This post originally appeared on our sister site https://alifeofbalance.com
The Living Well Planner is a weekly, spiral-bound planner created by Ruth Soukup at Living Well Spending Less.
I use the Living Well Planner as a household planner. For my personal planner, I definitely need a daily planner to have enough space for everything that I keep in it. That being said, I love the Living Well Planner.
The Living Well Planner serves as the command center for our home. During my weekly planning session, I put the family calendar in the planner so that we can easily check everyone’s schedule.
I also enter the household cleaning and maintenance tasks for the week in the daily to do list area. With my health issues this is very important. This is what allows the other members of the family to help out with the chores.
At the bottom of the weekly spread is the menu planning area. We use this area to plan our evening meals for the week. Being a family of four adults, breakfast and lunch are up to each individual. This area is large enough to also note who is responsible for cooking that night too.
Finally, in the right hand list column, we keep a listing of household projects that we want to do soon.
The Living Well Planner is a great individual planner if a weekly, spiral-bound planner is what you need. Not sure what you need? Read my post on How to Choose a Planner to help you decide what type of planner is best for you.
In the front of the Living Well Planner are some forms to help you set your long-term goals as well as places to keep important dates and information. When you purchase a Living Well Planner, you not only get the physical planner, but you also get access to Ruth’s “Crushing It” community.
This planner is a little different than most other planners in that it doesn’t have sections for goals, meal planning, finances, etc. Instead, each of these items is incorporated into each monthly section. At the beginning of each monthly section, there are pages for goals, project planning and budgeting. Having these in the monthly sections helps to make sure that you are reviewing them on a regular basis.
Each month also includes a month-at-a-glance, then the necessary weekly two-page spreads. The weeks start on Monday in the Living Well Planner, rather than on Sunday like other planners. It took me a little while to get used to this but I must admit, I really like it that way. It keeps your weekend together at the end of the week. Also, if you do your weekly planning on Sunday, it has you looking a full seven days ahead rather than just six.
This is also an undated planner. That means that you do have to spend some time setting it up when you first receive it. While this can take a little time, it makes it possible to start using the planner immediately rather than having to wait until it’s “start date”. I got my entire planner set up in under two hours so I don’t think the time commitment is too much.
At the end of each month there is a monthly expenses page so you can keep track of your discretionary spending during the month. That page also has a column for any money plans and goals that you want to record. The Thoughts & Thanks page is a great place to keep track of the things you’re a grateful for. Finally, the “Notes & Ideas” page can be used for whatever else you need to make a note of each month.
The tab for each month even has a motivational saying to help put you in the right mindset for planning. And, who doesn’t love the bright, cheerful colors.
I talked a little about the weekly spread above when I discussed how I use the planner. There is also a column for maintaining an ongoing to-do list of items that aren’t assigned to individual days. And a “Big Days” block at the bottom to note any upcoming days or celebrations you might need to do some advance preparation for.
All in all, the Living Well Planner is a very well thought out planner. It does a great job of helping you focus on the things that are most important in your life. I highly recommend this planner for anyone who wants a weekly, spiral-bound planner.
If you try out the Living Well Planner, let me know how it worked in the comments below.
You can also find additional planner reviews in these posts.
Planner Review: Fancy Pants by STARTplanner
Planner Review: Franklin Planner
Planner Review: Simplified Planner by Emily Ley
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