DIY Planner Pt. 3- Printable Menu Planner &Grocery List

In an effort to organize our meals, I've come up with this menu planner.  It prints on a whole sheet of paper.  Is folded in half with holes punched on the unfolded edge and placed in your mini sized binder.

Each week as you make your menu on the right side of the planner, you use the back of the previous weeks menu (on the left) for writing your grocery list.  When you finish, rip out the grocery list and you are ready to go shopping. 

Do you know what you're having for dinner, but not quite sure what night you're having it?  No problem.  The sections where you plan your dinners are numbered.  When you know which night of the week you'll be having them, enter the number under the weekday.

It's easy!  Just download here,  print, fold, punch, plan and go.

DIY Planner Adventure Pt. 2 - Printable Calendar

In Pt 1 of my DIY planning adventure I chose a size, what needed to go into my planner, and started gathering materials.  Now lets put those material to use and print a few things to into the planner. Every planner really needs a calendar, so lets start there. 

 If you do a google search for free printable calendar, there are plenty to choose from, even mini sized ones like what I need. But, I chose to take the extra time and make one from scratch using open office.  This allowed me to choose font, colors, add decorations, and customize days off and holidays.  I even added a notation on each week to keep track of my middle-school kids' rotating schedules.   

But my favorite feature of doing it myself, is the unique way the pages go into the binder.  Each page is printed with 1/2 of 2 months, so that when the pages are folded in half with back together, you see 1/2 of a different month on each side.  It sound confusing, but it works and translates to no cut pages and the ability to write with markers without fear of them bleeding onto the adjoining months.

I'm including a printable PDF file for a Plain Jane version of my calendar.  It has no decoration and no holidays, so you can write in whatever you like and add decorations as you wish.  

Mom Planner - My DIY Planner Adventure Pt. 1

As part of my New School Year Resolution to get organized, I decided I really need a planner of some sort to keep up with...well, everything.  But, I refuse to spend big money on a ready made planner that's not designed for my lifestyle, so I'm going to try to DIY one.  As I go, I'll share my process Step by step, show you what I learn along the way, and add links for free printable pages on the Mom Planner Page.

Step 1 - Choose a format.  
(Binder, Notebook, or Digital)
There are so many planner options out there these days. For me, a mini binder is the perfect choice, not too big, not too small so it's easy to carry.  I'm a visual and tactile learner.  Having pages to flip helps me keep info in my head.  I think that is why I have a hard time using a phone or computer as a planner.  I guess a bound notebook could also work, but I like the freedom to rearrange that a binder gives.   I can take pages out, put new ones in and instantly replace pages that are torn or messy.  My penmanship may be horrific, but messy pages play havoc with my OCD and leave me feeling irritated.  Irritation = emotional unbalance, so mini binder it is. 

Step 2 - Decide what to put inside.
One of my biggest organizational problems is keeping up with information, like dates and times of appointments, phone numbers (remember I don't use my cell phone so no one is on speed dial), and grocery lists.  

So for me, a planner needs to have sections for the following:

• Calendar - needs to cover the entire school year, have room to write appointments, and ideally be expandable.
• Contact Information - important phone numbers for doctors, dentists, the vet, emergency contacts and such.
• Children - one section for each kid to serve as a place to keep up with school/activity schedules and things specific to each child.
• Schools - one stop for school contact info and blank school notes to be filled out quickly on crazy mornings.
• Daily TTD
• Menu/Grocery Planning
• Ideas - for blog or anything else.
• Notes - filled with scrap paper to jot things down.

Step 3 - Gather materials:

Mini Binder

Mini or Adjustable Hole Punch

Dividers

Printer 

Paper

3-ring Pocket (sized to binder)

My New School Year Resolution - Get Organized

Jan. 1st usually has the market cornered on resolutions for most people, but not me.  Not this year.  No, this year, I'm getting a jump on the New Year's resolution by making a New School Year Resolution.  That resolution is to get and keep my "stuff" (with regards to kids, and house) together.

My big kids started middle school this year.  

It's a big deal.  

Up until now, they had the same teachers for the same subjects even if they weren't in the same classes.  I only had to deal with 5 teachers for them, plus one for my little guy.  But, this year, they have exactly one teacher in common.  With 5 classes, that should be 9 teachers right?  

Nope. 

Their school offers electives that last 9 weeks, 18 weeks, or the entire year.  Counting elective courses, my big kids have 16 teachers between the 2 of them.  That's a lot to keep up with. 

But wait, there's more!  Their schedule rotates from week to week.  For example: week 1 - classes go in order 1,2,3,4,5 week 2  -the order changes to 5,4,3,2,1 week 3 - it's 2,1,3,5,4 week 4 - they go 4,5,3,1,2.  The next week it starts over at 1.  Pretty odd isn't it.  

If I just wing this thing, I'll have lost my sanity by Thanksgiving, so a new system of organization is called for. 

I've already got a start on things and will be sharing loads of ideas and printables in the very near future so be sure to check back soon.  

Closet Organization Links

It's another yucky day outside here in Northern Alabama.  The weather is warmer than it has been, but it's also wetter which keeps most of my DIY plans and posts on hold.  

I want to build, or paint, or craft, and with all the gloominess outside, I'd really like to see a splash of fresh bright color here and there.  Sadly, rain and paint are not good friends and the forecast is filled with more yucky weather in the coming week.

What to do?

Hmm...  Most of my closets are still in a state of chaos.  I could work on those.  But it's so hard to get motivated, and harder for me to decide what to keep, what to toss, and how to put it all back together. 

A few minutes on Pintrest yields tips and inspiration:

• I can start with a checklist of like this one from Real Simple.
• Apartment geeks  has this great graphic on how to streamline and organize your wardrobe.
• Here's a nice flowchart of how to decide what to purge and what to keep from Modern Eve.
• How about a closet capacity calculator from Better Homes and Gardens?
• This looks like a neat way to deal with all our wire shelves.  (I feel about wire shelves the way mommy dearest felt about wire hangers, but all our closets are full of them.) 

Sadly, today, I'm stuck going to the grocery store, doing some laundry, dishes and the usual boring every day type chores, so a big closet redo is just a daydream. 

But I can plan for tomorrow, right?