• HOME
  • Planning
    • Planner Newbie
      • New to planning? Start here
    • Planning Tips & Inspiration
    • 52 Planning Systems in 52 Weeks
      • My weekly spreads
    • Planner Index
    • Planner Reviews
      • Horizontal Weekly
      • Horizontal 1 Page Weekly + Notes
      • Vertical Weekly
      • Hourly Planners
      • Categories Weekly
      • Daily Planners
      • Discbound Planners
      • Teacher Planners
      • Planner Roundups
      • Happy Planner (MAMBI)
      • Budget Planners
    • Planner Comparisons
    • Bullet Journal
      • Bullet Journal Reviews
      • Bullet Journal Spreads
      • Bullet Journal Tips
    • Planner pens
    • Highlighters
    • Planner Stickers
    • Digital Planning
    • Household Binder
    • Stationery Shopping
    • Rachael’s Favorites
    • Blogging & Online Business
  • Graphic Design
    • Photoshop Tutorials
    • Microsoft Word
    • Microsoft Excel
    • Canva
    • Silhouette Studio
    • PicMonkey
  • SHOP
    • Shop at Etsy
    • Online Store
    • Graphic Design Resources
    • ECOURSES
    • Ebooks
      • 54 Mistakes Etsy Sellers Make (And How to Fix Them)
      • 1200 Blog Post Ideas
        • 1200 Blog Post Ideas (Exclusive Download Content)
      • 200 Blog Post Title Prompts (For Any Type of Blog)
        • 200 Blog Post Title Prompts (Exclusive Download Content)
    • Feedback & Testimonials
    • Planner Supplies (my sister’s shop!)
    • Shop my favorite planner supplies on Amazon
  • Learn
    • ECOURSES
      • Free Graphic Design Video Tutorials Library
      • How to Make Planner Stickers
      • How to Make Printables in Photoshop
      • How to Make Printables in Microsoft Word
      • How to Make Printables in Microsoft Excel
      • How to make digital planners and notebooks in Microsoft PowerPoint
      • How to Make Labels in Photoshop
      • How to Make Patterns in Photoshop
      • How to Make Party Printables
      • How to Write Product Descriptions
    • Ebooks
      • 54 Mistakes Etsy Sellers Make (And How to Fix Them)
      • 200 Blog Post Title Prompts (For Any Type of Blog)
      • 1200 Blog Post Ideas
  • FREE
    • FREE Printables
    • Free Printables Library – Subscribers Login
  • Travel
    • Travel Planning
    • Europe
    • Australia & New Zealand
  • About
    • Browse All Posts
    • FAQ
      • What is a Printable? What happens when I purchase a printable from you?
      • Printing Tips
      • Printable Planner Stickers
      • Downloading Files
      • How to Open Zipped File Folders
      • What does EDITABLE mean?
      • Monogram Etiquette

All About Planners

Printable planners to organize your home, business and life!

November 15, 2018

10 best planner supplies investments I’ve made

I’ve hoarded invested in many planner supplies over the years. These are the ones that have held up the best, and which I’m still use years after purchasing.

The best planner supplies investments I’ve made

1. ARC Planner

I mention this planner every week – it’s my all time favorite. Discbound means I can add remove, and rearrange pages as often as needed. I use the ARC discbound system for:

  • Household binder
  • Blog planner
  • Business planning
  • Lists
  • Travel planning
  • Projects
  • Etc!

The ARC punch is also durable. I’ve been using it for years with no issues. It’s sturdy, has a large easy to use handle and a has a handy slider to change the page size.

weekly planner printable template editable daily minimalist black and white bullet journal habit tracker project

Week 35: Planning with a functional minimalist DIY weekly planner printable 

arc planner punch free planner printable insert checklist to do list rainbow weekly dashboard accessory erin condren plum paper

2. Poppin Ruler

While expensive for a ruler, this one is in as new condition years later. So sturdy, the numbers are really big and easy to see, it has inches and cm and comes in lots of pretty colors. It’s my favorite ruler for drawing bullet journal spreads as it stays in place. If you follow my planner review videos on YouTube, that blue ruler in my videos is from Poppin.

3. Paper Guillotine Trimmer

I sometimes print printables at an odd page size (A5, Plum Paper size etc.). Hand cutting is much slower and far less accurate then cutting a stack of paper in under a minute with a paper guillotine. I was using a paper trimmer for a while but the blade would slip, it’s harder to line the paper up and the blade would wear down quickly over time. Gullotine is also my preferred method for cutting printable planner stickers.

4. Decent Printer

When I started making printables around 7 years ago I had a bottom of the line cheap printer. It only took a color and black and white ink cartridges (not Cyan, Magenta etc.) and the print quality was average. The inks were expensive and needed changing all the time and paper was prone to getting jammed.  Upgrading to my current printer that I’ve had for almost 5 years and which is still working great was definitely worth it.

