Step 1: My Plan For a Low Spend Planner Year

Step 1: Self-Reflection

Photo by Matt Hoffman on Unsplash

Happy New Year! I hope your 2024 has started on the right path!

Last year was an interesting year. As 2023 came to a close, I saw many posts on Instagram about the relief that 2023 was over. And I also saw several posts signaling it was time to tighten budgets in 2024, especially when it comes to planner supplies. The buzz of “no spend” and “low spend” ran high.

I have made some significant career changes in the past 3 years that have caused me to squeeze my personal dollars as well. Therefore, I’ve decided to try my luck at a “low spend” planner year. I thought through a comprehensive strategy in the final months of 2023 and have had 2 weeks in this new year to refine it. So far, it’s working. But…I still have room for improvement.

However, I thought I’d share my strategy with members of my community just in case you have the same goal, are overwhelmed on how to get started, and are concerned about not being successful. So here’s my 4-step approach, rolled out in multiple posts to make it easier to digest.

It’s formal, keeps you accountable, and if you follow all the steps, I think it could work for you, too!

Why Low Spend vs. No Spend?

The first question you might have is why did I choose low spend over no spend?

To be perfectly frank, no spend won’t work for me. Because I run and own an Etsy shop in the planner space, not spending any money on planner supplies doesn’t make sense for my role. I need to keep up with trends, try new products, and fill gaps with my personal supplies.

But most importantly, I find that I have the type of mentality that doesn’t work for an extreme “all or nothing” type strategy. Meaning, if I fail, even if it’s just one unnecessary purchase, my inner voice will tell me “well, you already failed once, so you might as well throw the whole plan out the window and spend what you want!”

Amirite?

I don’t want to set myself up for failure. So instead, I’ll choose low spending with realistic budgets. Update: someone asked me what planner supplies count and don’t count. My low spend year is for unnecessary planner supplies, meaning supplies that I don’t need but just “want” to have. Therefore, necessary and refill supplies won’t count in my tally.

If you’re considering a no spend year, I highly recommend you change to a low spend year instead. I see planner supplies as rewards, and a life without little gifts is unpleasant. Luckily for us, planner supplies can cost as little as less than $1, so it’s a super budget-friendly space.

You are the one who sets your budget in this exercise, so you can choose to make it as low as you’d like. You can choose to do $0 months mixed with low dollar months, or a low budget for the entire year. You can even gamify the entire experience and “earn” your rewards (that are limited by a dollar amount).

This strategy is meant to be flexible. But whatever you do, be realistic for who you are as a person. And really think about how to turn this into a successful exercise. Wins are critical to self-improvement.

Why This Strategy Might Work for You

If you’ve never read James Clear’s Atomic Habits, RUN and get this book! It’s amazing and will change your life!

Are you the type of person who sets New Year's resolutions and then fails to complete them? I did a study a few years ago on why this happens because I was exactly that type of person. The truth is that 80% of people fail to follow through with their New Year’s resolutions, and it’s because they make a goal with not enough thought into the execution of the steps necessary to be successful.

Therefore, when I devised the strategy for my low spend year, I decided to make it focused on the system and not just the outcome. People who have an addiction to planner supplies can’t just turn off that light switch by stating an intention. You have to work towards it and with a plan that allows for intention, goal setting, reflection, adjustment, and celebration.

My plan for a low spend planner year takes the following 4-prong approach:

1. Self-reflection (January)

2. Inventory (January)

3. Measure, Prevent, and Adjust (Daily, Weekly, or Monthly)

4. Final Review (December)

Note I’m assuming you’re attempting a low-spend planner year. Naturally, you can retrofit these steps into other types of strategies (different types of products and/or different lengths of time).

Still interested? Onto the first step of the plan!

Step 1: Self-Reflection (Journaling Prompts)

This step may take a few hours to a few days, depending on how many rabbit holes you go down to fully answer the journaling prompts.

I’m assuming if you’re interested in a low or no spend year, you’re coming from a year where you spent more than you wanted to. Guess what that means? It’s time for reflection! Self-reflection is one of the most powerful tools for change and growth.

2023 was a high planner spend year for me. I’m not sure I’ve ever spent that much before on my planner covers, notebooks, embellishments, tools, pens, inks, etc. I’m thrifty in general so going from spending a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars on planner supplies required a wakeup call. So I started by looking back, as painful as it was, to my 2023 and trying to understand where I went wrong. I’m pretty sure I know what happened after going through these journal prompts.

Some of these journaling prompts require some investigation and work. I recommend you try to answer each prompt as thoroughly as possible, as self-awareness is going to be a huge tool in helping you be successful in 2024.

Step 1: Journaling Prompts

Here were the journaling prompts I created for myself. Feel free to add any others you think might be useful for your journey. The goal is to analyze and understand yourself better.

• Why do I want to do a low spend planner year? (Note: this is your mission statement for planner spend in 2024.)

• What are the types of activities I do related to planning? Be specific and thorough. For instance, “I plan/journal/create layouts in X # of planners and notebooks every day, I spend an hour a day on Instagram, I subscribe to and watch X # of planner influencers on YouTube which takes up X hours per day/week”, etc.

• How much did I spend on planner supplies last year? Guess as accurately as possible if you don’t have a paper trail.

• Think about a specific time I overspent on planner supplies last year. How much did I spend, what did I buy, and why did I decide to splurge? How did I feel when I received my planner supplies? How do I feel now when I think about how much I spent on that splurge?

• What challenges have I faced in the past when attempting a low/no spend planner strategy? How can I prevent/overcome those challenges this year?

• What are some causes for my impulse spending?

• What can I do to reduce my impulse spending this year? (i.e. reduce the time I spend on Instagram/YouTube, unsubscribe to planner vendor emails, etc.)

• How often do I need to check-in with myself to make sure I’m on track? (Recommendation: a minimum of monthly)

• Why is 2024 going to be a successful low spend planning year for me? (i.e. why will it be different from previous attempts?)

• How will successfully executing a low spend planner year help me grow as a person here and in other areas? (Note: this is your purpose)

The goal of the above prompts it to help you understand yourself better when it comes to planning and spending. You might be surprised to find out what you learn. Also, you might not have all the answers right now and that’s OK. The regular check-in process (step 3) will be critical to helping you figure that out.

In the next post, I’ll talk about Step 2 of this low spend planner year strategy!

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*Do I see the irony in a planner Etsy shop owner telling people to go on a planner diet? Of course I do! But I’m also human and I understand! 😂

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All posts in this “A Plan For a Low Spend Planner Year” series:

• Step 1 (Self-Reflection)

• Step 2 (Inventory)

• Step 3 (Measure, Prevent, Adjust)

• Step 4 (Final Review)