The Essential Guide to The Happy Planner

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Originally published April 15, 2020 and updated October 30, 2023.

Organize your schedule and life with this Essential Guide to The Happy Planner. I’ve included everything you need to know about this popular planner and what I love about my Happy Planner.

Open Happy Planner page on white table with pens and clips and text overlay reading The Essential Guide to The Happy Planner.

The Happy Planner is known as a highly customizable planner that is easy to use and features bright, happy colors that inspire you to be and do your best every day.

The Essential Guide to The Happy Planner

The Happy Planner is made by the me & my Big Ideas company, also known as MAMBI. The Happy Planner is also known as:

  • me & my Big ideas Happy Planner
  • MAMBI Happy Planner
  • Create 365 Happy Planner

How Does The Happy Planner Work?

The Happy Planner comes in both dated and undated styles and a variety of sizes.

The foundation of The Happy Planner is:

  • A 12 or 18–month planner
  • Divider tabs
  • Calendar pages in monthly and weekly views
  • The pages are bright, inspiring and filled with everything you need to plan a positive life

You can customize your planner by adding extension packs, inserts, stickers and accessories.

When you’re starting out with The Happy Planner, you might find one of the more than 20 different Happy Planner box kits on Amazon a good place to start.

Three Happy Planners stacked so you can see the discs, with a box of discs and gold discs scattered around.

Pros of the Happy Planner

  • Comes in a variety of functional layouts so you can choose the one that works best for you.
  • High quality components so your planner holds up to a year+ worth of use.
  • Comes in beautiful, inspirational designs.
  • The disc binding makes it easily to truly customize the planner.
    • You can remove and add pages, including your own pages or any piece of paper.
    • You can purchase different size discs so you can easily upsize or downsize your planner.
  • The Happy Planner is very affordable given the quality and flexibility of the system.
  • There is an endless selection of accessories, stickers and more to personalize your planner to make it work perfectly for you.

Cons

  • While you can add your own planner pages or any piece of paper, you will need to purchase the special paper punch.
  • Some people find the pages slightly difficult to turn. I have never had this problem. It’s no more difficult to turn the pages than in a 3-ring binder or spiral binder.
  • The pro point that there so very many accessories and stickers can be a con, if you have difficulty with budgeting and shopping.

Happy Planner Disc Sizes

Discs are the binding system that are the magic behind The Happy Planner. The Happy Planner discs hold the pages securely in place, but are designed so that pages can be removed and then placed back into the binding system again and again.

This means that it’s easy to add pages, remove pages and the best part of all – relocate pages!

3 discbound planners stacked so you can see the Happy Planner discs.

The Happy Planner discs come in a variety of sizes, materials and colors:

  • Expander Discs – 1.75 inches – Work with the Classic and the BIG Happy Planners
  • Classic or Medium Discs – 1.25 inches – Work with the Classic, Skinny Classic and BIG Happy Planners 
  • Mini Discs – .75 inches – Work with the Mini Planner. Skinny Mini and Skinny Classic Happy Planners
  • Plastic Discs
  • Metal Discs

They also come with a variety of designs in the center of the disc:

  • Heart – this is the classic disc design
  • Cross
  • Smiley Face
  • Rainbow
  • Brown
  • Flower
  • Pumpkin
  • Apple
  • “Joy”

Specialty Themes

  • “Love is Love” – From Peggy Dean and the Pigeon Letters
  • Disney-themed
    • Mouse Ears
    • Minnie Mouse Bow
    • Princess Crown

Some people feel that pages can be slightly difficult to turn with the disc system. I have not found it any more difficult to turn pages than in a spiral bound system.

Metal Happy Planner discs are popular and many fans claim that they help the pages turn more easily. I find them particularly helpful when my planner is extra thick when I find page turning to be more of an issue.

You can also use discs from most other discbound planner systems. Other popular disc planners are:

  • Levenger
  • TUL
  • ARC
  • Martha Stewart
  • Eagle
  • Eleven Discs
  • Enjoy Myself
  • Hevstil
  • Inkwell Press
  • Talia
  • Unbranded

Happy Planner Sizes

There are five sizes of Happy Planners. The thickness of the planner depends on the size of discs you use and how many pages, dividers, etc. that you add.

  • The Big Happy Planner – 8 1/2 by 11 inches
  • The Classic Happy Planner – 7 by 9 1/4 inches
  • The Mini Happy Planner – 4 5/8 by 7 inches
  • The Skinny Classic Happy Planner -4.125 by 9.25 inches
  • The Skinny Mini Happy Planner – 2.643 by 7 inches

Happy Planner Size Tip

You can easily determine the size of a Happy Planner by counting how many discs it has.

  • The Big Happy Planner has 11 discs.
  • The Classic Happy Planner has 9 discs.
  • The Mini Happy planner has 7 discs.

