Erin Condren Life Planner Update

I'm not sure about y'all, but I am in love with planning and what not. I posted about my new Erin Condren life planner back when I got in the mail on my food blog as a Fantastical Friday post {here}. I had gotten my first EC life planner in late 2013 for the whole year of 2014. I was still experimenting with it and stalking other people's set ups. At the bottom of the post, I will leave my referral link, first time buyers get $10 off their order when they create an account and I get $10 to spend on the site. There is so much on it that I love and want :)


So when 2015 hit - I felt pretty ready to go, and now barely a month into the new planner, I changed how I had it set up. I like it. It's clean and more organized...I think. However, I may end up doing another mini update very soon because I found some really cute stickers and stamps via instagram and will be utilizing them very soon! I have become obsessed with seeing other people's planners!

Without further ado...let's get this party started!

I got a set of coil clips with my 2015 planner - which you can attach to any paper via a very strong sticker and clip into your main coil. I got a set of Staedtler triplus fineliner pens [0.3 mm] that a ton of people were recommending to use and I also use Pilot G-2 07 pens because I think they are the bomb dot com. Also the Staedtler didn't have purple. My EC pen set also has a purple, but they don't work as well over white out which I use entirely too much :P I also utilize washi and highlighters. I have my stuff color coded and try and remember to write things with the coordinating color. This index card reference is coil clipped into the front of my planner.

The monthly spreads (before the weekly spreads) are where I track bills (in orange), birthdays (w/my EC stickers), Secret Recipe Club reveal days (in pink on Mondays), each week of pregnancy (green on Fridays), kids' school stuff (in green), paydays (with purple highlighter). I also track doctor's appointments on my monthly spread. In the side portion, I track deposits into savings and car maintenance. I often use this to remember to do things like schedule dr appointments or jotting down long-term to-do's. I saw someone else who washi taped their monthly spread (the dates from other months) and I decided to do that too.

^My due date is coming up fast!!

My March monthly spread - same format and you can see a pink dentist appt sticker and more green that marks end of grading periods and spring break :)

And I had to share my April color combo because I love it so much :)

In my notes section in the back, I keep track of Secret Recipe Club, college, our budget, and important phone numbers (doctors and pharmacy). Last year's planner notes got filled up quickly and they were a mess. So my goal for this year is to give them a specific purpose and keep them organized.

In the far back, I keep my perpetual calendar and contacts (the new booklet that holds info that doesn't change and you can move to your new planner next year and so on) and doctor appointment cards/papers in my "keep it together" folder. I keep my weather stickers, stamps, and some post-it tabs in my clear pouch. Since this picture, I also added the pen holder from EC onto the back cover.

As always, the EC planner has tons of inspirational colorful anecdotes throughout it. I love these two in particular and look forward to the new quote on the monthly spreads :)

For my weekly spreads, I changed how I had it set up over the week of Jan 12th. But I had already started somewhat transitioning a little prior to that. At the end of last year, I ordered some cute weather stickers and I track my daily weather and high temps for the day at the top of the daily sections. However, I will be switching to a stamp for that because I am going through entirely too many sun stickers here in Tennessee. On the left hand side, I use the goals and notes to track my weekly to-do's, what I'm currently reading, and last month's featured Secret Recipe Club blogs (not pictured in this particular week's spread).

Here is how I currently have my weekly spread set up:
I washi-taped all of the little morning/day/night tabs up. Morning is now for household chores (I do different things on different days) and daily to-do's. Day is now for pregnancy tracking. I've written down little thoughts, tracking Braxton-Hicks contractions, and write my doc appts in this part. Once Mason arrives, I will track diapers, feedings, and milestones in that section (which is sooner than I think!). Night is for meal planning and I've taken to writing down reminders for crockpot meals and laying out frozen meat so I am not scrambling to make something on a whim because I can't keep up with stuff LOL. The bottom portion is where I track blog posts, Viral Tag (scheduled pins), and if I need to email anyone for blogging stuff. I typically draft up a ton of posts, so when I finally schedule them, I put an "s" in parentheses behind the blog title.

Something I've always done is kept post-it's on hand. I'm obsessed with them and it's kind of a problem. I typically use post-it notes to write down things I didn't accomplish or do in the last week and then stick them in the current week - usually in the bottom right corner.

And there you have it! I'm working on staying organized and together because life is about to get all sorts of hectic with a newborn. And then come fall, I'll be back doing school with my student teaching...and it'll be even MORE crazy. I'll be back in a few weeks with another update with my new stickers and stamps and how I'm liking them :)

My referral link: https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/sarahellis0916
If you create an account, your $10 off code will come via email.