Unlike the Bullet Journal, the Happy Planner is more of an item than a system. However, it has changed the way I journal and I couldn’t be happier. This is the first post in a series about how I use the Happy Planner as a Bullet Journal.

The Happy Planner is a notebook that is bound in rings, kind of like a binder but better (we’ll get to that in a sec). It looks like this:

Here you can see the rings that keep it together, and some of the pages that might be inside.

Happy Planners are often pre-printed with traditional planner pages, but you can swap out the paper and do almost anything you can imagine!

Is the Happy Planner right for me?

Okay, I’m going to be extra-honest with you. Bullet Journaling can change your life, but Happy Planner stuff can be expensive and lock you into a system that you may not be happy with. Biggest tip in the entire post: if you’re new to Bullet Journaling, test it out in a notebook from the dollar store. Yup, get any old notebook and just start taking notes on your life. Dive into the system headfirst, but not with your money. Find out what works for you and your brain before you buy anything expensive!

If you’re an experienced Bullet Journaler and you’re looking for a notebook that is more flexible, Happy Planner is something I definitely recommend, especially if you’ve considered using a ring binder. Discs are superior to ring binders because the pages don’t rip when you flip them!

What do I need to get started?

1. A basic kit with a cover, rings, and page dividers, like this. I recommend getting the “Big” size, which uses 8.5 x 11 paper and has 11 discs. That way, you can frictionlessly add paperwork that’s on standard letter size paper.
2. Extra paper, like this. I took out all the pre-printed planner paper that came with my Happy Planner, but you might want to use what it comes with. Either way, you’re going to want extra pages for notes and collections. This link will get you dotted 8.5 x 11 pages.
3. A hole punch, like this. Whoa! $40 for a hole punch? Yeah it’s a lot, and it only punches 3 pages at a time, but I find being able to put mail and other paperwork into my notebook is priceless.

Other Things You Might Want to Get:

• An extra kit with cover, rings, and page dividers. I have one Bullet Journal Happy Planner and one Archive Happy Planner, where I keep pages that are no longer relevant in my day-to-day life but I still want to keep.
• A folio cover. I found this to be a necessity in case I’m walking somewhere, with my Bullet Journal in my backpack, and the weather turns bad. If my Bullet Journal got wet, I would be devastated. Therefore, I got a waterproof one.
• Markers. The dots on the paper I recommended are a little dark, so I use markers for my page titles to make them stand out a little bit more.
• A fountain pen. Fountain pens can be cheaper than you might expect, and while they take some maintenance and know-how, they are far more reliable than other pens and I find the approximately $30 investment to be worth it.

Things You Don’t Need?

I do not recommend getting pulled in by the myriad of tempting stickers that Happy Planner offers. They do not actually improve your Bullet Journaling experience at all, and they’re expensive.

Coming up next are some posts on the specifics of how I Bullet Journal in a Happy Planner. Stay tuned!