With Christa, the Christmas Elf with a plan – 5 December
Christa’s back with End of the Year Planning Tip #5 and it’s a fun and easy one. Or it should be if you’ve been keeping good notes as you’ve worked through her previous tips. It’s time to make your shopping/wish list for new planner supplies. And you may want to do this digitally, rather than on paper if you plan to share it as a wish list or save links to specific items.
If you missed those earlier tips, you can go back to End of the Year Planning Tip #1 by clicking here.
Make Your List
Start with a fresh notes page. Write down everything that you identified during your reflections, planner evaluation and de-clutter and organization of your supplies. Allow a little extra space to the sides of your list and between entries because we aren’t done yet.
Clarify
Be as specific as possible, if you know you need a particular color of Mildliner Dual-Tip highlighter, write that down. Writing “blue highlighter” or “highlighter” on the list is not the same thing.
If you don’t have a specific item in mind, note the important features. For example:
- New pen – fine or ultra fine point?
- Box stickers for color coding – what size(s), color(s), number of different colors ?
- Clear plastic bin for storage – Dimensions? Link to exact product?
Being specific in your list frees you from having to remember all the specifics when you go shopping. It also tells the gifter exactly what to buy if this is a wish list. What if you aren’t picky about color, but you don’t want any neon colors? Add “NO Neon” by the item. Don’t want/need plaid patterned washi tape, add “NO Plaid”.
Prioritize
If you and/or you gift-giving friends are independently wealth, you may skip the rest of this post and just go shopping and come back for tomorrow’s tip. The rest of us will continue working with our shopping/wish list.
Most of us can’t rush out and buy all the things we would like to have, so we need to prioritize our list and sort out what we need now, what can wait, and what is something we really want, but probably don’t really need. I like to use a priority scheme. It looks like this:
- I need this now. I have no other solution or work-around that is viable. This item will solve an issue that is impacting my day-to-day.
- I could make use of this. I could use this instead of doing it the way I have been. I need it and I’d like to have it, but I can make do for now.
- I want it. I don’t need it. I think it would be cool. Everyone else has one and loves it. I have all the others, I need that one, too.
Yeah, I got a bit silly with the priority 3 statements.
To assign a priority, look the item on your list and compare the your thoughts about why you need the item and choose the number 1, 2 or 3 that matches the closest. Can you have a 1.5, or a 1.8? If you have something that is leaning toward a 2 because you have been doing it differently, but you feel like it would make a positive difference in your planning, give it a boost toward 1. If you are able to get all your priority 1 items, you can move through the priority 1.x items and into the priority 2s.
You do not have to share this prioritization with anyone, there’s no judgement and no reason to compare with anyone else. For example, I have “Planner Tote – with sections (blue or boho)” on my list. For me that is a priority 3. I don’t travel that often and have other ways I’ve been toting my planner and supplies that work just fine. But I really like some of those totes, so I want one. On the other hand, if I were a teacher. I’ve watched teachers coming and going from the Sweet Gingers’ elementary school. Most of them are juggling armloads of stuff with both hands and trying to open and close doors. They might say it’s priority 1 or at least 1.5 and they probably would have dimensions and number of sections needed.
One more example, I print all my own pages and inserts. I use reams of 32 lb bright white printer paper. That’s a priority 1 for me. But for someone who rarely, or is just thinking about, printing pages for their planner, it would not be priority 1.
Check It Twice
Now that we have a prioritized list of planning supplies, where can we buy them? And at the lowest cost? Why is this section called “Check it Twice”: 1) I could not resist and 2) I do compare at least two prices for each item.
I prefer to shop locally whenever possible. Even if it’s large chain store, the employees are local people in local jobs. But I do usually start by checking prices online. Often you can find out if it’s available in the local stores, too. You can find coupons (both online and in-store) and sometimes order for local pickup or get free shipping. And there small businesses online, as well. You will find lots of small business owners, like me, on Etsy and other similar sites.
Online Shopping
I have a set of sites I usually check prices on. But I always start by entering my detailed description in the search engine. That usually gives me hits for several online sources for the product. I capture multiple prices for comparison. If I’ve got several items I need to purchase I might even create a small chart with columns for each store/site and the items in rows. I’ll note if there’s a minimum for free shipping and if there’s any sort of coupon not already reflected in the price (i.e. 20% off entire order). This allows me to calculate the cost of ordering multiple items from a single store. Slightly higher prices with free shipping might beat lower prices with shipping. But if you can order all items from the lower price store and reach the free shipping minimum, you pay less overall.
If you are creating a wish list from your shopping list, you can do that as you look up each item. If the site allows you to create and save one, like Amazon, do that; if not, save the links for sharing later.
Local Shopping
If you are lucky enough to have any local shops that specialize in stationery supplies, definitely check them out. You will usually find staff who can answer any questions you might have about a particular product. You can usually purchase individual pens in a wide range of colors, rather than having to buy a set. This is good if you are just starting out or having tried a particular brand before and aren’t sure you’ll love using it. Also good, if you just need to replace one or two colors, not the whole range. You also have the opportunity to connect with others who use planners.
Most of us have stores that do carry office and planner supplies nearby: Office Depot, Staples, Joann, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble among many more. I’ve never personally discovered Happy Planner sticker books at Ollie’s, but have purchased individual Mildliners and other Zebra brand pens at Dollar General for $2 each.
Update your wish list with local sources you’ve found, or maybe you’ll be asking for a gift card for that “paper and pen” shop you just discovered.
Summary
Christa’s End of the Year Planning Tips are keeping me busy. How about you? Today we’ve created an prioritized our shopping list, checked prices, and prepared wish list information for people who’ve been asking for ideas. Time to take a break and wonder about what Christa has in store for tomorrow.
Happy Planning!
Linda
Tell me what you think …