That One Time I Crafted a New Envelope System

by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy

Ohhhmagosh. This thing happened. I got this email, and I swear to you, the sweet tea poured and the heavens sang. Wanna know what it was? The Happy Planner is looking for new Squad Members. #trustory!

And I’m over here like Donkey in Shrek, screaming “Pick me! Pick me!” And as I’m trying to wrap my head around the application, I decide music is the way to soothe the soul (or at least drown out the pleading taps coming from my own fingertips as I type out why I’m a good selection for the Squad) so I say, “Hey, Echo. Play music.” And, #truestory again, she/it says, “Here’s a song you might like.” And I hear “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” You know what I’m gonna say to that, right? *Insert Southern-Belle-Bohemian-Hurricane nod of approval here!*

Frankly, My Dear . . . : That One Time I Crafted a New Envelope System

So I’m trying to impress them with my amazing creations and my. mind. goes. blank. I have written blogs and shared Instagram photos, tweets, and endless Facebook posts about my ~~love~~ ~~need~~ addiction for Happy Planners since my first recipe for Hobbes, my #NOLA-inspired Creole Meatloaf, and even using the blank calendar pages to storyboard my novel-in-progress. (Which, btw, is coming along quite nicely in the rewrite stage. thankyouforasking.) But right now, oh-the-pressure of coming up with that one ahh-mazing idea and submitting it in time to be considered but I have so many other things to do like clean house and make dinner and do the work and the coffee and the budget and the cat love and writers conference prep pack and and and . . .

Ah. Mental click and the light comes on.

Stop. Breathe. Focus. Use what you already have.

Well, I think it’s quite evident I already have enough to create some great pages.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Happy Planner #SquadGoals: Getting Started

I parked myself at my big-enough-to-work table and spread out all the Happy love I could muster. Oh, and this is just for the daily planner. This doesn’t include my essential oils planner, my recipe planner, my novel planner, or my writing conference planners. Yes, plural. I have a writers conference planner from 2017 and a writers conference planner for 2018.

All of which you can scope out by searching for them here on the blog and my other social media sites. [Shameless self promo, what can ya do?]

Wait. What was that? Prepping for the annual writers conference? Why, yes. What kind of planning does that take? Oh, I’m so glad you asked. You got your story writing. You got your schedule. You got your journal. You got your packing list, to do list, coffee appointment list, travel itinerary list. Ohsomanythings. And then of course there’s the money, honey.

So it’s a good thing I created an envelope system to keep my funds organized, yah?

Frankly, My Dear . . .: My Happy Planner- A New Envelope System

With some blank cards, washi tape, paper clips and HP stickers all tucked into a Happy Planner organizer tote, This Girl is ready to go places.

But wait! There’s more! I can track it all with my budget pages, too. Remember this awesome Budget Inspiration Dashboard? I love the ability to keep stickee notes on it, and move it to the current month. It keeps me focused, on track, and aware of my spending.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : My Happy Planner Budget Dashboard

That little turtle sticker is there to remind me that “slow and steady wins the race.” I don’t need to pay off everything all at once, or buy everything the first moment I see it. I just need to know I can do all things, with God, with a budget, and with a plan.

Who knew a Happy Planner addiction could keep me so fiscally responsible?

I have plenty of other Happy Planner creations in the works, and I’ll be sharing them with you more regularly. For now, I wish you many pages and tons of stickers.

With an open planner and lots of plans,
Happy Planning.
~Molly Jo

And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!