
On the recommendation of my lovely friend Tina, I ordered one from Erin Condren. When I first looked them up, I kind of laughed. It's just a planner, why on earth would I drop that kind of cash on a planner?! I did a bunch of research, and found nothing but glowing reviews about the customization, ease of use, and most importantly how people who had never been "planner people" had found themselves compelled to keep using it. Maybe it's because if you spend more than $5 on it you feel like you have to use it, who knows. Regardless, with that level of positive reinforcement behind the idea I decided it was worth giving a shot.
Man am I glad I did. I love this thing.
When you order it, it's customizable from cover to cover. The covers themselves are interchangeable, which made me nervous at first because that tends to be code for "will probably become loose and fall off in a few weeks", but 8 months later it's still going strong for me. You can choose from a large variety of covers, many of them with custom color schemes available, and an option to put your name or a monogram (or nothing at all). You can also choose the color of the coil that binds everything together! On the inside you can choose between two color schemes, as well as what layout format you want for your days (horizontal, vertical, and vertical hourly). The paper is high quality, and I haven't had any issues of bleed-through with my pens. It's a bit large, but that means I don't have to write super tiny and it does still fit in my purse.
The one drawback is that this is not a refillable planner like more traditional ones are, meaning you have to buy a new one every year. Personally this doesn't bother me, as I've stared to use the planner as a bit of a log of my adventures for the year and would want to keep it intact anyways, but I know that will be a strike for some people.
The planner also comes with an option to get one for next year, with the remainder of this year's months included in it. I love that they offer that for anyone who's looking to get organized now rather than waiting a few months (or worse, is forced to buy a planner with a bunch of useless months in it). You still get all of the same customization options, and it doesn't really add any thickness to it thanks to the size the coil already is.
Interested in your own? If you sign up for an account using this link and it'll get you $10 off your order! They do sales all the time, and also offer notebooks, lesson planners for teachers, wedding planner, and all kinds of other stuff.
Short version: score one for organization!