#PlanWithMe 2019 All the Planners, Apps and Spreadsheets

I probably like the process of planning more than the actual carrying out of all the plans, but this year I’m taking everything I’ve learned over the last few years and really buckling down and focusing. I usually plan out the year, each quarter, month and week … and these are all the planning tools I’m using to make it happen.

All the Planners, Apps & Spreadsheets

• Full size TUL Discbound Leather Planner (black) for work
• Weekly planner for tracking credit card bills / payments
• Spreadsheet for Finances / Bills / Credit Cards
• Half Size Junior Tul Notebook for notes and exercise tracking
• Family Calendar on the Fridge
• Calendar app – Cal by Any.do
• Google Keep App (Android) for daily planning  and making lists.

2019 Work Planner is a Tul Disc Bound Planner

I’m back to using a full-size disc bound planner for work (the Tul (Office Depot), ARC (Staples) and Martha Stewart discbound (Staples) are all very similar and interchangeable) – with a very similar setup to my old bullet journal style. circa 2016.

Inside is a printable year at a glance calendar (from CalendarLabs), a future log calendar for each month with travel dates and audit due dates, and then a running task list for each month. There is a section with pages for notes I take during audits, and meeting notes go on post- it notes. Super simple and effective.

Bills, Credit Cards and Scheduled Expenses

We use a shared spreadsheet for recording regular bills like gas, electric etc. (described in How We Track Recurring Household Expenses Using Shared Google Spreadsheet). Since all these bills are automatically paid each month, were only using it to see trends and monthly spend.

This year we added a second tab to track credit card balances and payments … last year was crazy and we’re focusing on getting back to zero this year.

In addition, I’m using a printed monthly calendar for bill and credit card due dates. Nothing focuses you like physically having to write something down every month. So although this is slightly redundant with the spreadsheet above, I’m finding that it’s a good move – at least for this year.

All the Calendars

I’ve been using Cal by Any.do app for a few years now. It syncs Google calendar with my work (Outlook) calendar and usually lives as a widget on a second home screen on my phone. Last year there were a lot of daily meetings, but I’m hoping this year will be much …. much less. Any personal appointments also gets added via this app (I rarely ever go into Google calendar).

All family appointments go on a calendar that’s on our fridge – swim meets (son), birthdays, travel dates, doctor appointments etc. This is the only way we know whats going on with everybody and not overbook ourselves.

Notebooks and Notes Apps

Using a planner for personal appointments has never worked for me. What has been working lately is using the Google Keep app to keep various lists including one for “Groceries” and one for “Today” for things I need to do … today. Other lists I have in it currently – Christmas Gifts for the Fam (this is how I kept track of what I wanted to get for everyone who came for Christmas and was super handy), Home Stuff to Buy, Travel Kit Supplies (needed to restock this year).

I`m also using a half size Tul planner with a daily calendar to track my exercise. This habit has never stuck in the past ( the habit of writing down exercises … and doing them), so well see how that goes this year.

That’s my #plannersquad for 2019. What type of planner person are you – strictly digital, paper, a combination of both … or justvwingjng it day by day?