WTF Does A Year Look Like With The Happy Planner?
I’m about to divulge the name of my trusty assistant to you, dear readers. Her name is the Happy Planner and she is the organizer of my life’s chaos.
As you may recall, I met her last year. She stood at 7” x 9.25” and I balked at how roomy she was. Did I honestly need that much space? Would I regret carrying her to work and grad school as her 9 metal discs clunked around in my totebag?
The truth is, HP and I have spent a memorable year together.
She was there for my return to work after I took 18-months off to be with my daughter, my foray into a Masters program, the growth of WTF Bride, surgery, what counts as a social life, and the myriad of activities that never stops - for the wicked never rests. That is my longwinded way of saying I needed all 7” x 9.25” of her and the expander discs!
As we move into the 2025-2026 year, she can consider her contract renewed.
Paws-itive Year Classic Vertical Layout Planner with white disc-bound system
18-Month Classic Happy Planner
I'm sorry to tell you this, BUT whoever told you they don't judge a planner by its cover has probably lied to you about other things too!
This Paws-itive Year Happy Planner cover by Krissy Mast is absolutely adorable! It's a visual daydream of slow walks, café crème, and chic French dogs who change their scarves and bows on the daily.
You have every right to judge a planner by its cover when you're using it everyday for 18 months ;)
All the fun things I got from Happy Planner last year: Whimsical Whiskers Classic Vertical Layout Planner, Bright Fun Classic filler paper, Fresh Bouquet Mom Undated Calendar Extension Pack, Whimsical Whiskers accessory pack, and Whimsical Whiskers sticker book, Snap in Sticker Page Protectors, and mint expander metal disc set
HP Is So Good, It Comes With A Warning
Canadian friends, use the Happy Planner website at your own risk. While yes, you have a wider selection of goodies on the HP site, you will be slapped with taxes, duty, and tariffs.
Circumvent this by sticking to Michaels.
The metal expander discs are available in classic silver and gold. You can also find additional note paper and tons of sticker books at Michaels. The Paws-itive Year Planner also came with a matching Paws-itive Year sticker book, but honestly, one sticker book lasts forever so I didn't end up getting one this year.
If you ever find an accompanying accessory pack or snap-in sticker protectors - don't hesitate to get them!
Last year’s Whimsical Whiskers Collection - sticker book and accessory pack
Miranda Priestly Has Her Book, and I Have Mine
While some people like to have separate planners for different facets of their life, I need to have everything in one place.
The first thing you'll find in my HP is this envelope that was part of the Whimsical Whiskers accessory pack . I use it to hold receipts and the occasional business card.
My Life Dashboard is next!
Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly dates to remember
In times of uncertainty, carve out your own certainties.
That is what these dashboard pages are - certain habits and routines that live at the front of my planner and lists my weekly tasks, monthly tasks, and includes a calendar of birthdays and anniversaries. These tasks and dates have become automated which saves my brainpower for other things in life.
I might redesign these pages to match this year’s Paws-itive canine theme…
Send me an email at submit@wtfbride.com, if you have questions about custom planner pages or how these pages help automate my life.
WTF Bride Blog Planner
It’s small, yet mighty. I use this yearly calendar to content plan and track traffic to the blog.
These pages come right after my content planner, but as you can see - they’re blank! Fellow HP users, how do you use these pages?!
Monthly Dividers and Monthly Dashboard
August monthly divider
April monthly divider
HP’s layout for the monthly dashboards have remained the same, with only the monthly dividers getting a complete makeover. Here’s how I set up my dashboard each month :)
Ideas for using your monthly dashboard: event countdowns, habit tracking, meal planning, brainstorming, record keeping, jotting down reflections, goal-setting, and tracking delegated tasks or packages in transit.
Monthly Calendar Spread
Minimalist monthly spread
My sticky notes from the Whimsical Whiskers accessory pack are running low... Having these sticky notes handy on my monthly calendar have been so helpful when jotting down appointments, events, and reminders if the dates are a month + in advance.
Monthly spread is the same design for 2025-2026
Hello weekly vertical layout!
Minimalist page design in the Happy Planner weekly spread is a keeper
The best part about choosing the HP vertical layout for a second year is that I’ve only swapped out the front cover so far!
As the year progresses, I’ll swap in pages for the monthly dividers, monthly dashboards, calendar spread, and weekly pages. No planner set-up this year, which is saving me so much time.
This vertical layout remains a winner, because categorizing my tasks into To Do, Learn, and Content has been a time-saving life changer.
Weekly vertical spread
So why is my planner so bulky?!
Putting my Happy Planner Classic punch to use
The metal expander discs are enablers.
But the biggest enabler of them all is the Happy Planner Classic Punch.
Calendar for internship hours
I’ve made a monthly tracker for my counselling internship hours, finance tracker (one of which is used to manage my TeachersPayTeachers storefront), goal trackers, bookmarks, dividers, sticker sheets - all thanks to this 9-hole puncher!
What I use to reach my financial goals
Take Note!
I also have a variety of note pages that I use for swatching stationery, meetings, classes, goal setting (I know, so Capricorn of me), to-do lists, horror movies to watch, and outfits I want to put together.
I wasn’t kidding when I said that everything is in this one planner.
For example, this Bright Fun Classic Filler Paper.
Paper from the Whimsical Whiskers accessory pack
I found these note pages at Staples on clearance!
Lastly - The Stickers
The soul of my planners are the stickers I use, making planning a creative outlet too.
Happy Planner Snap In Sticker Page Protectors
The stickers look so good in my planner!
WTF Hubby always teases me when he picks up a brand new planner and tells me how thin it is compared to my existing HP.
I laugh. HP might be bulky, but I rarely drop the ball! It’s a fun life I’ve planned and I wouldn’t change it unless I’m upgrading who I am as a person!
New Feature: The Reflect & Plan Page
I don’t remember this page being in my HP Whimsical Whiskers 2024-2025 planner, but I’m excited to try it out this year. On the back of this page is a smart reminder that you’re about to come to the end of your planner!
Back pocket of my planner. A great place for me to keep my baby’s food menu
HP is a flexible gal. At a competitive price point, she remains one of the most customizable planners out there on the market. One completely adept at keeping your school, work, personal life, content creation, fitness, etc. altogether in one place!
For details of my planning tools, click here.
For a review of my first Happy planner, you’ll enjoy this read.
