Let’s be honest, loving and playing with planners isn’t always the most affordable hobby! Luckily, there are a number of free or low cost planner supplies that you can DIY or print yourself at home to help keep your planner organized and beautiful at the same time. I love planner printables because once you have a file, you can use it over and over again, saving you tons of money on repeat purchases, which are especially helpful if you love to decorate with stickers or washi!
Suggested Supplies
- Printable PDF files
- Access to a printer
- A laminator (I love this one!)
- A paper trimmer (here’s mine!)
- Full sheet sticker labels (I use clear and Trueblock)
Step 1: Customize your planner cover and dividers
Making a custom cover or dividers for your planner are super easy. I recently released a set of free planner covers that you can use for your own planner or you can follow this tutorial and design your own. If you’re not sure how to make your own dividers, this should help you get started!
Step 2: Find a printable planner dashboard and calendar inserts
I release a monthly dashboard in my shop for free that you can use to organize your month at a glance and while you’re there check out my many printable planner inserts. You can pick and choose the inserts that work for you or purchase my Charmed Life Planner, a continuous planner that includes month at a glance, week at a glance, monthly master task lists and monthly expense sheets all bundled together!
Step 3: DIY some planner accessories
I love a good planner DIY! Two of my favorite things to make for my planner are custom paper clips, including these beautiful bow clips and extra file folders to store away my stickers and extra planner goodies.
Step 4: Keep inspired with printable stickers
So now we’re getting to some serious money saving techniques! Stickers are one of those simple planner decoration items that seem innocuous but end up costing us hundreds of dollars on repeat purchases! If you love using stickers to decorate for their simplicity, but hate waiting for Etsy orders to arrive and stress out over running out of a cute set, I have a solution for you: print your own! I have a whole DIY on how to make your own printable stickers! I love stickers because they can be decoration, inspiration or add extra organization. Check out this free printable sticker set I made if you want to give printable stickers a try or feel free to browse my collection of printable designs that you buy once and can print hundreds of times over! It’s like having a never ending supply of stickers!
Step 5: Wrangle your tasks with printable PDFs
At the end of the day, using your planner isn’t just a hobby, but also a method of organizing your life, tasks and priorities! Never forget that when you strip away the stickers, washi and colorful inks, your planner is just a simple tool that you can choose to use however you see fit. If task management is a priority in your planner, you have plenty of options for organizing the information that matters to you. Plan your projects, build a meal plan and manage your social media all with printable inserts and yes, stickers! Of course, I have another great freebie for you to break down and organize your planner that is an editable PDF that you can use to create custom labels and task items for your planner! Enjoy!
Which of these steps to personalization do you enjoy most? Let me know in the comments!
xoxo,
I love personalising the dividers and a cute front page. I am the lucky owner of a black zipped Kate Spade and just waiting on a set of black, gold and white dividers that will really ‘zip’ in my planner! Along with a coordinated pen, as long as it works well, and a few clips, especially Oliclips if I can find a good match.