Choosing a homestead planner is no easy task. The planner must be right for you and your individual situation. Your planner becomes a written journey of your homestead. It shows your goals, your ideas and more.
But before you run out and spend any money buying a planner, read to find out how to choose the right planner for your needs. This way you purchase the right planner and save yourself a lot of aggravation and wasted money.
The Purpose of a Homestead Planner
My homestead planner serves three purposes:
- To see my goals. (monthly and weekly)
- To plan the steps to achieve those goals. (daily tasks)
- To know what needs to be done each day. (routinely and seasonally)
My homestead planner has a written out set of goals attached to each monthly calendar to show what goals I have set for that month. There are also “action steps” written out each week so I know what steps need to be done in order to achieve my weekly and finally my monthly goals. Then there are the routine tasks and anything that will take up a period of time during each week and each day on the homestead.
When I open my planner I know where I have to be, what I have to buy and what I have to do each and every day. It is like my daily bible. If I lost my planner I would be a complete unorganized mess.
The 4 Types of Planners
There are basically four types of planners:
- Bullet Journal
- Daily Planner
- Weekly Planner
- Monthly Planner
The bullet journal is more a “design it as you go” type planner using a blank bound notebook. If you are interested in having a bullet journal I recommend seeing BOHO Berry’s YouTube Channel. She has a complete guide to making a bullet journal. I don’t use them because to me they are too time-consuming.
The daily planner is what I use and usually has a page per day, whereas the weekly planner has a week per page or two-page spread. I have used a weekly in the past but I find for me they don’t allow enough room to write what I need.
The monthly planner is basically any form of a monthly calendar spread across one or two pages. These planners are great for yearly general planning, birthdays, and tracking information.
My Daily Planner
Picking the right homestead planner isn’t as hard as it sounds. You need to think about what you will use your planner for. Because I keep track of a lot of information in my planner I went with a page per day planner.
I bought it from Day Designer. It goes from July of this year until June of next year. You can also buy the traditional year, January through December, also.
The Daily Planner
Will you keep only what you need to do in your planner? Will you track animal feed purchased, shot and immunizations, sales from your homestead? Maybe you are big on to-dos. The one advantage to a daily planner is that you have a monthly calendar followed by one page for each day of the month.
Each day is a timeline, usually from around 6 am until 9 or so at night. I use this section to track the time spent on tasks. I also have a to-do section where I write out each night what I need to accomplish the next day.
Other options in a daily planner included meal tracking and daily gratitude. I use these also. If you need a lot of space per day, this planner is for you.
The Weekly Planner
This was my go-to type planner for the last 3 years. This type of planner usually has a monthly calendar spread over two pages. It then has either a week to a page or a week over two pages depending on the size of the planner you choose.
The nice thing about the weekly planner is that you can see the whole week at once and know what is coming up instead of having to flip a lot of pages to see the week.
A weekly planner is great for someone new to homesteading or someone who doesn’t write a lot of detail in their planners. If you keep track of appointments or specialty items like one-time tasks, this planner is for you.
The Monthly Planner
This type of planner is most definitely for the person who needs only an overview of the upcoming month. It is great to track appointments or meetings or events. You could track goals but with limited information. I have a monthly wall calendar that shows me a general vision of the big picture of what my month looks like.
These planners are not very helpful if you want any detail at all. However, for a snapshot of your month at a glance, these are perfect.
Sizes and Styles of Planners
Once you figure out which type of planner is best for you, you need to choose a style and a size. Planners come in all shapes and sizes. There are planners that fit in a small purse, 4 x 6 size planners, 5 x 7 planners and 8 1/2 x 11 planners. There are even some odd sizes in between depending on where you purchase them.
Planners also come in a variety of styles. You can buy hardbound or softbound covers. You can have your covers personalized from some suppliers like Erin Condren, for example.
Planners also come with bound seams, spiral rings, or in 3- 5 rings or disc-bound. You can also make your own planner if you feel creative. The size and style you choose are up to you based on your needs again. Shop around and research each planner you are interested in before purchasing.
Where to Purchase Your Homestead Planner
There are many options when you are looking for a planner. I have included some local and online resources here:
Local:
- Walmart
- Target (Day Designer)
- Office Supply Stores
- Big Lots
- Michaels (Happy Planner)(Creative Year)
- Joanne Fabrics
- Hobby Lobby
Online:
Planner Reviews
For more information on what others choose, read these reviews:
- Brilliant Business Moms Great review on about 5 planners
- Intentional Moms Another 2017 planner review
- YouTube Planner Reviews Search
Did this post help you decide what type of planner you need for your homestead planner? Do you currently use a planner? What type of planner do you use? Watch for my next post on How to Use Your Planner for Homesteading. There I will detail what I put in my planner and even give some awesome tips and tricks!
This post is shared at Good Morning Mondays Blog Hop and the Homestead Blog Hop.
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