Budget Cuts? Naw, just Budget Stickers!

Ok, I have a confession… I can’t believe I’m about to say this but… here goes!

My name is Cara and I am terrible with money!!

That’s not to say that I overspend, I’m not in debt at all, it’s just that I don’t track my money and I really don’t know exactly where it all goes.   

Phew, ok now that I’ve got that out, who is with me? I can’t be the only one that lacks this adulting skill!   

Carpe Diem has got my back though. I know they were more than pretty planners! With the new budget planner, I’ve set a new goal for the second half of 2019 to track my money and set a budget for myself.   

First up I gotta do what any good planner Girl would do, I NEED to set this planner up! It looks fantastic as is, but there are so many pretty stickers that can doll it up even more and you can personalize it to suit your style.

After flipping back and forth a katrillion times, I decided to cut the sticker pages out of the front of the planner and add them to the front pocket. The pocket is empty otherwise for the moment, but I’m sure it will come in super handy for receipts and things as I go forward with my new budget.   

I added some washi from the Oh Happy Day collection that matched the colours in this planner and I sprinkled some stickers along the top left of it and at the top of the address page. I’m not sharing any personal info online so these pages will be blank, but I know you are only here for the decoration anyways ;)

Next up, in the Budget Tracker section, I added some stickers and washi to the colourful chevron pattern to spice it up just a bit. Since it’s July and I’m going to take advantage of my motivation for this whole budgeting thing now, I’m not to going to wait until January to start this planner. So, for this budget overview page, I added month stickers from the Tab sticker tablet to change the order. Now this section starts with July.    

I left the money sections as it and I'll start in the middle of the book in the July section, work my way to the back and then come back to the front in January.

You could actually switch out all the monthly sections to put which ever month you’d like at the beginning, either by opening the coils and rearranging the pages or changing the months in 4 spots for each month.  On the tabs (front and back), on the monthly goal page and on the calendar page. A bit more work but totally do-able.

For the July goal page, I added a little border to the top, added some stars and dollar signs and then a little cluster in the bottom corner. I can’t see myself filling this space this month so it is a perfect spot to add some decoration. Take advantage of unused spaces in your planner to decorate.

On the calendar spread, I added flag numbers from the Numbers sticker tablet and I used the same colours as the tabs in this planner. I added a couple of square stickers to the blank boxes and added a cluster on top of the one on the bottom but left the top one alone. I also added a border along the top and a spot to repeat my goal at the bottom of the notes section.

On the monthly budget spread, I wanted to keep things simple mainly because there isn’t a lot of space for decorating but I knew a bit more colour would motivate me. Two strips of washi make opposing borders.  A few $ boxes dress up the spots to write your TOTAL and that is all this spread needs.

I have a YouTube video on my channel today where you can see more clearly how I've set up this planner. Pop on over and watch that here: Cara’s YouTube Channel.

Good luck with your budget and happy planning!