21 Comments

  1. I LOVE this article! For far too long I have been trying to find the “perfect” catch-all planner and I feel that you do an awesome job at reviewing all the different options, but I have to say your Organized Life Planner takes the cake! I can’t wait to put mine together! I just had one question, I have an HP DeskJet printer – are there any certain settings I should use to make sure it doesn’t smear if I use the HP 120gsm Matte Presentation Paper you suggested using for printing? Thanks in advance!

    1. Hi Ashley! I am so glad you like the planner! I don’t know all the ins and outs of every printer, and I don’t want to advise you incorrectly, so I’d try a few pages first, before printing the whole thing! I hope that helps!

  2. Laurie E. says:

    Yay, my favorite Limelife planner made it!! So glad you liked it!!

    I’m adding a new version, the a5 punched into my ring binder. I think I’ll feel better if I have a version of my planner that I can take with me in my bag. No, not my purse, but in my tote. My coil version will stay at work.

    I enjoy all your posts, but especially the planner reviews. You do a great job.

  3. Kayse, I love your planner reviews. Last year I bought the Inkwell Press planner and while I love some of the features and aspects, I’ve realized it’s not the planner for me. I’m thinking of trying the Emily Ley Simplified Planner, but I’m wondering how the paper compares to the Inkwell Press planner. I love the paper weight of the IP planner and I would love to find this paper in another planner.

  4. Thank you for such a thorough breakdown! All those planners look great. I’m using a planner called The Day Designer, by Whitney English. Have you ever heard of/used that? It’s very similar to the Simplified Planner. I would be curious what your thoughts are on The Day Designer if you get a chance to review it!

    1. I have! I actually have a Day Designer to add to this post soon – I’ll send out an email when I update!

  5. Have you seen The Planner Pad? That’s what I use. It has 3 main sections on each week – one to write your tasks by category (home, phone calls, errands, etc – you pick), one to then schedule those tasks to specific days, and one for time blocks to get the tasks done or write appointments. I’m so much more productive when I write and schedule time to do everything. I can tell the days when I don’t write stuff down – feels like nothing was accomplished.

    I also like that each day has a fun block – not Saturday and Sunday smooshed into one block. You can start the calendar quarterly – Jan, April, July or October.

    They are not overly fancy or pretty, but there are some nice classy looking covers.

    Oh, and thanks to you, I now own Staedler fine points, a nice selection of ultra fine Shapries for card writing and the awesome Frixion pens. Abby thought the Frixion ones were cool, too. I need to keep those hidden…

    1. That’s supposed to be “a full block”. 🙂

      1. Too bad. I thought a “fun block” sounded -well- fun!

  6. Did you ever write that post about how you use your Erin Condren as a blog planner?

  7. LIVE WELL planner is actually a INKWELL planner. Figured you might want to correct it.

    1. Actually, it IS called the Live Well Planner, made by Inkwell Press. 🙂 But thanks!

  8. Katherine says:

    A planner I just learned about and ordered, they have yearly and academic styles as well, is the Start Planner. I saw the add on Facebook and had to check it out. It can be purchased in either weekly, daily, or a binder format. I purchased the binder format which comes with all of their inserts and you customize it to the inserts you want. They are shipping out on May 16th and I am excited to get mine and check it out… see what all the excitement is about it. Maybe you can look into it too and include it in your reviews!
    Just an idea.

    1. I have seen that one! Looking into it a little more now!

  9. Great review! I can’t wait to pick one (or more) up! We are homeschooling for Kindergarten next year, too, so I definitely want to get the LimeLife planner. And your pen obsession makes me so happy. Ultra-Fine Point Sharpies are my JAM, but I need to check out your Flairs for something that doesn’t bleed. Thanks for all the info, friend!

    1. I adore fine-tip Sharpies too! (But I do NOT like Sharpie pens. They are too light!) Anyway, you’ll love the fine-tip Flairs. They write just like a Sharpie, but no bleeding. <3

  10. Hi Kayse,
    I would love for you to review my free homeschool planner. It is a digital download with over 200 pages. If you’re interested, please let me know 🙂

    My Best,
    Lisa

  11. Girl, you are amazing! Thank you for this! I’ve been using an Erin Condren Life Planner for four years, and I really do love it. I’m a sucker for heavy-duty paper and a planner that can take a beating, and Erin Condren makes that happen. However, I’m now in need of a daily planner, so if Erin Condren doesn’t launch one this year, I might have to consider another option.

    I actually ordered a daily Simplified Planner to try this year but the paper is too thin and it didn’t seem to stand up to going from desk to purse to car to desk without noticeable wear & tear. I need more tough, less pretty LOL! Loved the daily layout, though. I’m off to check out the Limelife Planners. That might be a happy combination for me! Thank you!

    1. The new Simplified Planner has brand new paper (they are working with a new company), and it’s definitely thicker than last year! I adore the new one!!

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