Be Intentional Challenge #26 – Free Weekly Planner Download To Manage All Areas of Life

We are now on day #26 of our Be Intentional Challenges! We hope it has been wonderful, productive and life-changing so far.

And if you don’t know what we are talking about….. read our original post HERE with the links to the previous 25 challenges!

I have to be honest, this next challenge is one of my favorites.  I am now a planner. I didn’t use to be- and I didn’t use to be very productive, stay on track, keep to the budget, etc. Well, now I try to plan as it is an immense help to my day, week, month and year! We accomplish our goals much faster!

So I needed something to help me plan my week – this is different from my weekly schedule that we talk about here, this is the “to-do’s” and I wanted the to do’s to cover every area of life because if they didn’t, something gets neglected.

So my wonderful husband, Alex solved my dilemma! He created a weekly planner (again different from our schedule) that I keep in my home binder and use as my guide for the week!

I LOVE it and I am so excited to finally share it with you and I hope it is a help to you as well!

So…. Be Intentional Challenge #26 :

Download and Use the THRIFTY Weekly Planner

I hope that you will find this to help you ease into your day and goals even more! It is designed using the word THRIFTY.  I will break it down.

I will also share what was on my list this week (much of which is already done).

T – stands for Thrifty – what are my thrifty goals for the week? I have to plan to be thrifty.  What I mean is that those extra tasks that take time, but save money need to fit somewhere in my week.  This can be anything from organizing coupons/clean-out coupons this week (I don’t do it every week!) or freezer foods prep day (my family doesn’t like freezer meals, but I pre-cook meats and breads/doughs to reduce meal prep time) making my own homemade products, etc. I set those task goals for the week.

For example, this week here are my goals:

• Cook and package 14 packages of natural ground sausage for breakfasts the next month
• Make and refill hand soap pumps with natural homemade antibacterial soap (hint, I use essential oils in my homemade hand soaps to make it antibacterial :))
• Make and refill homemade natural whitening mouthwash

H – stands for Home – what are some things I/we need to do around and for our home?

Here’s what’s on our list (some of these become Alex’s honey-dos :)):

• Wash food storage buckets
• Fix broken drawer in kitchen
• Clean out mini-van

R – stands for Relationships – a place where I write down who I need to call, send a note to or remember a birthday/event.  I am honestly terrible about sending out cards, making phone calls, etc.  So weeks will pass by without me doing anything! So this way I try to at least set one or more goals on who I need to remember that week!

On my list for this category this week:

• Make truffles and get family Valentine’s party pizza and family gift
• Prepare family Valentine Cards/gifts
• Email friends in TN

I – stands for Involvement – this is the part of my planner that allows me and my family to be involved in our community and church. In today’s world of the hustle and bustle, it is so easy to forget about others and being involved in the lives of others in some way.  So by writing just 1-3 things down each week does not become as overwhelming and it is easier to remember.

On my list for this category this week:

• Samples and unused make-up/beauty products donated to women’s shelter
• Clean-out cleaners and cleaning products to donate to the church

F – stands for Finances – What financial tasks do we need to complete this week:

On my list this week (it’s a biggie):

• Finish organizing/categorizing 2012 receipts for taxes
• Send in prescription reimbursement receipt/form (our daughter has Epipen refills every year for her peanut/nut allergies and they are EXPENSIVE, even with insurance – but we are thankful to have the HSA – Health Savings Account).

T – stands for To-Do’s– misc. things I need to do this week!

Let’s face it, we all have those misc. tasks that we need to write down so we don’t forget!

• Get bunny cage to friends
• Order car part for DIY fix
• Make Dr. appointment
• Find to/from airport/hotel transportation option for our March NYC trip (Alex figured this out – $7.25 for us to go to JFK to our Times Square Hotel vs. the $25 shuttle option I found! YAY Alex!)

Y – stands for You – what are some things that you can do for yourself to de-stress and relax for all of the hard work you do!

On my list this week:

• Make oil blends from essential oils to refill my purse pouch

Also on the Weekly Planner is your Shopping List (this is different than your Normal Shopping and Price Comparison List) so that you know what you need to add to your shopping that week.  There is an “other tasks” spot too in case your to-do’s and other tasks grow.  As wives and mothers, our lists keep growing 🙂

Finally,  there is a checkbox in the bottom right corner of the page that includes the “Be Intentional” tasks that I find to be really important to a productive day and then a spot for you to add a few more specific ones to you! This reminds and allows you to check off those boxes.

Here’s those daily tasks and links to more details about them:

• Bed Made
• Dressed to Shoes
• Exercise (including the daily 5min stretching/breathing even if you do your normal exercises a few times per week)
• Water Intake
• Vitamin Intake
• Daily 20-min Quick Clean

Then three spots for you to add more of your own personal daily goals.

I have to be honest and say that I didn’t complete all of these tasks this week.  Tuesday, I had a root canal that had me down for most of the day.  Valentine’s Day was quite busy too! But I still make a plan. 🙂

You can print this off for as many weeks as you would like, or print once and make copies to put into your binder.

Alex designed it to where it requires very little ink and in fact you can print it in fast draft/grayscale to use even less ink.  But either one uses miniscule amount of ink!

Please note, if you are reading this email in our rss feed or our email newsletter, you may have to click to the post HERE to print this download. 

<== Download your printable Weekly Thrifty Planner HERE

One final thing….. we also have a Facebook Group where you can engage in discussions, receive encouragement and talk to others that are participating in the challenges too for more ideas! Head to the Be Intentional with The Thrifty Couple Facebook Page HERE and ask to join us there! You can also invite friends and spouses too!