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If your goal is to keep everything contained in just one planner, then the Living Well Planner by Ruth Soukup might be the perfect choice for you!
This planner is no longer available. In 2024, Ruth Soukup closed Living Well Spending Less, including the Living Well Planner. Rather than have you land on an error page, I figured it was better to just let you know that you can’t get it anymore.
This is part of a series of planner reviews; this one is focused on The Living Well Planner. Each post describes a specific style of planner, pros, cons, and features that will make it helpful in different situations. My goal is to help you find the planner (or planners) that would best help you during this time in your life. You can find an index of all the different planner reviews here.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
-Leonardo da Vinci
This is one of my favorite quotes ever! It’s one that I go back to over and over. Here’s another favorite:
We would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes and truly see the things that matter most.
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I have spent a lot of time trying to make multiple planners work for me. And because I’ve spent so much time on it, I can see how it can be a very powerful tool to organize different parts of you life.
But right now, at this point for me, having a lot of planners is just not working. It’s too much for me to try to keep straight.
What I do need though, is a way to organize *all the things* but just in one planner.
Living Well Planner
Ruth Soukup from Living Well Spending Less has taken the most common things that we generally need to plan and combined them into one planner.
This is a beautiful planner full of bright colors. It’s hard to not be happy just by looking at the pages. But the part that drew me to this planner is that within the tab of each month is everything that you need to focus on for just that month.
Instead of having a calendar section, a meal planning section, a finance section, etc., all of these things are contained within each monthly section.
Each month starts with a quote divider. The back of the divider is blank, which is perfect if you want to add additional inspirational quotes, or if you are like me, a collection of sticky notes.
Behind each divider there are:
- Goal setting pages
- Project planning sheet
- Undated monthly calendar
- Undated weekly calendar- vertical format with an hourly layout, top 3 daily tasks, and meal plans.
- 2 page budget worksheet
- Spending tracker
- Thoughts and Thanks page
- Note page
Paper
Honestly, the paper in this planner is too thin in my opinion. There’s quite a bit of shadowing from other pages on the reverse side.
However, the good news is that the version that I have is the 2017 version. The 2018 Living Well Planner has been upgraded to 100# paper (the 2017 one uses 70#).
I have already pre-ordered the new version, and it will ship in late August. I will definitely do an updated review as soon as I get it, but from everything that I’ve heard about it, it is going to be amazing!
The texture of the current paper is really nice though, which I hope is something that the new planner keeps. It has a soft feel to it, without the glossy texture that tends to make ink smear. It just feels nice to write on!
The dividers are made from a stronger cardstock paper, with more of a glossy feel.
Appearance
Pictures can’t do this planner justice! This is a very fun and colorful planner. There are small pops of color everywhere without being overwhelming. The whole design is simple, without being boring at all.
The one I have is the limited edition Blue Stripes. The blue is beautiful, and matches the interior colors perfectly.
As of July 11, 2018, the blue stripes version is no longer available. However, the new 2018 floral cover (as well as the classic stripes cover) are available for presale until August 31st, and includes some awesome bonus gifts!
In addition to the beautiful designs, the Living Well Planner has a durable hard cover with reinforced gold corners. I really just can’t say enough about how pretty this planner is!
Things I’m Loving
- Pocket in the front cover. I always need to stash loose papers or stickers, so for me pockets are a must!
- Sticker sheet included in the back with monthly tab stickers, and some functional/decorative ones.
- Like I mentioned earlier, my favorite part of this planner is that everything is contained within the monthly tab. When I have to flip to another section to get to something in my planner, those other sections always end up getting ignored.
- I’m a big fan of Ruth Soukup. I’ve read a couple of her books (Living Well Spending Less & Unstuffed) and I really loved them! She brings up a lot of points that really stood out to me. I believe she is sincere and real, and that is hard to find in companies.
This is a planner that is targeted towards helping you get things done. There is a huge focus on goal setting. And at the end of each monthly section there is a page for “thoughts and thanks,” which is something I have found is really important to focus on in my life. And I love that it is general enough that it doesn’t just have to be a list for gratitude, but can also include special moments from throughout the month.
I feel like this is a great planner to get back to basics and focus on the essentials and productivity, instead filling our lives with everything we can fit in.
Who is The Living Well Planner good for?
If you are feeling overwhelmed in life, this would be a great planner to try. It is guided enough that you won’t be at a loss with what to put on the pages, but is simple enough that it won’t just cause more stress.
Anyone running a household, whether with family or just by yourself (like me). The features are perfect for keeping things like cleaning, meals, and budgeting on track.
If you love hourly or would like to try out time blocking. Time blocking is something I have been working on lately to increase my productivity, and I was happy to see that The Living Well Planner has an hourly weekly layout.
2018 Living Well Planner
I mentioned earlier that the 2017 version is no longer available, but the 2018 version is now on sale for presale (shipping around August 31). And since the Living Well Planner is always undated, you can start using it as soon as you get it, or wait for 2019. I love the flexibility of starting any time, because I tend to try out different planners at all times during the year.
I am absolutely in love with this new floral cover!! And I can’t wait to see it in person!
Besides the cover, some of the changes that have been made to the 2018 version are:
- Thicker paper. The 2017 planner has 70# paper. The 2018 planner has 100# paper. This is probably my favorite of all the updates. I’m kind of a paper snob. 😛
- The interior designs were refined with sophisticated floral and striped patterns. There are two cover designs, the floral and the colorful stripes, and both have the same interior.
- Customizable Monthly Spread. In the 2017 version the monthly layout started on Monday. This year they have included a sheet of stickers with the days of the week so you can choose which day your month starts on.
- Improved goal and project planning pages. Honestly, I can’t tell you what they did to change these pages (they haven’t shown us yet. I imagine we will have to wait until they are shipped). They have just assured us that they are improved and updated to make them even better than before. Anything you can see in the image below is the best I’ve seen for how they look now.
Pricing
Okay, let’s talk cost.
The 2017 planner was sold for $55. This year for the 2018 Living Well Planner the cost has been reduced to $49! This alone impresses me because it is so common to see prices raising, not lowering. Plus, we already know that they improved the quality of the paper and that alone should have been enough to raise the price instead of lowering it. So I love that she is willing to make it more affordable for us, instead of being worried about the profits.
Plus, if you preorder before August 31 (or until they are sold out), then you get an additional $10 off, making it only $39!
AND that’s not even all of it. She is also including two free bonuses with each planner purchase. The Weekly Wizard sticky pad, and the Daily Do It sticky pad. Full retail price of everything (including the planner) is $67, but it is being sold for just $39.
I’m so excited to see the new one, and I can’t wait to show it to you too! So if you think this is a planner that will work well for you (and if you want to make sure you get the cover you want), I would highly recommend ordering as soon as you can because I don’t know how long they will last!
Have you tried the Living Well Planner before? Let me know if the comments how it worked for you!
