New Year, New Plans

Someone I met on my travels sent me a facebook message asking me how real life was.  Honestly, real life is hard.  I forgot how busy I am all the time.  I already double-booked myself twice since returning home.  I was able to work around both events one time, but I had to cancel on the  second occurance.  I hate canceling on people.  Part of the problem is that I committed myself to events before I left for vacation and forgot about them in the meantime.  This forgetfulness is a recurring theme in my life lately and I don't like it.  It's been years since I needed to put anything down in a planner, but I decided that I really needed one to get my life back in order.

Here are the makings of my nonfancy planner:

A 5.5" x 8.5" binder ($6 at office depot)

Oaktag (had forever) covered with scrapbook paper ($0.60 for 8 sheets) as section dividers

double-sided planner pages I printed out

graph paper because I ♥  it

double-sided pocket things which I will find a use for ($2 at office depot)

That's just the start of my planner.  I already feel better knowing that if I write something in it, whatever it is will always be there and it's my own fault for double-booking or missing an appointment or not getting some very important thing done or not managing my time wisely or WHATEVER. 

I literally just put this planner together last night and this morning, so I still have a lot that I want to do with it.  Here's where I'm starting:

Daily Sheets: I got mine from here.  I'm going to try this version for a few months and decide if I want to revamp the style or add anything else.  I would love color on these pages.  Gray is so very boring.  I had a close runner-up, but I don't have the link on hand.  That one was a little too busy for me and I decided I didn't love the layout.
Note paper:  I will end up putting some kind of notepad in this thing
Graph paper:  I think my love of graph paper is all I need to justify this
Budget:  I have an amazing budgeting spreadsheet on my computer.  The problem with this is that it is not with me.  When I was in college and poor, I used to keep all my weekly budgets on index cards and keep them in my wallet.  When I spent money, I wrote it on the index card.  I kept track of my money like this for years.  Did I mention I'm an accountant?  Anyway, I need to come up with something to keep in my planner.  I'll poke around on the internet and see what I come up with.
List of crafty things:  I'm not really sure why I need this in my planner, but it seems like a good idea.  I think it would help me keep my sewing plans on track and keep my already stretched-thin time in check.
Freezer inventory/Meal Plan:  Knowing what's already in the freezer will make it much easier to put together my shopping list.  Plus, I can get real about what's actually in there and make sure I keep the things easier for me to prepare in there.  I find that I really like stir-frys.  I can quickly prepare many varieties to put in the freezer.  When I need something to eat, I pull one out of the freezer in the morning and cook it up in the evening.  Delicious dinner for the night and leftovers for lunch at work for the next two or three days.  It's perfect for me.

So, personal planners.  Do you have one?  What sections do you keep and why? Leave me a comment and let me know!

(Also, I promise I'm working on getting loads of blog posts from my vacation ready to put up.  I am waiting on some pictures from one of the other people I was traveling with.)