After many requests for half size planner pages, I have created the half size day to a page planner versions as well as the half size extras. Go here to check them out!
I have also designed a new half-size weekly layout that allows more room to write with the days going across the page than the columns like the letter size (full size) planner style.
I hope you guys like this new planner style as much as I enjoyed creating it 🙂
If you’re concerned about using up printer ink you could have the files printed at your local office supply store (send me a convo via etsy and I will give you a print release) the chevron and stripes patterns also print nicely in greyscale.
Printing instructions are included. Before printing you will need to pre-cut letter size paper in half (most office supply stores will do this for you if you don”t have a paper trimmer, you can also buy pre-cut paper reams)
You can read more about the rainbow planner and chevron planners in THIS post.
Please excuse the poor quality photos – the colours are actually much brighter in person!
I. Am. OBSESSED with it! I created the whole planner from scratch (well, except the arc notebook I used to assemble it of course). The planner pages are 8.5 x 11″ in size. I know a lot of people prefer the smaller planner sizes but portability and compactibility isn’t an issue for me as I carry a large handbag. I’ll discuss printing options if you’d like to use the pages in an A5, half size or filofax planner at the bottom of this post.
One of the most important things about a planner is its’ pretty cover page! I am OBSESSED with pretty cover pages. Every binder I use has to have a cover page. I created one cover for the planner then came up with ideas for another cover. And another one. I ended up with about 15 covers before I finally gained some self-control. I get bored with covers easily so I intend to use a different one each month. This is the one I am currently using:
I’ve listed all the other covers in my Etsy shop if you’re a cover addict like me. These covers are personalised with your monogram and/or other wording that you would like. Due to customisation these are sent within 48hours of your purchase.
These covers are an instant download so you can use them right away!
You could also pair the planner with one of my other binder covers
Let’s take a tour of my planner!
After the cover page is the ‘this belongs to page’ in case my planner ever gets lost.
Followed by the 2014 and 2015 dates at a glance pages (with space tor record those new years resolutions/goals that I’m going to try and accomplish)
I forget to take photos of these pages in my assembled planner.
Then the ‘special dates’ page where I list national holidays for 2014 , 2015 and 2016. This sheet is not pre-filled so you could live anywhere in the world and still use this planner! I live in Australia which is why this page is not pre-filled with American holidays. You can find a summary of national holidays relevant to your country on this website
Important dates where I list birthday’s, anniversaries ect. You could also use it for annual planning.
This is the weekly spread that I personally use. I am obsessed with lists so this layout has been working perfectly for me!
The ‘simple‘ version where you can make it your own e.g. add lines across the page to separate each column into boxes to separate things like school, work, social, reminders, meal planning ect. Or just keep the columns blank with lots of open-ended writing space
I also have an undated (and editable!) version. I use this on days where I need to get a lot done and I want to map out exactly how I will use my time. I call this the ‘schedule’ planning method (rather than the open-ended weekly pages). There are 2 lines beside each hour – one line per 30 minutes of the day. I print a few off and keep them at the back of the planner then transfer them to the current week when I need them.
Wondering what that un-labelled box is for? Anything! After designing and using many daily planners I have found that I needed a section that was flexible. Some days I use this box to record my exercise plan, on other days I use it for reminders or calls I need to make. I also like having a large notes section so I can jot down messages when I’m on the phone. I used to scramble around for a piece of paper which I then couldn’t find a few days later. This way I can keep everything in order 🙂 The meals box is big enough to plan all daily meals or just dinner and a few things I need to pick up from the store on my way home.
After all the months, I include extra notes pages as well as pages you can purchase separately from the ‘Extra’s package.’ I store these pages behind the ‘Miscellaneous’ divider (which comes with the planner).
Weekly Planning page. I keep this at the back and use it to note routine things that need to be completed each day (or most days of the week). I am considering moving it to the front of the planner.
I LOVE calendar stickers but they are very hard to find in Australia so I made my own. Because I am obsessed with things being coordinated I used the same colours as the rainbow stripe pattern on the planner. I made my own template in photoshop and printed the 6 sheets onto full sheet 8.5 x 11″ label paper then cut using a guillotine (you could also use a paper trimmer or scissors). I keep them in a clip top bag in the ziplock pouch I also purchased for the back of the planner.
Money Stickers
The colours do actually print that nice and bright. The photos makes them look much darker than they actually are!
I bought these pockets to keep random papers in. E.g. if I get the mail on my way out the door I will tuck it in these pockets and take them out when I get home.
Back cover (should you choose to have your planner spiral bound or use it in a binder)
If you’re concerned about printer ink, here are how some of the pages look printed in greyscale:
Still quite pretty!
