Franklin Planner Setup for the end of 2020.
Many people look for their new planner in October, and if you are starting your ring planner or Franklin Planner journey, I wanted to answer any questions you may have about my setup. I love my Franklin Planner, and my favorite planner activity is to see the different ways people plan. I hope you enjoy seeing mine.
Are you still planning in 2020? You are not a planner person if you asked that question. Even with the chaos of 2020, I can’t imagine not using my planner. I’m ending the year off with the champagne Teresa Collins’ Franklin binder. I was hoping for a gold leather, but this bronze soft imitation leather will be fine. I like to change my binder with the seasons because it forces me to see what is working and what is not in my system. I’m a functional planner, but I can’t resist a pretty binder.
What’s in my planner? I like my planner to look very similar to a binder I would have at school. Dividers are used for every section of my life. My favorite Etsy seller is currently on vacation, and she has made 99% of the dividers I use. I like to have a pencil pouch for sticky notes and pens because I often forget what’s hidden in the pouch.
My dashboard is just a cute element and this fall one screams of the rainy days I experience in the fall.
Each set comes with a pocket divider which I like to hold important loose paper. It is currently holding my debt snowball tracker that I printed off Pinterest. I make a copy of it every 6 months, hole punch it, and put it my binder.
How do I get decide on my names of my tabs? All my tabs are labeled with Carpe Diem by Simple Stories stickers because it’s easy to remove the sticker from the laminated tab. My first section is filled with the Franklin planner hints &helps (this comes in all their planners) , important holidays, stickers I occasionally use, and general reminders for the year.
What type of inserts do you use? I used a weekly planner from ages 13-23. However, my husband bought me the daily pages in my first Franklin Planner. As a teacher, I find that daily planning pages were too much. Most of my day is spent with my students and I have a routine that hardly changes. I tried vertical teacher inserts, and I hated them. All my lesson planning is digital, and I have large handwriting so a vertical teacher planner didn’t meet my needs.
Have you reached planner peace with your current inserts? I currently love my inserts now I bought from ETSY, but I will be trying another format next year because of the undated format. I like to have a habit tracker for exercising, taking my vitamins, and other things I want to make a habit. As a teacher, the appointment section is the right size to add Zooms or meetings that pop up. I love that Saturday and Sunday aren’t squished together which is a major issue when your planner is for your whole life. I’m a functional planner, but I love looking at the pages. I regret when I forget to do my daily planning because I missed to write an opportunity to write in them. If they were dated, I don’t think I would try any other inserts.
I absolutely love these inserts!
What other things do you put in your binder other than weekly planning inserts? I have one section for notetaking. I love my Plum Paper note pages because of the width, but I also like Franklin Planner leadership note pages. My “under review” section is filled with teacher inserts from last year’s plum paper teacher planner. I really don’t use these pages other than writing down how much I spend on my classroom. It helps me keep focus on how much I am spending on my classroom. I really hope to utilize the goal setting section next year. My goals section are blog and social media inserts I received from plum paper. As a beginning blogger, I don’t have enough readers to use these pages how they should be used. I will be looking for different inserts next year. I love have them in my binder at all times because I’m able to write down blog ideas immediately. The lists on my phone doesn’t get used as often. My phone section is my contacts. I still send Christmas cards, and it’s nice to not have to pull out my phone while I’m writing addresses. I also keep my password reminders here. I never write the whole password in case my binder is stolen. My recipes section is mostly my weekly meal plan. I absolutely love Franklin Planner’s meal planning inserts. They are big enough for my handwriting and make grocery shopping a breeze. I also keep holiday recipes in this section because I have yet to find a recipe binder that gives me enough room to write down the ingredients and instructions with my large handwriting. I obviously need wide inserts for everything.
This divider is a wonderful reminder of my spending!
How do you deal with finances in your binder? My money section is my debt snowball worksheet. I have always been a Dave Ramsey fan, but my husband didn’t get 100% on board until we had to live in two different cities for a long period of time. It’s extremely useful in budgeting because if we have a medical bill we just add it to the worksheet. If we want to save for a large purchase we treat it as a debt ,and write it down on the sheet and save for it monthly. My best friends from colleges are horrified that I don’t use a spreadsheet, but pen and paper work best for my husband and me. My expense section is my section for my Franklin expense envelopes. I track my spending here. I don’t use them as cash envelopes because my binder is left on my desk throughout the day, and I lose cash often. I keep my water bill inside an expense envelope because my former water company charged 5% for online payment. What kind of Dave Ramsey fan would I be if I didn’t go with the cheaper option? My coupon are kept in an expense envelope so I can easily see the date of when they expire. During the summer when I have more time, I keep my coupons in a binder. However, ever since I have consistently stuck to meal plan I found myself using less coupons. My last envelope is for my take out orders. If a business leaves them at the door then I add them to my envelope. I don’t need a budget planner when I have my rings
The Franklin planner system is about having one binder for your whole life and prioritizing your tasks. While I don’t follow the planner system precisely, I can’t imagine using another type of planner. I’m constantly go back the seven habits principals and finding new ways to improve my planning. I hope you find my planner setup useful and good luck with your planning. I know we are all looking forward to the end of 2020!
*I’m not affiliated with any companies mentioned in this blog. Ring planners provide tons of options, and multiple companies are used in my planner.
