I've bought planners before, in high school, but I usually tossed them to the side because I could keep track of everything I was doing in high school — everything happened so spread out that I didn't need a calendar or planner to help me keep track of myself. I was making it just fine without a planner. Looking back, I don't see why I didn't get into planning then because I wouldn't have struggled when I started in college.

Before the semester even began, I knew that I had to become a better planner and more organized with my life. When I was school supply shopping (which is my favorite hobby since stepping into the world of adulting), I bought a planner that I was determined to use my freshman year of college. It's a hot pink and gold-polka dotted planner by Mint Green. My planner is 60% recycled paper and uses soy-based ink for the words and images. At the bottom of each page, there was a quote or saying, which I loved. My first semester was filled from cover to cover with events, community service, social activities, and schoolwork that I barely had room for anything else to be written, but it got the job done and I'm so happy that I used it as my "training planner," and for $7.87, it served its purpose well.

I went to a women's conference in March and my boss was a speaker for one of the browse sessions, so I went to her meeting and she talked about her planner. She said that her planner is the best thing ever and gave the company name for it, so I wrote it down in my notes and bought the planner as soon as I could. For the next two years of college and possibly the rest of my young adult life, I'll be using Me and My Big Ideas' Happy Planner and I am super excited. My exact planner cost $37 (plus tax and shipping of course), but it was so worth it once I got it in the mail. The pages can be torn out and you can insert them in because of the rings used for the planner. The pages are adorable and have a different cover each month, so it replaces the quotes that I'll miss from my Mint Green planner.

When I told my mom the price of the planner, she nearly had a heart attack and said that I could go to Walmart and get a planner for half of the price, but once she saw everything that came with it, she was on-board and even considered buying herself one. I was skeptical myself about spending so much on a planner, but once I saw everything that I could do with it, I knew that I would be okay. $40 on a planner is a bit extensive, but I know the lifestyle that I want to live within the next few years, so I have to stay on top of it.

Since I'm a multimedia journalism major (who just so happens to be planning to attend law school), I'll have to get into some best practices for planning sooner rather than later, but that goes for all majors and people who seek higher education. A planner is your best friend and you'll come to love it. You don't have to go super crazy and buy sticker books and gel pens to be a great planner — you need to have the motivation to become more organized and live a simpler life.

I'll save money each year because instead of buying a new planner, I can buy the paper that goes on the inside and just insert them! I'm really happy about my Happy Planner and I don't regret spending $40 on it at all.