When my sister came to visit in June, she introduced me to the Bullet Journal. In a nutshell, it is a planner/journal/tracker/list keeper, etc. All in one. And you make it your own. Basically, you can take any notebook (although a higher quality one works better, like a Moleskine or a Leuchtturm). Then you create your planner, lists, etc. I started off with a Moleskine. I made a monthly page for each month, then a weekly page behind each month. Then I made lists and trackers. That's what my Moleskine consisted of. A lot of people do doodling, practice their handwriting, etc. But I just never got into doing that. I was more into making my lists and weekly pages look cute by using stickers and Washi tape. I am not a doodler. I do like coloring though and I love using cute stickers and tape.
But then I had to make some changes. I was carrying my Moleskine bullet journal around, plus my wallet, plus my coupons in a separate pouch, plus the bills to be paid in a separate pouch and my checkbook and stamps. It was too much. I'd be at the store and have to whip out my coupon pouch, then my journal to look at my list, then my wallet when it came time to pay, etc. It. Was. Too. Much. I wanted the Bullet Journal to make my life easier, not add one more thing to keep track of.
So I basically transferred it to a zippered planner.
I wanted to still be able to add some flair to my general monthly and weekly calendar pages, but I also wanted to be able to add to it and reorganize the pages as needed AND keep everything contained.
The zippered binder is from Office Depot. It's not large, it's a standard 6 punch size. It can fit into all of my purses. The 'insides' are all from Michael's AND my former Moleskine bullet journal.
Above is my calendar for September.
Here is October:
Very simple....a standard monthly calendar plus some tape and stickers.
Here's part of a weekly spread:
On the left side is part of this week. You can't see the right side of the week, because what I'm now doing is putting the bills to be paid in my journal as well. I add them to whatever week they are due. This is our insurance bill, which is due on the first. I will pay it tomorrow. Once it is paid, I remove it and put it in my bill binder (which I keep at work).
I LOVE having the bills to be paid not only in one place, but in due-date order.
Behind the monthly and weekly spreads (which include the bills to be paid, AND monthly habit trackers), I have a section for trackers. I pretty much just removed these straight from my old Bullet Journal and hole-punched them and put them in my binder:
Mortgage payoff tracker:
TV shows to catch up on:
This one probably only make sense to me, but I like it:
After the tracker section, I have lists and other miscellaneous items:
Highlights:
Restaurant coupons:
I LOVE having the coupons all here. They are in order by type (pets, food, health, etc.) When I'm at the checkout counter I can just tear them out to be used.
I bought a 6-hole punch when I decided to go this route with my planner.
I was hesitant to buy it at first because I wasn't sure it was necessary, but I use it ALL the time. I hole punch everything to stick in my planner. Not only everything that I transferred from my Moleskine, but also coupons, receipts, and 'things to be done' like looking into this balance transfer offer below:
It has made using this system even easier. Plus it's pretty and gold and shiny.
I keep all of my bullet journal supplies together in these two bags:
The first picture holds my most commonly used pens and highlighters. The striped bag holds everything else:
Pens, pencils, washi tape, stickers, stencils and stamps. All in one place.
I also added a plastic pouch in the back to hold my checkbook and stamps:
And then I added a plastic insert to the front of my planner to hold my cards:
(The receipts on the left are ones I need to enter into YNAB).
So my bullet journal has now become my planner, tracker, lists keeper, coupon organizer, bill organizer, and wallet.
I LOVE IT!!! I love that everything is together and contained. Most everything was purchased at Michael's (with coupons of course). They have a great selection of planner accessories, including starter packs (that are blank, so you can start on any month), stickers, tape, etc. I also added the little tassel to make it a little more 'me'. (Also purchased at Michael's).
So that's the latest on my journal. I have a feeling this is the ONE!!!
