Plum Paper Planner Review

I’ve always been a paper in hand girl. The whole “go browse my site” when I show interest in a product really doesn’t work for me. If you want a guaranteed buy – send me a catalog. And it’s the exact same way with planners. I CANNOT use an electronic planner. I just need to have it in my hands. I’ve used a number of planners over the years and last year was introduced to Plum Paper Planners and fell hard and fast, for 2019 this is my second planner from them I decided to compare the 2 and give you a Plum Paper Planner Review

Back when I was a student we always got a Homework Book from school that could double as a planner, but very early on I started using my own. I remember heading to WHSmith as soon as the School year planners were released to buy one.

Once I moved out of England I used a jumble of whatever I could find on Amazon. I had NO idea that planners were an obsession and a collectible. When I joined LLR we received a Planner and for the following 2 years, 2016 and 2017 I bought their planner. It was Okish. Very basic.

I slowly started to learn that planners were a “thing” and one evening I was chatting with a friend of mine and I had told her I was waiting for LLR to release the 2018 planner she mentioned to me that she was getting Plum Paper and my curiosity was piqued. I opened the site and with one look  I was hooked. I mean. Personalize your planner? With your name on the front? Decide the inside layout? What more can you want? It was Black Friday and they had a 30% discount so I quickly created mine and then waited not so patiently for it to arrive.

Once my planner arrived, I was so excited and couldn’t wait for January to come so I could start to use it. January rolled around and I started to realize that in my haste and me not really knowing planners well I had made some mistakes in my customization. Which was ok. I didn’t know at the time what would work for me.  Already in January of 2018 I was planning the setup and by Summer 2018 I had created my entire 2019 planner and it sat in the cart waiting for the Black Friday sale.

I can already tell that I am going to be a lot happier with my 2019 planner. 

Here is the comparison between the planners from both years:

• For 2018 I got the 7×9, I like big, and felt that even though the planner itself was big, the spaces always seemed a tad to small for me.  For 2019 I went with the 8.5×11 and at a first glace the size isn’t that big of  a difference to feel like its too big ( I was worried about it being really bulky) but the spaces inside are proving to be just perfect.
• Last year I used the setup Vertical MAE, which is basically each day split into 3 sections of Morning Afternoon and Evening.  Initially I liked this but over the year found that there were many days that I had specific tasks to attend to but not that they would be at a specific time of day, so it wound up looking messy.  For this year I chose the Vertical ME which has 7 small sections, I customized them for different types of tasks and appointments I typically have and I am so excited to use it!
• For some reason I created a 15 month planner  for 2018, January 2018 – March 2019. I have no idea why I did this, had absolutely no use for it and obviously did a plain 12 month for 2019.
• I purchased a bunch of add-ons in 2018, some dispersed and some at the end of the planner. Some were useful and some not at all.  Through trial and error I learned what would be of better use to me.
• Dispersed: To Do Lists and Bills, I loved the To Do lists and added that to my 2019 planner.  The Bills were very similar to the Budget add-on at the end of my planner and I really didn’t need both.
• End of planner: Budget and Sales. I found that I didn’t need to carry my budget workings around with me and never wound up using it. As when I was on the go, I wasn’t doing money stuff. For 2019 I plan to get that section in a notebook instead so that I can just pull it out when I need to work money.  The Sales pages, while I should probably be using them just seemed like it would take me time that I didn’t have to document that all. 
• For 2019 I got just the To Do in dispersed and for the end of planner I got: Meals, Blog, Social Media and Brainstorm.  Meals as I am on a weight loss journey and I think it’ll be helpful.  Blog, well, you are reading my now 6 month old blog and I want to really grow it.  Social Media so I can be more on top of posting regularly and finally Brainstorm – well, I always have ideas flowing 🙂
• Lastly, in 2018 I added some planner stickers.  I didn’t use them since they are all just blank shapes.  Over the year Plum Paper has created some incredible sticker subscriptions and packs and that is what I currently use. 

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All in all, I am super excited to use my Planner again this year.  And in line with my plan for the year I think it is going to be a great tool for me.

If you want to get your own planner, pop your email in below, and I will send you my referral code which will give you 10% off. Don’t worry I won’t be sending you anything else – it is really just to send you the link.