I shared previously on my planner system and how I use stickers and Washi etc to both decorate and annotate my planner. However, upon longer usage, find that this system just isn't working for me. As it was a weekly planner, I was unable to see the month in a glance and that made me nervous as I can't get an overall picture on how busy the month will be. Moreover, despite it being a weekly planner, I consistently find myself running out of place to write what I need to. I know I need a new system that wouldn't cost a bomb and yet works the way I want it. What better way than to "build" a planner of my own?
I researched online on planners and found many ready made ones that looks super good apart from the price tag that is. Paying a lump of minimum $70 for a nice looking professional planner is just not something that I can afford. Moreover, the inserts may not be what I want and I still have to either print on my own or buy again. I was more determined to try and build my own.
Where does one go when you need cheap yet useable stationeries? Daiso of course! I have some idea of how I want my planner to be. So away I go shopping, Daiso style :)
I want a decently sized planner, one that I can bring along when I go out yet not too small till I need a magnifying glass just to write or read it! I also wanted a size that I could easily find inserts on. Most free-to-print inserts are A4 or A5. I know that A4 will be too big, bulky and heavy to lug around while A5 seems like a good size. I also know that I wanted a normal 2-ringed file so that I could use the regular hole puncher to file my inserts and not have to get a special puncher for the usual 6-hole of a planner.
This bright and cheery colored 2-holed A5 file was what I wanted :) Its bright colors makes it happy. A bonus, it comes with 4 dividers and some papers which are lined on one side and graph paper on the other side.
Next I bought some colorful reinforcement rings and a pack of filing seal. I was actually quite intrigued by the filing seal and wanted to try and see if it works.
Filing seal is a 2-row sticker with punched holes. You could adhere this on both sides of the item that you want to file and it instantly creates the holes that you use for filing. This is particularly useful for items like folders which you may like to include in your planner. An example is as shown below...
If you could see in the left side of the folder is a row of punched holes. This is how the filing seal works - by creating the holes needed for filing. With this, you can then simply slip the folder into the file.
Next I needed a pencil case to hold my writing stationeries. I then chanced upon a real find - a small pencil case that comes attached with a elastic band that helps me keep the pencil case close by and also helps to ensure the planner stays shut when I wrap the pencil case around it, Killing two birds with one stone :)
I also bought a pack of A6 hard cases for me to slot in inspirational cards/quotes. Here again I made use of the filing seal to create the filing holes. A pack of these A6 hard cases give you 2 cases, just what I wanted.
Last but not least, I wanted a catch-all bag for all the planner barangs like Washi tapes, stickers etch, including the planners itself. I wanted to be able to grab and go :) Since my planner is A5 sized, I grabbed a A4 sized bag to make sure I have sufficient space. Selection there wasn't too great but I did end up with a decent albeit a more kid-ish one :P
All in all, I spent less than $20 building my own planner. Its definitely more satisfying than just buying one off the shelf and I get to save money on top of getting real self-satisfaction! Now, that's what I call a GOOD DEAL! :P
This concludes the hardware part of my planner :) In my next post, I shall go into details of the "software" like how I structure my planner, where do I download the free printable etc.
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