Printables are something I became obsessed with 4 years ago, when my blog really started to pick up steam. The reason being that they have helped me organize my life in more ways than I thought possible!
When Pickled Plum’s traffic began to grow steadily, the list of things to do grew with it. I quickly became overwhelmed with keeping up with simple tasks such as returning phone calls, answering emails, and keeping track of appointments. Too often I finished my work day at 8 pm and would end up ordering food, because I was too tired to cook.
I felt like I had no time for friends, relaxation, or self-care.
Then one day I came across an article about the downsides of working overtime and saw this one line that struck me hard – “people who regularly cannot finish work at 5 o’clock don’t know how to plan their work days. Successful people are masters of time management.”
That made a lot of sense, so I went online looking for a planner I could start using right away. I found a few options but none that covered all the areas I needed help with. So I started printing out my own pages, creating the type of printables that suited my needs, and that’s how the Deluxe Life Planner was born.
What I love most about this planner is that I have access to all the important information that I need in one place! That alone saves me a lot of time because I no longer have to go through stacks of papers, or use the search bar on my computer to find what I’m looking for.
The planner comes in black and white and in color, and is broken into 6 sections:
- Life Goals
- Finance & Budget
- Health & Medical
- For the Kids
- Pets
- Travel
Let’s go through each one of them to see what they are about!
Note: You can only get the FREE printable recipe binder offer by purchasing the planner through this link.
Life Goals
I created this section so I could be 100% in charge of my life.
With lots of calendars and lists to fill out, I can keep track of everything in my life. Life goals, wish list, password list, birthdays and anniversaries, important dates, monthly overview, weekly, overview, you name it.
It may sounds crazy but I’m telling you – the more organized I got and the happier, freer, and more successful I became! That’s because I didn’t have to cram my head with too much information since it was all written in my planner. And as far as seeing the goals I wanted to achieve and tracking their progress, it gave me the motivation to keep going.
I’m also reminded daily of my core values and what should always be priority. For me it’s my health, family, and work. Everything else can take a back seat.
Finance & Budgeting
I’ve always worried about money because I grew up with very little.
My father sadly passed away from an illness when I was 7 years old, leaving my Japanese mother (who could barely speak French) in a foreign country, with 2 kids, and no work. We managed to get through the difficult times but the feeling of not having a safety net has stayed with me ever since.
Keeping track of where I spend money is incredibly important to me. I’m a number cruncher who likes to forecast how much money I would like to have in the next 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, etc.. And so far, I’ve been pretty good at predicting the financial weather!
And let me be very blunt about this – it’s very difficult to save money without tracking your expenses. Setting aside money every month ensures peace of mind and a brighter future. I cannot stress this enough!
Note: You can only get the FREE printable recipe binder offer by purchasing the planner through this link.
Health & Medical
The first thing that usually goes out the window when our schedules get busy is our health. Let’s face it – we order in or eat out to avoid cooking, and we would rather stare at a TV screen than jump on a treadmill because it involves zero effort.
The downside is that we end up neglecting ourselves. We neglect ourselves when we let go of our health. Self-care is the key to a happier life but it can be difficult to follow a healthier lifestyle without having somewhere to monitor it.
This Deluxe Life Planner Printables comes with a meal planner, a workout tracker, a fitness tracker, and medical sheets to keep track of your blood pressure and sugar, doctor’s visits, dental log, and a place to keep your emergency contacts.
For the Kids
This colorful section has printables to store information about doctor’s visits, a sheet for the babysitter with all the information needed in case of emergency, and a house chores printable to encourage your kids to help around the house.
This way they can see what reward they will get once the printable is full!
Pet Care
Not only do we love kids, we also love our pets!
Pets are important to us but there aren’t a lot of planners out there that include them. Unless you make a note of when the last vaccination or visit occurred, it can be hard to remember since these events don’t happen that often. Well, this Deluxe Life Planner likes your pets and care about their wellbeing!
I created a few simple printables that I use all the time to keep track of my kitty’s health – a vet’s visit sheet, preventive medicine (we have to use Frontline every month or so), vaccinations, and information for the pet sitter since we travel quite a bit.
Travel
And speaking of travel!
I had to include a travel section because of the amount of information and preparation involved in planning (and taking) a trip.
First it starts with planning – budgeting to figure out how much you need to save. Then once you have enough for your dream vacation you must book your flight, hotel, car, and who knows what else. That’s a lot of important information to keep track of so it’s always best to keep it all in one place.
I’ve also added a packing checklist, something I use every single time I travel because let’s face it – it’s no fun traveling with excess baggage.
And finally, a travel journal. Ben and I always take a few minutes out of each travel day to write down our favorite activities or thoughts. Pictures are great but there’s nothing more intimate than reading about an old journey taken to bring you back to that moment.
Free Printable Recipe Binder
And since you are reading a food blog after all, I’ve added a bonus FREE recipe binder you can download with the Deluxe Life Planner.
46 beautiful pages to collect your recipes, and the printables come in 3 different designs! Get together with your friends and use this set to create a recipe binder full or your favorite recipes. It’s a beautiful and touching gift to give to the future mom-to-be or bride-to-be!
Note: You can only get the FREE printable recipe binder offer by purchasing the planner through this link.
