Ramblings of a Makeup and Shopping Addict: Erin Condren Life Planner 2015 Unboxing & How I Use It

Happy Tuesday!

I finally had time this weekend to take pictures of my new Erin Condren Life Planner.

I'm sure you have seen me posting a lot of pictures on my Instagram (vzaleski) of this planner, I just can't get enough of it! It's one step closer to my 2015 New Years Resolution of becoming more organized.

I asked for this planner for Christmas as I would never spend $50 on a planner for myself. So far, it's been worth every penny. After using it for a month I find that I'm getting more things done that I've been wanting to get done. I usually take time every Sunday and sit down and plan my week. I found that doing this forces me to see what's coming up in the next week AND what I want to do in the next week. I'm always saying I never have time to get things done, well this forces to re-evaluate my time and actually get things done.

Along with getting more organized, I also am using this as my planner for my upcoming Wedding. There are so many dates and times you need to keep track of I would never be able to remember them without writing them down. It's also a way for me to look back, especially if I'm like "When did we book them?" or "How much of a deposit did we put down?" etc etc etc!

I am also using it to plan my blog posts. If I plan out what I want to blog about, it forces me to take time to get the things ready to take pictures and edit them.

ANYWAY, onto the unboxing:

I ordered a custom cover for my planner. Erin Condren has a ton to choose from and you can even create your own. Soon I'll have to purchase another after I get married! :)

This is the back cover.

She also included these with your order, a bunch of stickers. I love the owl "This Book Belong To:"

I keep my silver sparkly headband around it to keep from losing anything I have inside.

Monthly tabs.

On the inside is a over view of the months, this way you don't have to go through every month to see what date falls on what day.

This was when I was first started to decorate and plan (I've gotten much better - I promise!) Before the weekly planning the planner has a month overview with a little side bar for notes.

This is my first week of planning. As you can see we went away for New Years Eve so I did some decorating on those days. Along with starting my diet for the wedding. On Sunday we met with our caterer so I wanted to make sure I remember what time it was.

Week two I was starting to get the hang of it.

This is what your typical week looks like. It has your days broken out between Morning, Day, Night. A lot of people cover them up with washi tape, which is what I am doing. I haven't decided if I like doing it that way or not. I like the idea of not being confined to morning, day or night for my planning, but at the same time, I do, especially if I want an overview of what I am doing for the night.

On the side is where a lot of people create a To-Do list for the week. On the bottom is where you plan your meals, exercise and daily dos. I use this section for what I want to blog about for the day.

There is a big section for just notes. I've seen people put in their recipes they want to try, or track their weight and exercise or just a grocery list, the possibilities are endless. I plan on creating a page dedicated to my cleaning schedule.

And then there are plain pages without lines. I've seen people just draw in these, I haven't decided what I'll use it for yet.

You also get a page of Birthday stickers. I love these! It's an easy way for me to keep track of everyone's birthday. And next year when I am planning again I can look back on this planner to keep track of everyone's birthdays!