Transcription
Are you tired of spending a lot of money on planners and planner accessories just to try to get your life in order? If you stay tuned to this video, I have a surefire budget-friendly way to plan your way to calm by using a dollar store $1 notebook to transform your everyday life. So, if you're interested in improving your planning game on a budget, then keep on watching.
Hello beautiful peeps of YouTube and welcome, welcome back to the channel. My name is Cat and you're watching Planning Calm. And here on this channel, I love, love, love to share with you all the many ways I can help you plan your way to calm and plan a calmer life. In this video, I want to share with you my 2026 notebook planner and how I have set it up so far.
As always, I was a little bit hesitant to turn on the camera and share this video because I really didn't think it was going to be helpful or interesting to anybody. But since I had so many people connect with me on Instagram and on TikTok, and if you're not following me there, I would love for you to follow along, asking me to show a setup video on how I set up my notebook planner for this year 2026. I thought, hey, why not do it? And so, this is what this video is. So, if you like the content, I would love for you to do all the things that you need to do. You know what they are. And, um, let's get into it.
So, I just labeled my planner the 2026 for this year like I always do. And you'll see that if you've watched one of my planner videos, notebook planner videos before, you've noticed there's a lot of similarities here because once I have something, I don't tend to change it. If it works for me, if it's not working, then of course I'll change it. But opening up the planner with this super simple, folks, simplifying and keeping things simple is my word of the year because I am tired of all the extra stuff that is involved in just trying to get my life in order and I'm stripping things down and simplifying them. Hence why I have a notebook and why I have other things as well. But, um, in terms of the things I'm using, again, dollar store finds that I've purchased. I got some note paper tab things here. I got a pencil that, let's be honest, I got from work as a teacher, my Sharpie pen if I need it, and a highlighter. Now, I color code my months. Uh, so January is always blue for snow, 'cause I'm Canadian, and this just always makes sense in my head. But feel free to organize things the way you want.
So, open it up. I have my kind of front page there. I have January, which is the month that I'm in. And I also have one of these tabs here to help me navigate the planner as I kind of go on and get, get more pages in here. So I just have this tab that I use to help me find and locate the items. I do like is to see the month kind of at a glance in a calendar format. So I kind of know, okay, well, on Wednesday, January 14th, it, it's on a Wednesday and like that, that type of thing. It just really works for me and how my brain works. So, I have just kind of made a makeshift calendar just at the front of this page here. And then in terms of personalizing it and specializing my planner or your planner, this is where you have the flexibility to kind of do your own thing. You're not really limited like you are in a traditional planner to kind of have, you know, this or that or whatever. You can kind of make it how you want, which is why I love a notebook planner. And so again, like I said, I have the calendar up here and then I have what is called my TWWG. Now, I am a faith-based person and I am looking to improve my relationship with Christ. And so TW, TWWG means Time With God. And my focus for this month is here. And so I've just written it here. So anytime I open my planner, I can be reminded and I can look back as part of my TWWG process.
Now, this is one of my favorite features of my notebook planners that I always do, and that is the monthly overview. So, what I've done is I've gone through and I look to see all the major events that are happening for the month. So, I just put those specific dates just located down here. So, for instance, on the 8th and the 22nd of this month are paydays. Those are important to me because I'm on a financial journey where I'm looking to save more money and reduce my debt from being in school for oh so long. Comment down below if that applies to you too. And so it's important for me to know when those paydays are so I can allocate my financials to pay my bills and so on. Adult stuff. I also have various holidays here when, um, bills are due and so on. So, this is kind of like the monthly blueprint for what's going on. And I love this feature.
Next feature I have are goals. So, I keep my goals simple, my monthly goals simple. So, each month I want to focus on three goals that I am looking and working to accomplish for that month. Again, I'm keeping things simple. I'm not looking so much at my whole 2026 and what do I want to accomplish in 2026. I'm just taking everything one month at a time. And I feel like just having that mindset is going to make me not feel so overwhelmed with things and just again, simplify and focus on what's important. This month, what's important is increasing my time with God activities. My second goal is to move my body five times a week. So that's either walking, working out, what have you. I'm not going crazy, just making sure that I move. And then my third goal is to return to a sugar fast.
