My new Erin Condren planner!

So this week got me very excited for back to school, mainly because my brand new Erin Condren planner arrived in the mail!

Even the packaging is pretty! I love the colors and the design, I'm already thinking of my planner for next year... :)

 
When I opened the box, I found it packed with extra goodies: a 10$ discount card, another discount code and some pretty personalized gift tags. This is what I loved most about ordering from the Erin Condren website; you really feel like the order was specifically made for you.  

 
And here is my planner!

I chose the frame me design in my own colour scheme (light pink and light grey) and I am very pleased with the result. I also got the elastic bands, the pen holder and some customized stickers.

I was a little hesitant to order this planner at first, mostly because of the high shipping price to Canada (39,95$). This is the only shipping option for Canadians, so with the price of my planner (50$) and a few extras, I ended up spending about 105$ for this planner. Phew. BUT, I had been thinking about this for a while, and because I know I am planner obsessed, I was willing to pay the price. I had heard so many awesome reviews for this planner, I just had to try it, and I must say it lives up to the expectations.

I just started writing things in my planner, so I will do another post on how I use it in a few weeks.

xox.

My budget binder

One thing about the beginning of the school year is that it's expensive! School books, tuition fees, lab expenses, phew...! I'm already worn out just thinking about it. So this year, i've decided to plan ahead and make myself a budget binder!

Now this is something I should of made two years ago, when I left my parent's house to start living on my own. Making a budget really is essential if you want to be able to save money sometime in the future. As long and gruelling as it seems now, staying on that budget can eventually help you book that trip to Europe you've been dreaming about, or buy that car you need to get to work after you finish college. I tried planning my budget on an Excel spreadsheet before, but I ended up never looking at it, which is really the same thing as having nothing at all. 

So today, I start my journey to becoming a money wise girl! Since the computer thing didn't work out in the past, I decided I would go back to good old paper and bought myself a pretty binder. Now the pretty part isn't essential, but I figured since it's such a boring thing to plan out my expenses, might as well do it in a nice binder to help with motivation. Here it is:

This binder is from the Martha Stewart Office collection and you can buy it at Staples. I labeled the front for quick reference.

When I open the binder, there's a pouch with added holes that I bought at the Dollar Store. I use this pouch to store my budget tools, which consist of a calculator and a pen.

I also added a sort of plastic envelope where I can store my checkbooks.

I divided my binder into four categories: budget, receipts, coupons and checking. The dividers are also from the Martha Stewart collection and I labeled each section with my label maker. 

In the budget section, I printed 12 copies of my spreadsheets. This way, I can plan how much money will be going, and how much money should be left for saving. Then, at the end of the month, I can look at all my receipts and write down the actual money spent and saved. This will help keep me on track with my spendings, too. 

If you wish to download this spreadsheet that I made, you can do so here!

{Click here to download for FREE}

Now to the next section...

I added three transparent protectors to store receipts. I will use this to fill out the "actual" amounts in my budget at the end of each month. The receipts can then be thrown out or stored elsewhere.

The next section is used for storing coupons. I am not a very extreme couponer, but I do like to keep a few of them for the items that I do purchase and use. Since I don't have many, I don't need a whole binder for this, just a few baseball card protectors and voilà! Instant money saving at the grocery store right there. I might make a post about how I meal plan later on, but for now, I will say that I try to match my coupons with store sales, and that doing this makes me save about 10-15$ every week on groceries.

The last section will be a space to keep track of my checking account history. I signed up with my bank to receive this every month by e-mail, and so it's very easy for me to print them out and punch them in my binder for quick reference. This way, I always know how much money I have in my bank account. Trust me on this, there is nothing worse than having your card denied while trying to buy three chocolate bars in a gloomy drugstore on a desperate study night. Really. So keep track of how much money you have, and this situation won't happen to you! :)

So that's it! My cute but useful binder that hopefully can make me a more responsible person when it comes to money. 

Anyone have any other tricks to stay on a budget?

xox.

School supplies

Today, I began shopping for school supplies! I started seeing some ads on TV for back to school and figured it would be best to go now, since the stores will soon be pretty crowded. Back to school shopping is my all-time FAVOURITE, and so I always make sure to go when I know the stores will be empty so I can take all the time I want.  

I started by sorting out what I already had left from last year, and then made a list of things I needed. Since I can't really predict how much note taking i'll be doing for each class, I decided to prepare for the worst case scenario and get more notebooks and binders than I think i'll need. That means one binder and one notebook for each of my four classes (i'm actually taking six classes this semester, but two of them are labs where I won't be taking any notes). 

Here is what I ended up buying:

Yay, big pile of stuff! 

I got these three pouches at the dollar store for 1.25$ - 2$ each. I bought three because i'll be using one as a pencil case, one as a small makeup tote and the one in the middle will be for my budget binder, which is a project i'm currently working on and will be posting about in a few days.

I absolutely LOVE this one...

