Review and Giveaway: ListPlanIt.com

I like lists. I tend to make them whenever I need to remember anything truly important – such as when I was planning our wedding, or keeping track of baby items that we had versus what (I thought) we needed. And one thing that I’ve discovered is that when I do take the time to sit down and write out lists for even the ‘small’ things that I keep track of, it’s much easier to stay organized and remember everything that I need to.

For example – I’ve gone grocery shopping both with and without a list. Now provided that I actually remember to check the list while still at the store, I do a much better job of coming home with everything that we need if I go armed with a list to begin with. And just about every facet of life with a husband and kids tends to go easier if I sit down and keep track on paper – of things from birthday and Christmas presents, to what I need to remember for the girls’ school or extra-curricular activities, and even just what I need to get done in terms of housework or errands to be run. Lists are even helpful with blogging – especially in keeping track of products that I’m set to review or which are in the process of being reviewed. 

My biggest issue though, is actually making myself take the time to sit down and write out a list. But there’s help out there to make what should be a simple task (but often isn’t) even just that much easier.

And would you believe that it includes, well – lists? 

What it is:

ListPlanIt.com is a website that is dedicated to helping people put their world in order through lists. Started by a mom who realized just exactly how much her own life was helped by using lists to stay organized, the site helps busy moms (and others) by offering customizable lists that you can edit and change to suit your needs and then save or print as often as you need to.

It works very simply – members log into the site, and then have two options to find the list(s) that they need. These include either by browsing through the different categories set up on the site, or by checking the ‘lists of lists’ available to everyone on the site (only members can access the actual lists themselves). New lists are added often, especially for times like the holidays – when lists become even more necessary for keeping your sanity intact.

Categories of lists available include everything from Financial Planning, Moving, Travel Planning and Meal Planning to Club Organization, Home Management, Memories Record and For Fun. Lists are downloadable PDF files that can be edited and then printed or saved for future use.  There are several Sample Lists available for even non-members to check out and use – these include a Babysitter Quick List and a Saturday Morning Chores List:

Here’s my take on it:

Lists, lists and more lists – I hardly even knew where to begin. I received a quarterly membership in order to try out the site, so I started simply, with something that I’d been wanting to do for some time anyway – making responsibilities lists for our older girls. The list that I downloaded came pre-filled with some options such as “Vacuum” and “Fold Laundry” that I didn’t need on there, but also had blank lines at the bottom where you could add your own items as well. By crossing out tasks that didn’t apply for our family and adding others, I was able to create a list that works for our oldest daughter and one that works for our 5-year-old as well. Printing out and posting the lists in their rooms helped to make them easily be able to see and keep track of their chores.

I’ve also used lists for babysitter responsibilities, keeping track of birthday gifts desired and bought, and expect that I’ll be using several more as the holidays approach as well. I like having the format of the list all set up for me, but have discovered that the preset options don’t always match exactly how I’d like to construct the list. So far I haven’t been able to find a way to edit the preset items in the PDF forms and think that being able to do so would truly make these lists fully customizable and even more useful. But that’s really just a minor issue.

One of the main reasons that I often choose not to use a list, is that I don’t have the time to sit down and put one together. But ListPlanIt.com takes that extra time and does all of the initial work for you, so you don’t have to. And that makes me much more likely to put a list together, to use them more often – and ultimately to be at least a little bit more organized in my life. Which is definitely a good thing.

The bottom line:

With over 350 ready-made, ready to fill in lists available – and more being added, there are lists available on ListPlanIt.com for everybody, no matter your situation or needs. Since you only download and print the lists that you need, you’re not overwhelmed with piles of paper or files on your computer. You can simply come back to the site whenever you need a new list.

Where can you find it?:

The site is located at http://listplanit.com.  Memberships are available for 3 months at a time ($9.95) or a full year ($29.95), and purchasing a membership gives you full access to all available lists. Non-members can browse the site and use the several sample lists that are also available.

But here’s a deal for you – right now, available by clicking on the ‘Special Offers‘ link on the site:

For a limited time, everyone can have access to the more than 350 lists and planning pages found at ListPlanIt.com for just $4.95 for 3 months or save even more with a membership for 12 months for just $14.95!

Would you like to try it?:

Courtesy of ListPlanIt.com, I have a quarterly (3-month) membership available for one lucky reader to win! If you’re looking to get more organized and would like to try out this incredibly helpful site for yourself, here are the rules:

1. Enter by checking out ListPlanIt.com and leaving a comment on this post to tell me what three of the available lists are that you think would make your life easier. Please don’t just say ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Wednesday, October 15th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY.Fetch.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If you don’t wish to leave your e-mail address, please make sure that you leave a unique name and check back with PRIZEYWinners to see if you won. If the winner hasn’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like an extra entry or two, you can either subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar), or mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post – or both. Please leave an extra comment on this post for each of the extra entry options that you choose, letting me know – for a total of 3 comments if you do both extra entry options.

Good luck!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – the random number generator has chosen comment #23 as the winner:

Congratulations to Millicent C., whose extra subscription entry has won for her! I will be contacting you shortly via e-mail to work out the details.