Happy Planner Styles

  • Dated
  • Undated
  • 12 month
  • 18 month
  • 12-month Teacher Planners
  • 12-month Student Planners

Happy Planner Layouts

There are a variety of Happy Planner layouts so you can find the one that works best for your needs.

  • Vertical
  • Horizontal
  • Hourly
  • Daily
  • Monthly
  • Dashboard
  • Vertical with Lines
  • Budget
  • Checklist
  • Faith
  • Fitness
  • Gardening
  • Homeschool
  • Meal Planning
  • Recovery & Stress Management
  • Student & Study Habits
  • Teacher
  • Wellness 
Overhead view of an open Happy Planner with colorful stickers.

Happy Planner Themes

There are a large variety of themes and there often new ones added. You’re certain to find one (or two or three) that you fall in love with.

The Happy Planner teacher theme is popular with teachers for planning the academic school year.

Can You Refill a Happy Planner?

Yes. That’s one of the best things about The Happy Planner.

You can easily refill the planner and customize it. The disc binding allows you to add exactly the pages you want, remove pages you don’t need and move the pages around to create the planner that works perfectly for you.

What Is the Difference Between the Big Happy Planner and the Classic Happy Planner?

The Big Happy Planner is larger in size compared to the Classic Happy Planner.

  • The Big Happy Planner – 8 1/2 by 11 inches
  • The Classic Happy Planner – 7 by 9 1/4 inches

The Big Happy Planner has more space for writing and planning. It’s great for those who like to have more room for creativity and detailed planning.

The Classic Happy Planner is more compact and suitable for people who prefer a more portable planner.

How Do I Organize My Happy Planner?

Because the Happy Planner disc bound system allows you to move the planner components anywhere you want, you can organize your Happy Planner any way you want. Any. Way. You. Want.

This is one of the best features of The Happy Planner. It’s so easy to set up and rearrange your planner components any time you want. And you can even do it with just one hand.

I keep all 12 of the monthly views in my Happy Planner, but only keep the next 3 months of weekly views in my planner. I also remove weekly pages as soon as I’m done with them.

This helps keep my planner lighter and easier to carry around with me.

I like to use extra dividers and dashboards to organize my Happy Planner precisely to meet my organizational needs.

Where to Buy The Happy Planner

You can find The Happy Planner and all the Happy Planner accessories at:

3 examples of Happy Planner paper and folders

Happy Planner Inserts

You can find Happy Planner inserts in all different styles and designs.

I use these to do list inserts all the time to stay focused on both daily tasks and project steps.

three different Happy Planner inserts

You can also find inserts that work in The Happy Planner made by planner designers on Etsy or their own websites.

I’ve even created inserts that work perfectly in my own Happy Planner.

Happy Planner Accessories

4 examples of colorful Happy Planner accessories
  • Happy Planner Covers – You can change out the cover as your style preferences change (or just because you’re in the mood for a new cover).
  • Dashboards – They work like a bookmark and also a place to store sticky notes, reminders and more.
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4 examples of Happy Planner stickers and sticker books

Happy Planner Stickers

While stickers are not necessary in your Happy Planner (it’s already decorated and highly functional). Adding stickers personalize your planner and make it more inspirational for you.

You can find a wide variety of Happy Planner Stickers and stickers from other brands work well, too.

Many people enjoy the creative outlet of adding stickers and embellishments to their Happy Planner. You can find may examples on Instagram and Pinterest to spark your creativity.

Free Happy Planner Resources

More Happy Planner and Discbound Ideas

DIY Happy Planner Pocket Folder – Make your own DIY Happy Planner Pocket Folder personalized with your favorite decorative paper. Make it for just pennies in about 20 minutes.

3 colorful pocket folders with sticker sheet and blue pen

DIY Dividers for Happy Planners – In only 5 minutes, make your own one-of-a-kind DIY Dividers with tabs for your Happy Planner, any planner or binder with this free template.

3 colorful diy planner dividers with a pink pen, paper clips and corner of planner and text overlay

Disc Bound Notebook DIY Pocket Folder – It’s easy to make a pocket folder with this easy-to-do DIY planner pocket folder tutorial. Make a decorative folder to fit your planner.

How to make your own DIY Pocket folder for your disc bound notebook. You can make one in about 15 minutes and for less than $1.

You can read more about the Best Planners for Moms and Bullet Journal – What You Need to Know to learn more about other planner options.

For more simple and powerful productivity tips, hacks and printables, see the table below. You can scroll though the table and look for ideas or search for specific ideas with the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner (on desktop). Click on the topic and then click through the specific article.

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4 Comments

  1. I loved hearing your pros and cons of the happy planner. It answered a lot of my questions. It sounds great!

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