HOW I ORGANISE MY PLANNER
1. Colour code. I write everything in my planner in black pen. I don’t use a special brand of pen. I use cheap ones from discount stores like the Reject Shop and Crazy Clark’s. I live in Australia so I don’t have access to Walmart :(. I then highlight each ‘thing’ in my planner in a different colour. For example: yellow is Etsy, pink is personal, green is appointments and social events, purple is to do’s, orange is family and light blue is finances. When I was in school I used to use different colours for homework, assessment due dates ect.
2. Calendar Stickers (which I mentioned above). They’re rainbow and co-ordinate with my planner – nuff said 🙂
HOW I USE MY PLANNER
1. I write things like when bills are due in the monthly view. I also note any appointments and social events. I try to minimise what I write in the monthly view to prevent it from being over-cluttered. One of the reasons I use a full-size planner is because of the large writing space in the monthly view. I have used smaller planners before and found I filled the little boxes too quickly. I also cannot stand trying to write something into a planner and not having the page to lean my hand against as I enter a task (hopefully you understand what I mean, I know I didn’t explain that very clearly :/)
2. The weekly views show each day in more detail. Occasionally I review my ‘master’ to do list which I keep in my lists book. I shared some pictures of it at the bottom of this post. Basically I printed off all the sheets from my lists kit and bound them into a notebook.
Anyway, in the lists book I have monthly to do lists. At the start of the year I list things I’d like to complete for each month (personal, work – everything) and stop about 5 lines short of the bottom of the page (gotta keep room for ideas that pop up throughout the year!) Each month I pick out the main to do’s and fill the first monthly to do list column in the planner (on the monthly planning page). I keep the second column free for to do’s I think of throughout the month. So basically the lists book is a ‘reference’ and my planner summarises those lists.
I’ll pick a few of the monthly to do’s in my planner that I feel are the highest priority. I transfer tasks that need to occur to complete each of those to do’s to the weekly pages of my planner. For example, if I am working on a new planner set then I will break the planner down into smaller to do’s and allocate those throughout the weeks of the month. I write these steps in the unlined section of each day. I keep the checklists for routine tasks such as laundry, grocery shopping, emptying the dishwasher, de-cluttering ect.
The reason I love the layout of the weekly pages is because they are simple, uncluttered, flexible and don’t have too much colour. I do love a bit of colour (hence the rainbow stripe), but because I highlight/colour-code my planner I kept it to black only below the pattern. I don’t like planners that include mini monthly views on each weekly spread as I find this a massive waste of space. I rarely need to know what day a certain date falls on and if I do I have the monthly summary pages and the dates at a glance places to refer to.
I do use tabs as you can see in the pictures. I purchased these from Staples. They were pre hole punched for a 3 ring binder but I punched over the top – they are made of a plastic-like material so they still stay in place in the Arc notebook. I am on the lookout for nicer tabs because I’d prefer them to be thicker like cardstock. If anyone knows of any good tabs please let me know!
So that’s my planner! If anyone has any questions or comments I’d love to hear from you 🙂
***PRINTING YOUR PLANNER***
The pages are 8.5 x 11″ in size. They will work with printers that CAN do duplex printing and also printers that CANNOT do duplex printing. Detailed printing instructions are included in your purchase. As all printers are different, I cannot offer technical support for printing. No refunds will be made if you are unable to print the pages due to your printer having different settings than shown in the example/if you do not know how to use your printer. If you are having problems printing your planner at home, I recommend printing at your local office supply store.
If you want to use the pages in an A5/Filofax/half size planner you can by using ‘2 per page’ or ‘multiple’ print settings and then cut the 8.5 x 11″ sheet in half. However, they will be single-sided.
If you would like to use the planner pages in a personal or smaller than half size planner I do not recommend doing this. You can print any page at any size (smaller than 8.5 x 11″). See this post on printing tips for instructions (tip 2). The reason I do not recommend this is because you will need to cut every sheet down to size.
As a side note – a coupon is included in the printing instructions document which you can use on all future purchases until the end of 2015!
***PLANNER SOURCE LIST***
Arc punch (I’ve read that the Levenger punch is compatible)
Do you have a blog? Want to get this planner for free in exchange for a review? Convo me via Etsy or send an email to allaboutthehouseetsy@yahoo.com.au If I think your blog is a good fit – I will send you a copy of the planner of your choice for FREE!
***HAVE YOU DISCOVERED AN ERROR?***
I have checked each page however, if you happen to spot an error, please bring it to my attention so I can fix it ASAP.
If you’re over the chevron craze and would like a different pattern just message me! I have tons of patterns available in an array of colours. See here
Looking for an affordable but pretty way to organise your recipes? Check out the ‘cooking printables’ section of my Etsy shop. Instant download are available in the online store.
Which goes perfectly with your choice of binder covers that can be personalised with any wording you like E.g. create the categories that suit you such as e.g. main meals, cakes, breads, slices, soups, seafood, family favourites, under 30min ect.
