My Budget Binder (Long)

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I suppose you could call it a Budget Binder, but it really isn't in a binder. So I call it my budget planner because it is in a planner set up. Ok, here is the nitty gritty details of how I have this set up. I decided to make a post about this because it may help someone who is trying to get set up on their budget but just can't find a binder/planner that works for them. Even though there are literally hundreds of ways to do this. Just because there are hundreds doesn't mean that you will find the one that works for you. It's like trying on shoes I think. Just because you like the design of the shoe, or just because it works for your sister, or just because it is on sale doesn't mean that it will work for you. Planners are like shoes and clothing. What works well for one person won't work well for the next. It can be as simple as you like the insides, but you can't stand the covers. I have a planner that I ABSOLUTLEY fell in love with the covers, but I HATED the insides. Does anyone know Happy Planner's items and planners with the women on it? All over it on every thing? I think it is their Trendsetter line? Yeah, I fell in love with a cover but I hate the Trendsetter line. And I haven't been able to find packs of covers lately so I had to do without. Anyway, back to my Budget Planner: I have the Happy Planner Classic size. The covers have colored circles in columns and in the big black circle in the middle it says, "Love your Life" which I thought was appropriate for a budget planner. I still need to switch out my rings to metal ones, but it has gold plastic rings right now. When you open it up you see a folder that says, "Focus on What Matters", again, fitting for a budget planner. In the front side of that pocket folder are my "I've paid this" stickers. Usually something small. Last time it was silver stars, next time it is red/white/blue stars, then colored hearts. Ok, so past the folder we have the first section of this planner which is my Monthly Budget section. Each page is a month's budget. Right now we are looking at August's Budget. September is on the backside and I always keep the previous month's Budget in the front so I can compare and make sure I don't forget anything. Also, whatever doesn't get paid by the end of the month gets carried over to the next month. Each page is decorated according to that month with washi and stickers. The stickers I generally use come from a Happy Planner sticker book that is just flowers. They are pretty big stickers too. In fact, I just pulled out my sticker books and the book is called "Flowers * Fleurs" I've still got another two years minimum of stickers so I don't need to worry about buying another one unless I can find it on clearance. Then I will buy all the ones they have. Ok, let's turn to the next section. The next section is the Individual Bill section. Each page, front and back, is for each individual bill that I have to pay. I have Rent, Verizon (I need to get them paid off since it is an old bill), Netflix, Car Insurance, Storage Unit, Auto Loan, Vehicle Maintenance (I'll probably do away with this page because I have started a composition book that is just vehicle), and Car Wash. My next section is where I track my spending on certain items on my Budget. Right now I'm just tracking my Planner spending. I budget $100 monthly to spend on new planners, stickers, washi, etc. So this way I know how much I get to spend still. I also have my change carry over to the next month. My last section is two-fold. In the front I have 3 pages dedicated to moving. That way the next time I move I already have this set up and can start tracking how much I have set aside. The back section is where all of my monthly budget pages go. Essentially they go when they "die" and are of no more use to me. I started keeping them because I spend so much time decorating and getting them set up that I didn't want to just throw them away. Now I keep them so I can look at a year in review and see what months are my most expensive and see where I can really buckle down and pay ahead on items. I really hate recurring bills so I do my best to stay on top of those. My phone I tend to pay for 12 months at a time (yay Straight Talk) and with Netflix, I just went and bought gift cards and put them on my account and had it paid up for six months. I'm coming to the end of that in January, so I'll need to decide if I want to do another year of Netflix or switch all the way over to Hulu. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to ask and I'll respond. Oh, and because I hate hearing about something and not knowing where to go to get/see it: Where I bought my supplies: Planner cover, papers, tabs, clips, pocket folder, rings, filler pages I use, section dividers, washi, stickers to decorate, star stickers to mark off what I've paid. These were all bought at Hobby Lobby Red/White/Blue stars and colored heart stickers were both bought in the scrapbooking section at my local Walmart. With the section dividers you can either buy Happy Planner brand at JoAnn's, Michael's, or Hobby Lobby OR you can buy Arc brand and Martha Stewart brands both of which work with Happy Planner and are both sold at Staples. I've used all three brands and I usually stick with Happy Planner solely because I forget to go to Staples. Happy Planner items can be bought online by searching for Happy Planner and going to the MeAndMyBigIdeas site.