged (and included a little video) about how she created her own. I really liked the idea, because you can tailor it to your own specific wants/needs. I have been searching for *free* printable pages that I could use to make my own. I did find some, but they weren't quite what I wanted. Soooo, I played around with the word processor to make my own. I absolutely *LOVE* my final product!

Here's how I did it, in case you want to make your own...

I started out with a 3 ring binder. I just happened to have one with 1/2" rings, so it's thin. If I add any more pages, though, I will have to go with the 1"! Then, I got tabbed page dividers to make the different sections in my journal.

The first section I have is my To Do list. I didn't find a free printable one that I liked, so I made my own. I have a master list, for those things that need to be done, but not necessarily today, just in the near future. I also have a page for daily lists, where I can write the date and then what it is that needs to be done that day. I designed it so that I have 9 per page, and then I printed it front and back.

Next is my Calendar. For this section, I found a two page calendar to print up on DonnaYoung.org, and used that. (See Sites To See for a link). The calendar is two full 8 1/2 x 11 pages, and I printed it front and back, but so that when the binder lies flat the whole month is visible. I guess the best way to describe it is that the first half of one month is printed on the back of the page with the last half of the previous month. I also found a birthday and anniversary reminder page to print up off OrganizedHome.com. This I put in front of my calendar section, so that I can remember to send cards. I am absolutely horrible at this, so maybe this will help!

After that, I have my Menus. I love to meal plan. My grandmother meal planned, and I always thought that was such a neat idea. It helps with daily planning and budgeting, too. It's nice to not have that daily "What should I make for dinner" dilemma. That only works, of course, if I have made my plans! Anyhow... The weekly menu plan I printed off DonnaYoung.org as well. It works for me. The columns are big enough that I could plan all three meals for each day of the week, but I mainly plan dinner, and sometimes lunches. I printed this back to back as well. I also created a "Favorite Recipes" list, so that I can remember all my family's favorite meals, and where to find them. It is a simple sheet, it just has columns for the recipe name, source (where I can find it again) and page number.

Next up is a section for shopping lists. I created this page to suit my needs after looking at several different ideas on different websites. Mine has 3 columns, and I have headings for the stores that I shop the most, since I can't buy everything I need at one store. Each column has sections for the 3 stores I shop at most frequently, and then there are 3 columns so that I can get the most use out of one page. And again, I printed these front and back, so I have 6 weeks worth of lists on one page.

The next section I have is a Price Book. The one I use I made myself, but I did fashion it after one I saw on OrganizedHome.com. It has 6 columns ~ date, store, item, size, price, unit price. As I search for the best deals, this is helpful to know where I saw something and for what price. I find that I am always jotting down something to see if I can find it for a better price elsewhere, so this will be really handy.

Then, I have my address section. Even though I have my contacts on my computer, I guess I am old school and want it on paper too. I made my address pages, because even though I found free printable pages online, they included lines for information that I don't use or need. For this section, I printed up 10 pages, front and back. The page itself is generic, I added what letter the page is for after printing.

My last few sections are for housekeeping. I have one for Chores where I keep my daily task list, and then I have a master list of what the girls need to do each day ~ daily chores and weekly chores. I also have a section to keep household hints. In this I keep pages detailing different uses for baking soda or vinegar, or things that I come across online that I want to try. My last section is for event planning. The pages I use for this I got off DonnaYoung.org. I simply write what the event is (I am currently planning the birthday party for my youngest) and then all the information I need, such as the date, who to invite, the theme, the menu, etc.

I am very excited to use my new journal. I have no doubt that it will become invaluable to me. This was so easy to put together, too!