Each binder cover comes with a matching binder spine in 3 sizes to suit any binder.
Binder Covers are also perfect for organizing craft projects, sewing patterns, a home/family binder, schoolwork, create a finance binder, home projects, meal planning, to do’s and more!
I also use them to organise my scrap paper left over from crafting e.g. I have a binder cover in pink chevron for pink scrapbooking scraps ect (I store them in clear plastic sleeves within the binder). I recommend clear-view binders. I store miscellaneous items such as embellishments in a separate binder and use plain white tab dividers decorated with a matching washi tape label (e.g. pink chevron washi tape label for pink embellishments).
I live in Australia so shipping is expensive to the USA where most of my customers live. You can create a DIY version by pairing a binder cover with I plain white paper then take it your local office shop and have it bound into a custom notebook!
The next section of my household binder is the cleaning set
There are 10 sheets designed to organise your cleaning routine and keep your house spic and span! UPDATE: This planner is now also available in editable format. See here.
The first sheet I use is a cleaning checklist:
This can be used weekly, monthly or as a checklist before visitors or relatives arrive!
A blank version is also included:
The chore chart:
This is perfect for displaying on the fridge or if you have a command centre. It is designed for families. Write down a list of chores, the room/s the task if for, the person responsible, the reward and tick of upon completion. You could laminate or frame this checklist and use it weekly.
If you prefer just one sheet to organise all your home’s cleaning, this cleaning checklist is perfect.
You can see all your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual cleaning tasks. Again, I recommend laminating, framing or placing inside a plastic sheet protector then writing on with a whiteboard marker to reduce paper and ink.
Kitchen Cleaning Record:
Some people may do all these tasks every week or every fortnight but I never have the time. Instead I do a ‘deep clean’ in my kitchen once a month, then tick off the task under the relevant month when I’ve completed it.
Quick Clean Ups:
Have a few minutes spare before your favourite T.V. show comes on? Consult this sheet for tasks that can be completed in 15 minutes or less, 30 minutes and 60 minutes. There are room to add your own cleaning tasks as well.
Seasonal Cleaning Checklist:
I don’t use this for just cleaning tasks. I also have general things like ‘change the cockroach baits’ and ‘change the batteries in the smoke detector.’
Monthly Cleaning:
This sheet is for those who prefer to plan out their entire month’s cleaning schedule. The numbers 1-4 refer to the weeks of the month (but you probably already noticed that). You could allocate a room to each week e.g. week 1 is kitchen week, week 2 is your office ect. There’s also room for daily chores.
Weekly Cleaning Schedule:
Perfect for tasks that need to be performed more than once a week.
Weekly Checklist:
You don’t have to use this sheet for cleaning. I actually use it for planning my daily to do’s but it also works as a weekly cleaning schedule (I personally prefer to use the weekly cleaning checklist above).
So that’s the cleaning section of my binder. To sum up how I created this section:
1. I printed the sheets and placed them in plastic sheet protectors
2. Arranged them behind a white tab labelled with chevron hot pink washi tape. I can’t remember where I bought it from because it was a while ago but here’s a good photo of the tape 3. Added my ‘cleaning’ binder cover (from the binder covers set) directly behind the tab
That’s it!
This set comes in 5 colours: hot pink, purple, green, dark blue and black and white. Update: now also available in light blue!
Click here if you think these planner pages might work for you!
Editable means:
– When you open the files there will be light blue boxes where you can type in your information (this will NOT remain light blue when printed).
– You can still print and hand-write on the sheets (the blue boxes won’t appear on your printed copy)
– The fillable font is helvetica in black
– The checkboxes are not editable. The forms are intended for filling out on the computer, then printing out and checking each item off as you go
– The actual layout of the printable including pattern, pattern colour, font style, existing text ect. are not editable and cannot be changed
Today’s topic is the Important Information section of my household binder where I keep documents such as insurances, pet information, passwords and phone numbers.
Insurance Information – Record information for any type of insurance – a handy reference if something unexpected happens. If you need more space you can simply print another sheet.
A password log:
I could never remember what passwords were for what websites so I start writing them down on scrap pieces of paper… but then I couldn’t find them. I used to use the same password for everything and simply changed the number. But then I couldn’t remember what number was for what website and I probably shouldn’t have been using similar passwords for everything anyway..
That problem was solved when I created this handy password log where I record the websites, usernames and passwords for sites I visit often, but not often enough to always remember the password.
Pet Information (2 pages) – These are great for leaving for the dog sitter or for your own personal reference (especially if you have 2 dogs, for example).
