Affordable Planner Option: Office Depot Stellar Notebook Planner with Slash Pockets

 

I've tried a lot of different systems for life and work planning, including Passion Planner, bullet journaling, Panda Planner, the Ashley Shelly planner, DayTimer pages, DayRunner pages with a briefcase-sized carrier system they came in, and more. No, I have not tried Erin Condren. 

I've tried a lot of different systems for homeschool planning, too, including A Simple Plan, The Well-Planned Day, and a cheap homeschooling lesson plan book.

Ultimately, I've ended up with the simplest and cheapest of systems since my ADHD causes me to rebel against any system I try to set up anyway. Turns out the simpler the better when it comes to planners for me. I use a spiral notebook for keeping track of homeschooling and a fancy spiral notebook for keeping track of my life (errands, chores, appointments like dentist, doctor, appliance repair, etc.). Here are some photos:

What I love about this simple Office Depot Stellar Notebook Planner are these things:

(1) It's affordable.

(2) It has slash pockets! These are pockets that are cut at the diagonal in a divider page so things are held in better. This is where backup goes, such as bills that need immediate attention, invitations for things that are coming up, etc.

(3) It's light and portable.

(4) It's customizable! Usually I'll write times of the day down the left page of the spiral and to do items on the right side, as well as any notes (like what vitamins I took). I could probably also use this as a homeschool tracker if we had a light day.

Here are photos of a very bare day. The first photo is of a rough schedule on the left of the spiral. The second photo is of to-do items and an attempt at keeping track of both homeschooling and business daily items.

I'd love to hear about your favorite planner and how you keep yourself consistent in using it!