So here is a look into my Budget Planner. I use Erin Condren’s Deluxe Monthly Planner, pages from EC’s Budget Book, & several accessories listed under each picture.

In the front of the planner there is a yearly view where I inserted a legend. Each bill has a different colour that’s used throughout the planner & the gold circles are pay days. I like that I can see my bills & pay days at a glance, especially since there are some expenses that are paid bi-yearly (car insurance), yearly (Amazon Prime), & so on.

I divided everything into the categories that the EC Budget Book has so that its consistent (the categories are divided into income, housing, utilities, auto, savings, food, personal, entertainment, & other for credit cards). Then the bills are divided by colours: all the greens & blues are utilities & expenses and all the pinks & purples are credit cards & loans. To make it easier, I took the list & just went down the EC Colorful Circle sticker sheets to assign the colour for each bill.

This dot grid is in the front of each month. I cut out the “upcoming purchases” & “upcoming bills” from the EC budget book & put them on this page so I can mark major bills and purchases. Then I use the dots on the side to do anyt math for my budget & balances. The pocket is used to keep any receipts or papers I need to keep.

I put every bill on their due dates for each month throughout the planner. I even put credit cards that I know I have a $0 balance, just to be consistent but also to make sure that there is a $0 balance when I go in and make payments. I also mark pay days with the gold circle so I can visually see what I need to pay when I get paid.

I’ve seen this productivity page used in so many different ways. I use it for weekly transactions. I’ll write what I need to pay during each week & then check mark it when it’s paid. This is the page where I plan payments & ensure they were debited from my account (note: when I check on this page it’s when it is debited from my account).

This is probably the most used part of my planner. The left side is inserted from the EC Budget Book. I use the top 3 circles to mark savings, my credit score (fico or actual), & the third is used for anything major that month (financial aid, income tax return, etc). Then the categories are divided into income, housing, utilities, auto, savings, food, personal, entertainment, other (which I use for credit cards), & then debt at the bottom (this is how everything is categorised in my planner). I live with my boyfriend & we split everything in half. So I’ll put the actual bill under the category & then what I need to pay on the right side. Then when I go to pay a bill, I’ll go in & check it on that right side that I paid it.

So this is how I budget & use my budgeting planner. If any of the products or methods I use work for you please comment or message me. I’d love to hear any feedback or questions!