The Happy Planner: An Overview for Newbies

Introduction
LADIES (and applicable gentlemen). If you have been on the hunt for the perfect planner your whole life (as I have), and you have not yet discovered the Happy Planner, I hope I am about to rock your entire world. I discovered this little guy by accident, and at first, I passed it up because I thought it would just be another disappointment.

I was wrong. So wrong. Monumentally wrong.

What Is It?
The Happy Planner is a meticulously designed planning/life management system that is fully customizable and can be completely disassembled and put right back together without ripping or tearing any pages. [Me & My Big Ideas (MAMBI)] offers a full line of accessories and extensions for their planners, including but not limited to stickers, pocket folders, and inspirational cards.

Mambi even recently changed the weekly layout pages, which feature three vertically-stacked spaces for planning. The colored bars above each space used to be headers that read "morning", "afternoon" and "evening", but have been removed, I assume, to allow even further customization.

SO MUCH POTENTIAL!

Each 18-month happy planner is comprised of a heavy-duty laminated front and back cover, both monthly and weekly pages, and dividers for each month, all bound by a set of plastic discs, which are designed to allow the pre-cut pages to pop in and back out with minimal effort and zero damage. The 18-month planners begin in July of the current year, and end in December of the following year (ex: July 2016 through December 2017). The different customization options available are listed below, and may not be a full list (who knows what else is out there?!). View the mostly-full line of available Happy Planner stuff and prices [here], on Hobby Lobby's website. I get all my Happy Planner stuff at Hobby Lobby, because you can use the 40% off coupon on one item for each visit to the store (the exclamation points indicate that the product is already pre-punched and ready to be added to the planner).

Left: Back side of pocket folder (pocket on each side)

Right: Pocket page with insert cards

*Replacement cover packs (various designs in one pack) (!)
*Replacement disc sets (mini, medium or expandable)
*Extra dividers (!)
*Pocket folders (!)
*Note/graph paper (!)
*Page protectors (!)
*Pocket pages (!)
*Decorative/inspiration cut-outs that fit the pocket pages (you can also make your own, or use photos!)
*Six-month extensions (!)
*Fitness, wedding, recipe and home management extensions (!)
*Sticker packs (packs of 5-6 sheets in various design and color schemes, including puffy stickers)
*Sticky notes attached to a bit of cardstock to keep in your planner (!)
*Inspirational cards
*Washi tape sets in various design/color schemes
*Half-sheet note paper (!)
*Elastic place-holder bands
*Decorative binder and paper clips
*Decorative magnetic page clips
*Pen holders
*Happy Planner hole punch
*Storage/carrying case
*Pencil pouch with elastic band to attach to planner
*FREE PRINTABLE "STICKER" KITS ONLINE IN TONS OF GORGEOUS DESIGNS!!

Pastel Blooms sticker set from Danielle at FitLifeCreative, used in conjunction with Mambi stickers.

Pro Tips
-Here's the best part. Ready? You don't even need all this stuff to glam plan, BUT IF YOU WANT IT, you can buy one or two things per trip to Hobby Lobby and use the 40% off coupon on one thing EVERY TIME.
-You can add literally anything you want into this planner. You could buy the hole punch with a coupon, OR you could just use an existing planner page, mark the holes, and punch them with a standard hand-punch, then cut slits in to fit.
-The free printables are an OCD decorator's dream come true. Visit [this] post for a list of my favorite printable designers that offer lots of gorgeous free "sticker" sets (though I don't print them on sticker paper, just printer paper, and glue them into my planner). Mambi also has some free printables on their [website]. There are printables on sites such as Etsy that cost money, but the pool of free options is vast and gorgeous!
-Glam planning is a relaxing, productive, and joyful activity. I crave the hour or two that I sit down every few days to get crafty
-You can buy a starter kit for around $35 (closer to $21 with a Hobby Lobby coupon) that includes a 12-month planner and various accessories. This isn't a bad idea if you're on the fence and don't want to invest, and you can purchase six-month extensions if you decide you like it. If you have zero doubts though, as I did, I suggest going big or going home, and just getting the 18-month planner with a few accessories/sticker packs and starting there, then browsing the printable options.
-If/when you buy a new planner for a new year, SAVE THE OLD ONE! I disassembled my old one and kept all the parts as spares. You could even use the covers and small rings to start a new Happy Planner from scratch for, say, recipes/home management, or something of the sort. My plan is to recycle my old planner for my home management extension, recipe extension and fitness extension, and use that separately from my daily planner.
-You can make your own inspirational cards using old, pre-punched dividers! Many of the dividers have lovely quotes and such on them, and others have cute designs that you can write over yourself.
-My favorite pens to use with the planners are the [PaperMate Flair] felt-tip pens. They're a perfect hybrid of pen and marker, without the excessive bleed-through of a Sharpie. You can get them for different prices, at different places, in different color schemes and counts! (Currently, they have a limited edition tropical pack that is soooo adorable!)
-WASHI TAPE IS SO MUCH FUN!

A Few Final Notes
This planner is literally for any and everyone. Students, teachers, parents, single ladies (or guys), employed, unemployed, ANYONE. If you're busy, you can keep track of your life and take some down time when you like to decorate and glam plan. If you're not busy, you have plenty of time to decorate! There is no down-side! I very HIGHLY recommend to everyone that enjoys being creative, organized, or both to check out this planner.

Here's a completed week in my planner:

Look at this satisfying photo. LOOK AT IT.

Remember to check out [this] post for more information about free printables and other resources!

Thanks for reading, and HAPPY PLANNING!

*DISCLAIMER: I am receiving no compensation or payment for anything I am writing, nor any of the affiliate links in this post. All photos are my own. I am writing this blog of my own accord to share information, and I am not being paid by Mambi.