Have you wanted to start your own Bullet Journal or create your own planner, but haven’t been sure where and how to start…

Do you really understand what the term bullet Journal means? When I learned about the bullet journal method I was intrigued. Ryder Carroll created a minimalist method for scheduling, list making, notes, ideas and organizing your life all in one notebook, something he developed and used, slowly sharing it with friends and coworkers to help them stay organized.

Have you been asking yourself what do I need to get started? Do I need an Index or Key? Can I start with a yearly calendar, can I dive in and do monthly pages and monthly trackers?

My answer is what do you need your planner and journal to do? Do you need a key or index, its like a table of contents, and do you plan to number your pages or do color coded page edges? If the answer to any of these are yes then I say go for it. Do you just want to start planning, then go right for the calendar pages.

Personally I don’t use an Index or Key, I start my journal with my monthly calendar pages and then add in my trackers and my daily pages. I’ve done something different in each journal, and I’m now on my 8th. I play with my format a little each time, its a fluid process and one to have fun with. Some things I like to make full page trackers for are:

Savings: home, car, general medical\dental savings for co-pays etc…

Bills and income with our credit scores

Monthly spending in categories

Shows I’m watching

Books I’m reading (I seem to read a lot of series books)

Movies to see

Meals to make again and where I have the recipe saved

As for supplies, you really only need a notebook and pen or pencil, and maybe a ruler. The real question is what do you want? I’m guessing you want something a little fun so a notebook of your choice, colored pens, colored pencils, ruler, washi tape, and for those of us not very artistic maybe some stencils. For those of you who just want something simple, a notebook and pen or pencil are really all that are needed. Ill talk about supplies and what I use in other posts.

I’ve also helped friends and made journals for them, I have worked with them to figure out some goals and have added in some trackers personalized for them.

I’m working on different ideas and layouts for calendar pages… They will be coming next…