With six kids, homeschooling, church, volunteering, etc- a planner is a necessity in my life. I have tried a thousand apps, but putting pen to paper is THE BEST way for me to stay organized. In 2016, I had an Erin Condren Life Planner. In 2017, I decided to try the Plum Paper Planner because it was cheaper and more customizable. I had some initial thoughts that I shared on Instagram, but now that I am 75% done with the Plum Paper Planner, I figured it was time for a full review.

I really liked the Erin Condren Life Planner. I was skeptical about how the cover would hold up, but figured I could always buy a new one if the first didn’t make it. I was really surprised that the cover lasted all year. I even took the little ruler out to use in my Plum Paper Planner. Overall, the layout was really nice and usable. My pens and markers didn’t bleed through. Yes, my stickers made it thick and weird by the end of the year, but I’m not going to NOT use stickers, people. The coil, the whole thing really held up to my very hard use.

When it came time to buy a new planner, I strongly considered going back with Erin Condren. However, I had heard good things about Plum Paper and they were more customizable and cheaper. So, I opted to try the Plum Paper Planner out. The cover looked like it would hold up really well, however, it didn’t.

I had to completely remove the plastic from the front cover because a corner broke off and it attacked me in the middle of Hobby Lobby. I seriously had this huge gash down my forearm from a planner injury. I was seriously concerned about getting necrotizing fasciitis being in public with a fresh wound. It ended up healing fine, but the plastic cover on the front had to go. Then the back cover felt left out and decided to break, too. I’ll be removing the back cover as soon as I post this. The decorative covers are still in place, but both plastic covers are history.

They are showing signs of wear, too. But hopefully they can hold out for 3 more months. The coil is holding up well.

My next issue with Plum Paper is the layout. So, in my Erin Condren, I would see the month tab, open to the tab, and the month would be in front of me. In Plum Paper, a pre-planning page is there and then you turn the page to get to the month. It isn’t a huge deal, but a minor annoyance. Like, I’m standing in the doctor’s office scheduling my next appointment and she says, “What about October 3rd?” I quickly open to the October tab and see my goals for October (have a baby) and the birthdays for the month and my notes on what books I need to read that month instead of seeing October 3rd. Then I have to turn the page and see the month to see it is a Tuesday that, yes, is free. Again, minor, but annoying.

My next annoyance is with how the weeks are set up. You know you have those weeks where a few days fall in one month and a few days fall in another. I like those weeks to just go into whatever month the most days fall into. Plum Paper didn’t feel that way and DUPLICATES these weeks. Now, if you aren’t paying attention, you’ll double book yourself. It got me enough times in the beginning that I had to go in and put washi tape over all the duplicate days. Which did result in having partial weeks in this month and then a partial week in the next, but that was the best I could do given their design flaw.

It at least keeps me from double booking, although it doesn’t give me nice, full week at a glance views all the time. Again, it is a minor thing, but an annoyance.

I also found that my customized boxes were not really big enough for everything I needed to put in them. Some days, I would have a bunch of stuff crammed into the top two boxes and the rest empty. Or I would have the Kid’s box and The Pastor’s boxes completely full and then all this blank space. So, while being customizable seemed so nice, it wasn’t really as necessary as I thought it was.

And can I tell you they BOTH annoy me with having the monthly calendar done starting on Sunday (as it should) and the weekly stuff starting on Monday. So, I’m looking at the week of the 8th through the 14th, but in my planner, the weekly view starts the week on the 9th but the monthly view starts it on the 8th. I want the weeks to start on Sunday across the board. But hey, if you’re customizing something, how about have the start day of the week customizable? So people who want (to do it wrong) to start the week on Monday can do so. Or if I was a weirdo and wanted my weeks to start on Thursday, that could happen. Either way, pick a day and have that match across the weekly and monthly view.

So, what am I doing for 2018? Am I going back to Erin Condren? Sticking with Plum Paper again to get more fun planner related injuries? Neither. I’m transitioning to a bullet journal so I don’t have to deal with the inadequate layout issues. I don’t have to settle for either of the annoyances. Although, I’d choose Erin Condren over Plum Paper if I only had those two options.