My favourite treat to buy myself at Christmas is my new diary, because I know how fun the next week is going to be!

Jo-Anne, Organised Wright

This has to be one of the pages I’ve had the MOST fun writing, and its no surprise that this is another long page due to the nature of what we’re covering. Hopefully you’re able to stick with me on this one because not only will it help you to keep organised, but you’ll be able to save money along the way! If you’re anything like me, one of the most exciting things to do is make plans, and this is the perfect opportunity to set time aside for nice plans and good intentions.

There are a few steps to this one;

  • Picking the perfect diary for you
  • Gathering all the important dates – birthdays, contract dates etc.
  • Setting aside time for self care

Picking the Prefect Diary

Diary’s are like marmite – everyone has a style and size they prefer, whether its day per page or week on 2 pages. Some people use them to keep a journal, some people use them to keep a food plan and their life on track at the same time.

My biggest bug bare about all diary’s is that they don’t allocate the same amount of space to a weekend – even the day per page type only give you half a page – what’s with that?! Its always when I’m busiest!

My favourite diary at the moment is an Eccolo I picked up in TKMAXX which covers 18 months. it has a week on 2 pages which is perfect space for me. I tried a daily and it was too overwhelming.

Gathering your Important Dates

Yearly Recurring Events – Birthdays & Anniversary’s

The first thing I block out in my new diary is Christmas Easter and the Public holidays – I think about the vacations I want to put in at work to maximise my leave entitlement and take the most time off for recharging. You can check when the Bank holidays are online, if you’re in the UK then the UK Government website is a great resource, otherwise Google is also very handy! You can also add events like Valentine’s Day, Pancake Day, Mother’s and Father’s day if they’re something you celebrate.

Birthdays Anniversaries and Special Events are the next easiest thing to add – they’re the same date every year. Pop them in first, then if you’re super organised reserve any weekends for celebrations in pencil in case something changes. If you have any Save the Dates for weddings this is the perfect time to add them to your diary.

MONEY SAVING TIPS

Tip #1 – Did you know that funky pigeon offer discount codes throughout the year when you order more than 4 or 5 cards? They post about them on their blog so they’re super easy to find! Using a discount code can make them roughly the same price as cheaper alternatives like The Card Factory, they’re better quality, can be personalised and the best part is that you don’t need to leave the house!

My top tip here is to working backwards through your calendar, and group your birthdays into blocks for 5 or more. At least 2 weeks before the first birthday, put a reminder in your diary to order your cards, this leaves at least 5 days for delivery and a few days in case you see this person beforehand. For example – I have 2 birthdays in April and 8 birthdays in May, so I have in my calendar to order their cards in the middle of March. When they come, I’ll pop them in the drawer and then I know I’m prepared.

Tip #2 – If you have a wedding coming up, hotels often release the cheapest rates further in advance, so this is another great way to save by booking your accommodation early

School holidays are next – now, we don’t have children but we never take vacations at half term unless we really need to or I want to spend .. and there are a few reasons for this

  1. The roads and office are quieter so I’m usually more productive
  2. I usually cover to let other people have time off with their children. My parents colleagues always allowed them to have the time, and my parents now do the same to others now we’re grown up so I feel this is an unwritten courtesy we should follow to be nice.
  3. EVERYWHERE is so busy. If you have children, its handy to know when you’ll need to take vacation, when you’ll need childcare such as grandparents or camps, or when you’ll want to look out for activities. If you’re in the UK, there is a great website called North East Family Fun who post about local and free days out and you can look back at the collections of suggestions she has for things like half term. Sam will update her posts closer to the time but you can get a rough idea nad budget put to one side to spend some nice quality time together.

Speaking of School Holidays, this is a great time to start making a list of vacations you want to take in the year, so that you’re organising your work life too. If you request your holidays well in advance you’ll either be first in and most likely to have them approved, or you’ll have plenty of opportunity to work with your employer to mitigate any business risk if there is someone else booked in. I usually list mine on a post it not so that I can track how many days I’ve planned or used last minute.

Appointments go in next. You might not always be able to stick to these if something crops up but gives you a rough idea of when they will be.