The bird pattern is adorable, plus there's an extra pocket up front which is more than what you expect from a 2$ pouch. I was pretty impressed with the dollar store today! I also bought theses notebooks there for 1$ each.

I prefer to use notebooks for class notes. I have tried going digital and writing them on the computer, but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I end up never printing them up, and because I like to read my notes in bed or on the bus before an exam, not having a paper version is no good. Plus, I found that I learn more and stay more focused in class when I write things down on paper. 

I also bought a variety of report covers. I plan to use them for my lab notes.

Finally, I got a few more things that I know I will use this year. The small calculator is for my budget binder; I already have a scientific calculator for school. I also got four coloured pens (I already have many pens at home so I didn't need that many), jumbo paper clips, elastics for my hair and post-it flags (very useful for studying).

Hope you all have fun back to school shopping!

xox. 

A fun gift on a small budget

In a few weeks, my boyfriend's brother will be having his third baby, and they asked me to be the baby's godmother! I am super excited to be the best godmother ever, and so I decided to make a big gift to welcome the baby girl in a month or so. Because I'm a student and I never really have much money to spend on gifts, I decided to make something myself: a diaper cake!

Diaper cakes are great because it's a DIY gift that you can make for about 20$. Here is what you need to make one yourself:

• A big pack of newborn or stage 1 diapers (about 80 diapers)
• Various sized rubber bands
• A piece of cardboard
• Two or three wooden dowels
• Three baby blankets (choose the colours according to your cake's theme)
• Ribbons
• Diaper pins
• A few small baby items (baby lotion, pacifiers, stuffed animals, etc.)

I didn't take pictures while making my diaper cake, but here is how I made it in a few simple steps:

1. Roll up all of your diapers, using a small rubber band to secure each one.
2. Start by making the top layer. Use one diaper as the centre, and add about seven rolled diapers around the centre one. Secure with a larger rubber band.
3. Repeat this step for the second layer. Then, add about fifteen diapers all around it. 
4. For the base layer, repeat step 3, then add about thirty diapers all around it.
5. Cut up a big circle in your piece of cardboard to make a base for the cake.
6. Insert the wooden dowels through the layers, making sure the dowels are inserted between the diapers and not through them.
7. Wrap a blanket around each layer, securing them with the diaper pins.
8. Decorate!

Here is how mine turned out!

I think this is the cutest gift ever! Plus, I know they actually will use it. Hurray!

xox.

A brand new label maker!

So last week at Staples, I found this pretty label maker on sale for 29,99$! I jumped on the occasion since I had wanted one for some time now. 

The model is a Brother P-touch 110058, and I am in love with it's colours (pink and teal, my favourite!). I haven't tried all of the functionalities yet, but I can change the text size and font pretty easily. I also bought some extra transparent tape to use on different projects. 

Plus, it comes in this adorable little box to carry around!

I'll be using this to sort my different books and binders for school. I also want to label my dividers clearly. I think it will come in handy all year round, plus I can use it to label things around the house, too! 

I'll show you all how I use it soon!

xox.

How I plan to organize my first year in college

Organizing my binders and planners for school has always been one of my rituals for the end of the summer. It's

my way of making sure I'm fully prepared for the year to come. This time, i'm starting my organizing a little early since i'm about to start my first year of college. I'll be studying Physical Therapy at Université Laval (a french college in Québec, where I live), which is known to be a pretty intense program with A LOT of studying. Since i've never had a class in college before, I can't really predict how much notes I will be taking myself. So, i'm basically preparing for the worst-case scenario.

So i'll be going through my organizing process on the blog, in case it can help someone else out there who is in the same situation as me this year!

I don't think I'll be using my laptop in class. I'm not a big fan of taking notes on the computer; i've found that I learn more when I write everything down on paper.

So, this semester, I think I will need:

• A planner
• A binder for each one of my six classes
• A notebook for each one of my six classes
• Some blank paper
• Pretty markers and pens
• Post-its
• A sturdy bag to hold all of this
• Labels, stickers and other cute organizing tools

I've already chosen my planner, but have not received it yet! I decided to splurge and order an Erin Condren life planner online. I have heard great things about this pretty planner through different blogs and youtube channels, but since I don't have mine yet, I can't tell if I like it or not. All I can say is that you get to customize your planner when you order it, which is very nice! I chose the "frame me" design in pink and light grey. I'll write a full post about it when I receive it by mail, in a week or two.

And of course, I plan to customize all of my binders and notebooks to fit my needs. I've tried out a few things to color code my notebooks, but i'm still not sure which method I will use. I bought some Martha Stewart Home Office notebooks at Staples about a month ago, and I tried using some washi tape to make each one stand out. It ended up looking like this:

Pretty cute! I would keep this system, but the only problem is, the Martha Stewart notebooks are pricey, and my student budget won't allow me to buy six of these cuties. I was lucky enough to snag those two on sale, but i'll have to use them for something that's not school related. 

And so, my hunt for cheap school supplies to customize begins! I'll be keeping you posted. :)

xox