Now when I turn the page, this is how the planner kind of takes form. Now again, like I mentioned, because I have the flexibility of using a notebook, I don't, I'm not limited to how things should be in a traditional planner. I can kind of plan the way I want, which is why I love a notebook. Now, I always put the week. So I plan kind of by the week now. And sometimes I plan by the day. It just really depends on the month, how I'm feeling, what's going on. But I'm starting the year off using this weekly format. And so I put the month at the top here. So the month, or sorry, so I put the week at the top here. So this is the week of December 28th to January 2nd. On the side here, what I've done is I've included the, the day of the week. So this is Sunday. So Sunday the 28th. And I just put them each day on the column here just down below. So the day of the week and then the date [music] of the week, which is very important. And so for me, I always use an R for Thursday because I try to differentiate between Tuesday and R, just being a literacy teacher, um, that, that I go with the next strongest consonant sound, which is why there's an R there. I get a lot of questions on that because it's a feature that's in most of my planners. But if you're curious, that's why the R is there. It stands for Thursday. And so again, I just put this down here.
Now, one of the questions I always get is, "How do I know how to allocate the spaces? If there's more that comes up, what do you do with it?" Again, keep it simple. If you have, if more things come up on that day, then I just put it to the side here. Not a worry. Okay? And so I always put boxes here. So these serve as check boxes so that when I accomplish the task, I can just check it off. For me, being able to check off an event or an activity gives me so much satisfaction and it allows me to continue on with my task or planning, etc. So I'm just giving these a check because I'm filming this after the fact of this week and I know I was able to accomplish these things and get them done. And there's no greater satisfaction than checking things off. Comment down below if you're the same as well.
So, moving on to, uh, other features. I do like to add in a grocery list. So, my notebook planner is something that I carry with me all the time. Work, home, it's always with me. And I just stick my pencil in here. I do use a pencil for my notebook planners because it's just easier for me to erase something. I don't need to worry about ink leaking or anything like that. And I just stick my pencil just in there, just in the spine of the planner. But I like to add in a grocery, a running grocery list. So things that I need as I'm going through the week and like say, for instance, if my husband says, "Oh, we need chicken breast." Then I will just come to my planner and just put it on there. And then before I go to the grocery store, I take a picture of my grocery list. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. And it works.
Moving into the next week. So, we're looking at January 3rd to January 10th. Same as before. Again, I have my days of the week and the date of the week just along the side here. And again, I have my checklist system. So, I have my boxes, my to-do boxes, my events here. And this is important for me because I'm a very busy person. And it really helps when I see what is happening on what day. So, if I look here, okay, Monday, um, it's back to work. I have practice and I have to upload. Okay, I can see that these are the things I have to do and I know I can focus on them for that day and get it done. So, although I'm planning weekly, kind of on a weekly format, the focus is still on the day because I still get to see what I have to do for each day, if that makes any sense. Um, off to the side here, I do have some events that kind of run throughout the course of many days. I have notes that I need for myself, I just include that there. Again, I'm not worried about trying to make it look pretty, trying to make it look, you know, exceptional or beautiful. This is a scratch budget basic [music] down dirty type of planner. And I mean, for me, I have lots of other planners where I'm using stickers and everything's color coordinated and all that good stuff. This is not the planner for that. This is just get it in, get it in, get it done, and move on. And, you know, I don't even use rulers. I, I can't stand rulers. I'm looking at one right now and it's giving me some side eye, but yes, I'm talking to you. I don't like rulers. Maybe it's because I associate rulers with math and I cannot stand math. No offense to anybody. Um, but, uh, I, and I always find it funny because I'm a very, uh, English social studies type of person. That's what I excelled in at school and math was not my forte. But I married somebody who is, uh, a math science person, engineer, and I'm not that person at all. And I always find how opposites attract. I just, I, I had to share that 'cause I always find it where it's always one or the other. But there it is. Um, but again, back to this here. I love the fact that I can use this and just check it off all the things that I have accomplished and I was able to get done. So, at the beginning of the week when I work this out, I just pre-pre-put in all of these events. If something comes up, then I can just kind of write it in, make a checkbox, write it in and add it to it, or I can add it in over here. No big deal.
And then another feature that I have and something that I've been struggling with is meal planning. And so, I put in kind of like a meal plan situation here for this week. This is what my husband and I have agreed upon on what we're going to have based on our grocery list and what we have in our freezer in our pantry and it's just working. It's working out so well. So, comment down below if you have a system for your meal planning and what that is. I would love to know if you care to share in the comments down below.
Moving on to the next page. Uh, next week is, uh, January 11th to the 17th. Again, same format, date and day and date. and then my grocery list. And then again on this side, if you notice, there's a theme here. This, the word is simplicity, folks. And I'm keeping things simple. This is a planner that you don't need to have a lot of frills. You don't need to have a lot of anything. Just get the information down so that you can have it for your reference so that you can get on with your life. We're not trying to complicate things here. And I just love that.
