I’m SUPER DUPER trying hard to make sure I get myself organized and back into a better routine before the new year… I know, I know… usually people try to establish new routines and get organized as part of their New Year’s resolutions, but I need to get my butt in gear before then because I start my 4th(!!!) job on January 2nd and can’t afford to be figuring out how to stay on track after it gets crazy… I need to try to prevent the crazy!!

So that being said, I decided to go back to my bujo for some things… I absolutely love Bullet Journaling because it lets me design my pages the way I want them to be and I can always change it up if the layouts or whatever isn’t working for me!! And yes, it does take time to do, but I think it’s work the flexibility!!

So the first thing I decided to get organized was our meal planning. I try to cook 6 days a week and definitely need to be organized and on track with that! So this is the layout I came up with for my meal planning… every week will take just one page (versus the whole 2 page spread) unless we’re hosting a big dinner or something that needs extra space to plan out. And I added this ADORABLE die cut kitty from the PrettyPaperPieces4U Etsy Store, this is Coppers and I absolutely adore his (her?) flower crown. So super cute. And you can see more of his friends peeking out on the sides… they’re all available in the PPP4U store!

Okay. So one side has my shopping list which is made on a lined post-it so I can take it out and send it to the store with hubby if needed. And I wanted to be able to tack down the bottom so it doesn’t get folded or anything, so chose to use the die cut!! I added some foam tape to the back of Coppers and then added some Tack-it Over and Over to the foam tape, letting it dry before I put it down so it creates that repositionable hold! Now I can pull Coppers off the post-it and move him to another page to use again later =o)

The other side… and I say “one side” and “other side” because I plan to switch it from one side to the other as I go through this notebook… anywhoo. The other side has my bujo side… I made 6 boxes because I cook 6x a week, and then added some small boxes on the bottom for additional stuff. The boxes on the bottom are for “bake” and “notes” – I miss baking and hope to start baking again at least once a week! The other box, “notes” just gives an overview of the week + the dates for the week. I put down holidays and days that I know I won’t be home for dinner or know I will have things that will interfere with making dinner.

Each dinner box has the meal in colored pen, and then I make a list of all the ingredients I know I’ll need to complete the meal, including the starch and side if I plan to have one. It’s by no means a comprehensive recipe list, but just stuff I know off the top of my head I know we need. And I try to do one fish, one pasta, one chicken, and one (mostly) vegetarian. It doesn’t always work that way, but it helps me come up with meals for the week because sometimes I can’t figure out what I want to make!

This is one grid notebook from a set from Sam’s Club that I got on clearance over the summer. I had no clue what I wanted to do with it lol. But I’m super happy with my use of it now… It has a flexible cover and is perfect to slip into my purse when I go shopping.

That’s it for me… I’ll check in with this meal planner in a few weeks after I get used to it and let you know if it still works or how I’ve changed it!! Make sure you swing by the PrettyPaperPieces4U FB Group and see the other goodness from the PR team, I’m excited to see what everyone else comes up with!!

lovies, =o) kel