  • If you take regular medications, you can schedule this in your diary in next to order prescriptions, pop in reminders to arrange check-ups.
  • Check-ups such as the dentist can be booked well in advance to make sure you get an appointment that works around a busy schedule or around children or work.
  • Hair and Beauty appointments – most people go every 6 weeks, so why not ask how far in advance they allow you to book.
  • Dog grooming – if you have a groomer as popular as mine, she’s already booked for the whole of 2022. She opened up her 2022 calendar in August 2021, so our full year every 6 weeks got booked then. No stressing to get an appointment and again, we can work appointments around our schedule, and vice versa.
  • Vet appointments – things like yearly boosters, flea worm and tick treatments. Or if you go down the natural route booking titer testing
  • Dog Walker – If you already know in advance when you’re going to need some assistance, get your online (or however they work) submission made for support
  • Child/Dog care – if you know you’ll have a night out coming out, give the grandparents, friends or relatives plenty of notice that you need their help which makes it less stressful for both sides
  • Sports & Activities – For those who don’t know us, Dan is cricket mad and every summer he plays as much cricket as possible. Its always important to block out the season, otherwise I get upset when he won’t come to events with me, and he gets annoyed when I ask him to miss out. With his job he already misses out a lot so I try really hard not to take him away from his game. If you have kids you probably have LOADS of commitments so pop them down too, and any payments – like if you pay for a block of 6 lessons, pop a reminder in your calendar to pay or book onto the following block.

Contract End Dates

MONEY SAVING TIP

Tip #1 – Check your Direct Debits and see if any have an upcoming end date and note this in your diary – you’ll then know if they accidently take any additional payments.

Tip #2 – Work through your budget to make sure you gather all of your commitments – we’ll talk about budgeting properly in a separate page in the home section but for now you can diarise the important dates to maximise your chances of saving money by swapping on time.

Tip #3 Use websites like TopCashback (referral link, get £10 cashback if you sign up now – accurate at time of publishing) to get money back on purchases, find great new deals on TV, broardband, utilities and insurance… as well as money back on your online shopping!
  • Cars and other Transport
    • Payments – is your loan or finance due to expire? Pop that down!
    • Insurance – set a note 30 days before as you can often get the best quotes by looking early
    • Service & MOT – another thing that doesn’t change and is a nightmare to get booked in for at the last minute. Ring your garage and find out how early you can book. MOTs are best booked a month ahead of when they’re due, and remember you have 10 working days to fix any issues.
    • If you have any travel passes, make sure you take note of their end dates so you’re not caught short without a way to travel
  • Home

    • Insurances often have automatic renewals, but the prices they quote are premium. Its a good idea to give yourself a 30 day warning so you can look for a competitive price and barter with your supplier. Don’t forget to make a note of pet insurance, travel insurance etc too.
    • Broadband, Landline Gas & Electricity- If your package is anything like ours, it doubles at the end of the promotional period… add in the yearly increases and it can work our super expensive. Find out when your deal is up for renewal and set time aside to look for a new deal.
    • Mobile Phones – Did you know that when your contract ends, if you don’t get a new device then you’re overpaying for the serivce you’re receiving? If your desperate for a new phone but you’re out of contract you have more leverage with your provider to supply you a better deal. If your device is okay, you could also swap to a sim only package for a fraction of the cost. This is because when you get a phone contract, you’re effective spreading the cost of the handset over the lifetime of the contract. We recently swapped ours to sim only and have saved almost £100 a month so its really worth while noting this one down.
    • TV Deals & Other Subscriptions – Netflix, NowTV, Deezer, Spotify, National Trust. Lots of things auto-subscribe you to the next block and this can be a good time to start shopping around for a better deal. Companies like NowTV may offer you reduced rates if you’re cancelling due to cost, before the previous billing period has finished.
    • Payments Breaks – like council tax and water bills. This can be a great time of year to replenish your savings, or start putting away the extra for a rainy day (or next Christmas!)

Setting Time for Self-Care

If you were playing “word bingo” in the first 2 sections and counted a point for every time I mentioned reducing stress, you’re probably onto some serious points by now. Planning your diary in advance is all about spending the time, to save you time and stress later.

Self-care is also super important in a busy world and protecting it is so hard. How many times have you set aside a lazy day or weekend to recharge, and someone has sent a group message about doing something fun? It happens to us all of the time!

What we’ve started to do is set 1 weekend a month where we make no plans at all – usually one of those days ends up arranging a gathering with our friends, and the other becomes a “date night” where we’ll go out for dinner, make food together or watch a movie, or we’ll try to plan a fun day out. We’re not so great at sticking to it, but the intention is there! Sometimes its really hard, but you have to make a selfish choice to look after yourself and your relationship – like if you’ve already blocked out important time together on a date night and your friends ask if you want to do a group activity or to celebrate someones birthday… just remember its okay to say no, because its important for relationships to have their own protected time.

I have a friend who’s really good at this so sometimes I have to tell myself to be more like her and make the right choice for us because I’m such a social person and I find it really hard to say no.

Self-Care isn’t just about preserving time for recharging, its also allowing yourself time to do fun things like see or speak to your friends, take a quiet bath with the candles on and the lights down low, go for a long walk somewhere new, and putting this time in your calendar is really important.

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