If you’ve been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you know that I wear many hats. You also know that I’m a planner junkie. Some pass the test of time and some fail, never to be opened again.
As we approach the end of 2014, one planner is still used on a daily basis. The portable 6 x 9 spiral bound book has helped manage our days, prevented me from forgetting appointments, handled by several small hands, marked up, opened multiple times a day, and has been a mainstay for our family of eight. And yet it still looks good!
The one and only Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner by Sue Hooley.
Whatever she did for R&D when developing this planner, Sue knew what she was doing.
As 2014 comes to a close, I’m excited to already have my 2015 copy in hand! While I thought the 2014 cover was lovely, I’m especially happy to see the new 2015 version in my favorite color–yellow!
What do you need to manage? Meal planning? Appointments? Shopping lists? Projects? You’ll find it all here.
A few of my favorite highlights:
When you open the planner, you’ll find pages offering quick years-at-a-glance calendars, where you can scan for dates and make any notes of major events to come, such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
Then you’ll move into the monthly calendar section. While the cover of this planner is a sturdy laminate, the tabbed section providers are a heavy card stock that have held up incredibly well.
There’s plenty of room to write down appointments, and I can see both the upcoming and the previous months at the top of the page. If there’s something special happening in the current month, I write it in the notes section that are along the side.
The Weekly Planning pages are where I break down my days. At the top of the page, I note any major tasks that need to be taken care of that week; and in each day’s box, I break down appointments by time. There’s also room for menu selections. I used this to write down that evening’s main dish for dinner, but there’s plenty of room to write more.
Pages from the 2014 planner to show how they were used. Pages from the 2015 planner are identical except for color.
The tasks pages are fantastic for keeping up with general to-dos or projects that need to be tackled, but I can’t get to them just yet.
There’s a section dedicated to projects. When I finally found a quiet moment to flesh out my ideas from the task pages, this was the perfect place to put it all together, especially since I could flip on over to the back and add whatever I needed to my shopping lists.
Speaking of shopping lists, I loved that the strips are perforated so that I can tear them out and take them with me to the grocery store. It’s great to have everything in one place.
The book rounds out everything by providing a place for contacts and other information, perfect for mailing correspondence and keeping up with friends. Another nice touch is that Sue includes both December of the previous year, as well as January of the next!
If you’re looking for a planner to help streamline your days and manage your home, I highly recommend the Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner.
Right now, Sue is offering a fantastic deal! Buy one for yourself and get a 2nd planner for 50% off. Or buy a couple to bless another woman or two. These would make great gifts for friends or even for the women in your study groups or clubs. Sue offers greater discounts for larger quantities.
Just want to buy one for yourself? Those are $13.99 plus shipping.
Not only is Sue offering a fabulous deal, she’s also generously giving away a copy of the 2015 Daily Planner to two winners!
Check out her site, and enter below for your chance to win!
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I love reading your comments/blog!!
My biggest obstacle is keeping the entire family organized, and ensuring all the major points of the day are accomplished.
I would love this!
Finding time to get everything done is my biggest obstacle!!
What a great planner!
my biggest obstacle is time and energy.
My biggest planning obstacle is leaving enough “down time” for the family and myself! I tend to fill it ALL in and then be overwhelmed!
Oops, my comment spell checked name to Roth!
My biggest obstacle when it comes to home management is organization. I have always had problems getting/staying organized.
Love being organized but sometimes it is just hard to find one place to have everything!
Time is the biggest issue…especially in the afternoons….supper starting, 2 kiddos that need help with homework, etc. I really like the shopping list column section they have made in the planner.
I think my biggest struggle in managing home/time is that when I see the big picture and have a goal, I get extremely focused on making it happen. Thus, I get so involved in the details that I forget the big picture. 🙂
My biggest obstacle is procrastination & holding myself accountable to a schedule.
I am a mom of 6 boys, super busy and with a wedding coming up in 2015 for my oldest son. I not only want one, I need one!!! I am not organized by nature and this would be a tremendous help. Thank you!
Love reading your blog! It’s always encouraging.
Finding time to DO everything is my biggest obstacle!! 🙂
My biggest obstacle is time, energy and motivation. That and with 6 kids even if I find the bottom of the laundry pile there is still a load of laundry to be done when they change for bed.
Getting up early, leaving my phone and social media alone, and actually motivating myself to clean…
Procrastination and finding time to manage everyone’s schedule. Thanks!
What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to managing your home, time, etc?
Prioritizing my time. Trying to keep up with the house, home business, decide on supper for the day, keeping all 4 girls on track, getting the house ready to put on the market, kids appointments, the list goes on, and i feel i struggle with prioritizing to get it done. It can get overwhelming 🙂
All the features look wonderful. I like the size and the year planner that would help me know what’s coming further out (some appointments are scheduled 6 months in advance) and help me not to overbook.
organization is not a strong point of mine and I think using a planner would be beneficial! I wish I would have gotten in the habit right when we got married!
I’ve wanted one of these ever since it was first published! I hope I win it so I can see if it works for me.
I just bought 3 of these last week. Two were given as gifts. I am a planner snob and I LOVE this planner! It is so well put together! Better than anything I could ever come up with! Sue did an amazing job!
My biggest obstacle is dealing with unexpected things that arise….. seems like it throws me off!
Greatest obstacle would be finding the time to organize every thing when I have 5 little ones all 6 years old and under. It’s tough to dedicate time to clean let a lone organize my daily chores, obligations, shopping, recipes, etc.
Keeping oganized!!!
My biggest obstacle is just getting organized enough to get something done. I seem to jump from task to task most days and not really accomplishing much.
The task list page would be most helpful for me I believe. I need to see things written down to keep myself in the right direction
My biggest obstacle in our family life is being overbooked! This planner may help me see the bigger picture of our week and keep it simple. 🙂
Time management.
Balancing home schooling and household duties.
My biggest obstacle is prioritizing. I tend to have a really long list of things to do and I get overwhelmed and discouraged when I cannot complete it.
My biggest struggle is not overworking myself. I need to set realistic goals for how many hours I have in one day.
I love how durable this planner looks. Good think since it would probably get a beating and needs to last all year long.
I read your blog and love organization – this planner sounds awesome!
My biggest obstacle is getting distracted. I’ll start something, notice something else, do that for a minute, notice something else, etc…
The menu planning and to do lists would be very helpful for me. These are things that currently get written down on paper scraps and then lost.
staying focused on one thing at a time until it is finished
My biggest issue is sticking to the unwritten plan.
The older I get, I find I need to have EVERYTHING written down! 🙂
I love this planner!
Like many others my biggest obstacles are finding time to get everything done as well as maintaining a level of organization that works for our family.
meal planning and grocery shopping are the features I would
like the most!
I need an organizer!
I could use this book!
A great planner I would use to kept track of Grandpa’s doctor appointments.
I get overwhelmed with my lack of organization. Maybe this would help. 😉