Next week, January 18th to 24th, dates up top. All the information is there. This is pre-planned stuff. If anything pops up or anything happens that comes up later in the week, I just pop it in and I'm good to go. And then turning the page, I have, uh, almost towards the end of the month, I have the last month here and then I have the, the things that are happening here. And again, when it comes to that time, I can add in my grocery stuff and be ready for the next week ahead and all the major events that are happening that is going to shape my week. I also have it indicated here in the planner.
Now, on this page here, I consider this kind of like a recap. So, a monthly recap, looking and thinking, okay, the month has come and it's, it's gone. We're in the tail end. I want to spend some time and reflect on what worked, what didn't, what are some things I did well, what are some things I need to work on. And I think when it comes to planning your way to calm and simplifying your life, you really want to make sure that you're taking some time to take stock of what's going on and look at how things are working in your life so that you can work to improve them or change them or what have you. So what I've done here is I've put a number of things here that are going to be my focus for this month only. So this month I was focusing, like I said, on having more time, more like spiritual time, no sugar, works, workouts, like working out with weights and things like that, walking, having a positive attitude, getting eight hours of sleep, um, no spend, so spending very little money and, um, my time with my husband. And, um, this is self-care. This is planning calm. This is self-improvement. So things that I'm doing to improve myself and that really boils down to like my attitude and my thoughts and things like that, my savings and debt repayment. And so this is what I'm focusing on this month. Each month I anticipate those things will change or shift just depending on the month that is that it's happening.
So what I plan to do is again, you don't see any rulers or any lines or anything. Again, what do I love about a notebook is that the lines are there for me. So I don't need to go and make any lines and draw things or anything like that because again, I want to get in and get out quick because I'm keeping it simple. So for me, I anticipate at the end of this month just going through and you'll notice here I have some happy faces here. So this stands for like really, really good, things are going great, things are eh, and ooh, not so good. Okay, so for instance, if I notice that throughout the month I struggled with my sleep, then I would come over here and give this a check because it's something that I want to work on. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if for instance, I was able to save quite a bit of money or I didn't spend a lot of money, then I can check this column off here, just give that a check or those a check to let me know at the end of the month that, okay, yes, I'm doing, I'm doing well. I got to keep it up. And this here, oo, I'm not doing so well. I got to improve on that. And that way, I'm just taking stock of kind of what's going on in my life, what do I need to improve, like I said, and how to, you know, make changes when changes are needed.
Another feature that I have this year is I have a separate section just using these tabs here. Again, these tabs, you can find them at any dollar store, keeping things budget-friendly and simple. And I've used a page here for my brain dump. Now, I haven't needed an opportunity to brain dump anything yet, but when I do, I'm just going to come here and it's just, I'm just going to write things down. I'm not dating anything. I'm not cataloging anything. It's just a space to just dump information. And I always think that's important in a notebook planner or any planner. Just having a space to, you know, [music] just get it all out there. 'Cause for me, I don't know about you, but for me, when I take it from my brain and put it on paper, it just creates just such peace and calm within me because I've given it a purpose. I've given it some place to go and it's not swirling around in my head.
And then my next feature here is a spending tracker. So what I plan to do is, and I, I'm just a few days into the month and I haven't spent anything yet, which is fabulous. But when I do, I will just write down what I spent it on. Actually, no, that's not true. I spent two things. I should probably put them in. But anyway, I will add that in after this video. But, uh, any spending that I do, like for instance, groceries, um, I'm just going to write the store and then the amount that I spent. And that's it.
So, again, when it comes to planning your way to calm, my friends, it's really about keeping things simple. I'm not looking to complicate things this year. I'm really looking to simplify things just to make it work better for me and just for my needs because I mean, life is tough enough as it is and there's no need to complicate things further by having an extra overly fancy planner if that's not your vibe. If you're just a simple person and you just want to plan effectively, a notebook is just the thing you need.
So, thank you so much for watching my friends. If you have any questions at all about how to set up a planner notebook or a notebook planner or any tips that you may have or anything like that, please feel free to comment down below and I can help you, uh, best I can. I love hearing from you in the comments and hearing your questions and having the ability to answer your questions if I can. So, keep them coming. Don't be shy. I would love to hear from you and help you out if I can. So, thank you so, so much for watching, my friends. And until the next time, take care, be well, be blessed, and I'll [music] see you all in the next video. Bye-bye.
Pl and [music] you're giving me wind and rain. You're some kind of butterfly. [music] Baby, you get me up. You whip up my appetite. >> [music] >> Don't leave.