Important Dates:
I have this sheet in front of the important dates – monthly (see below). But I have been thinking of changing it to the start of my calendars and to do lists section: It’s great when planning ahead, especially if I want to know what day a certain date falls on. UPDATE: I have since switched the important dates to my rainbow planner which you can read more about here
Important Dates (Monthly):
These two sheets are perfect for seeing what lies ahead. There are no dates so you can use them for any year. Fill in the dates for each month then write any special events such as birthday’s and anniversaries underneath. Alternatively you could make to do lists under each month.
Important Phone Numbers (2 sheets) – I keep these at the front of the important information section of my binder so I can find them easily (as they are right behind the divider page/tab).
Car Maintenance – Keep track of work done to your car including the date it occurred, the mileage/kilometres and notes (e.g. the phone number and person who serviced your car and the cost). UPDATE: I have since switched to a more comprehensive car maintenance checklist I created as part of the home and inventories kit. It’s also available on Etsy.
Notes page:
This set also comes in 5 different colours. UPDATE: light blue version also available.
UPDATE: The black version is now EDITABLE. See here
The pages can be printed on A4 and /or letter size (8.5 x 11″) size paper. For tips on printing the pages as half size, A5, filofax or any other page size, please see THIS POST.
EDITABLE means:
– When you open the files there will be light blue boxes where you can type in your information (this will NOT remain light blue when printed).
– You can still print and hand-write on the sheets (the blue boxes won’t appear on your printed copy)
– The fillable font is helvetica in black
– The actual layout of the printable including pattern, pattern colour, font style, existing text ect. are not editable and cannot be changed
If you’d like to purchase this set, click on the links below (each colour is available as instant downloads)
If you have you may have noticed the new chevron-themed printables! I decided to combine my love of chevrons and some of the designs that have been working well for me from the Simple Planner Series to create these fun new planners.
It’s also available in an editable version! See here.
There are a whopping 146 sheets in this set (6 sets!). I created each set in the colours shown above and customers emailed me requesting e.g. the finance set in pink instead of the dark blue so each set is now available in each of the 5 colours! Update: some sets also available in light blue: finance set, cleaning set, important info, calendars and to do lists and meal planning.
It includes all the sheets you need to start organising your household including: calendars, to do lists, cleaning schedules, chore charts, monthly budgets, paid bills checklist, to do lists, weekly planners, weekly and monthly meal planners, food inventories, shopping lists, a password log, pet information sheet, important phone numbers and matching binder covers! Once purchased you will be able to print the sheets as many times as you like! (for personal use only)
The FINANCE SET (71 sheets) includes:
– Personalised Binder Cover and Spine (in 3 sizes to suit any binder)
– 12 Monthly Budgets (3 pages per month – 36 sheets)
– Spending Record
– Blank Note Paper
– Paid Bills Checklist
– Monthly Receipts Divider Pages (12)
– Monthly Divider Pages (12)
– Perpetual Monthly Finance Calendar (12 sheets)- Monthly Spending Summary
– Yearly Finances Summary
– Financial Goals
– Debt Tracker
MENU PLANNING SET (25 sheets)
– 12 Perpetual Monthly Menus (12 sheets)
– 2 – Week Menu Plan (1 week per page i.e 2 pages)
– Favourite Recipes
– Fridge and Freezer Inventory
– Pantry Inventory (3 sheets)
– Pantry Inventory (1 sheet)
– Recipes To Try
– Shopping List By Store Section
– Shopping List, Errands and To Do’s
– Weekly Meals
– Weekly Meals and Grocery List
IMPORTANT INFORMATION (11 sheets)
– Insurance Information
– Important Phone Numbers (2 sheets)
– Car Maintenance
– Important Dates
– Important Dates – Monthly (2 sheets)
– Pet Information (2 sheets)
– Password Log
– Lined Notes Sheet
BINDER COVER SET (7 sheets)
– 7 covers (6 for each section of your binder and one binder cover). Spines are included for the binder and finance sets (in case you want to create a separate finance binder). I can customise each binder cover with your choice of text e.g. ‘Smith Family Binder’ or ‘Our Family Binder’ ect (just leave a message in the notes to seller). These binder covers are also great for school binders, recipe organization ect.
At $30 it only cost $5 a set! (50% off if you were to purchase each set individually!)
Below are the colour choices and some sample sheets:
Cover Set (you choose the colour for each binder cover) seehere
If you want only one sheet in the store (e.g. a binder cover and spine with your choice of text) see this listing.
Lastly, some information on Editable Documents:
– When you open the file there will be light blue boxes where you can type in your information
– You can still print and hand-write on the sheets (the blue boxes won’t appear on your printed copy)
– The fillable font is helvetica in black
UPDATE: My household binder has grown! See this post.
P.S. If you spend $50 or more in store in one transaction, use the coupon ’50LESS10′ at the checkout for $10 off your entire order! If you are unsure how to use coupons, see here
AllAboutTheHouse Printables 