Printing tutorials

  • How to get rid of a white border when printing printable (borderless, no bleed, no scaling step by step video tutorial)
  • How to Choose a Printer (Including the best printer for printing printables and planner stickers) 
  • Best Paper for Printing Printables
  • How to clean your printer (prevent smudging, streaks and make the colors POP!) 
  • How to print any printable in black and white (greyscale) using your home printer 
  • How to easily print printables double sided (duplex printing tutorial)
  • How to resize a printable to fit A5 or US half letter (5.5 x 8.5) page size 

5. ARC Leather cover

I normally avoid leather (one of the reasons why I hate travellers notebooks), however the ARC notebooks are a nice leather than comes in pretty colors too. I have a hot pink one (my favorite), black, red and blue. I’ve had these covers for 5+ years and they’re still in as good as new condition. So while they were a pricey investment initially I definitely do not regret it! If you use the Happy Planner discbound system they have similar leather / more durable covers too.

6. Expensive Pens

More expensive pens not only tend to write better, the ink tends to dry out slower. Some of my favorite expensive pens are:

  • Papermate Inkjoy
  • Staedtler Triplus Fineliner 0.3mm
  • Frixion Erasable

papermate inkjoy gel pen review best planner pens supplies rainbow color coding fine tip

7. Quality label paper for planner stickers

My sister and I tried about 10 different types of label paper before we found the type we currently use. While it took ages to find and test different ones it was definitely worth it. The labels peel smoother and don’t tear, the colors of the ink show up well and the Silhouette cutting blades last longer.

Related: 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on

8. Washi Tape

Has anyone ever actually finished a roll of washi tape? The stuff seems to last forever and stays super sticky for years.

My favorite washi tape is Doodlebug and MAMBI washi.

washi tape planners color coding planner essentials doodlebug rainbow best washi tape for writing on for planning

9. Small photo albums

Small photo albums are my favorite way to store planner stickers. They’re cheap, compact (but can still store a lot), it’s easy to flick through and see what you need and the pockets are big enough that you can store multiple sheets in the one photo slot.

Related: How to make planner stickers for free using Silhouette Studio (Introduction – Video Tutorial)

10. Expensive highlighters

I used to think there wasn’t much difference between highlighter brands until I splurged and paid $3 for one highlighter instead of $3 for an entire pack of highlighters. So much better. They highlight smoother (i.e. straight line), last a long time and the more expensive ones tend to be dual tip with a fat and thin end.

My favorite highlighters are:

  • Frixion erasable (the brights not the pastel)
  • Tombow Coat
  • Uni Propus Window
  • Zebra

highlighter swatches color coding smear testing smudge bleed through planning supplies recommendation favorite tools diy

11. Photoshop

So not technically a planner supply but Photoshop is the software I use to make my printables – definitely got my money’s worth out of that investment!

How to make a weekly planner free email course

More planning tips

  • 50 Tips for writing a better to do list that will make you more productive
  • How to make planner stickers for free using Silhouette Studio (Introduction – Video Tutorial)
  • Color coding your planner: how to choose which colors to use 

Liked this post? Pin it!

planner supplies that are worth the investment expensive supplies worth the money tips recommendations planning favorites all about planners

planner supply investments best expensive worth the money functional high quality long lasting review all about planners blog

 

You may also be interested in...

  • Best highlighters for planningBest highlighters for planning
  • Planning on a budget: If I only had $50 to spend on planner supplies, this is what I’d buyPlanning on a budget: If I only had $50 to spend on planner supplies, this is what I’d buy
  • 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on
  • 7 Planner supplies that aren’t worth the hype7 Planner supplies that aren’t worth the hype
  • Best pens for writing on washi tapeBest pens for writing on washi tape
  • My 7 Favorite Planner Supplies for Making ListsMy 7 Favorite Planner Supplies for Making Lists

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Posted In: Planning Tips & Inspiration · Tagged: best planner supplies, best planning supplies, expensive planner supplies, favorite planner supplies, planner addict, planner pens, planner recommendations, planner review, planner stuff

Welcome

Welcome to All About Planners! I’m Rachael, a 20-something Aussie addicted to graphic design and all things planning. On the blog you’ll find more than 1,000 posts about all things planning including planner reviews, tips, favorite supplies and some of my past weekly spreads.

Subscribe and join 60,000+ others on the quest to find planner peace!

Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Search

Subscribe

free printables library sign up all about planners blog image graphic subscribe

Shop At Etsy

The photos and content on this site are the property of All About Planners. They are not allowed to be used without permission from All About Planners.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Artful Agenda Digital Planner review
  • Peter Pauper Press Essentials Dot Matrix Notebook Review (Including Pen Test)
  • ARC Punch versus Happy Planner versus the Levenger 1-2-3 Punch: Which is better?
  • Clever Fox Planner Pro Weekly Review
  • Simple Christmas themed weekly spread with washi tape and stencils

Disclaimer

All About Planners is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Popular Posts

  • 130+ functional ideas to use blank notes pages of your planner or an empty notebook
  • Setting up a new planner: 70 Tasks to add
  • Planner Organization: How to color-code your planner so you’ll actually use it effectively
  • Bullet Journal Ideas: 26 Weekly Spread Layouts to Try
  • 100 things to put in your habit tracker of your planner or bullet journal (plus free printable habit tracker)

Printables

  • Learn How to Make Printables
  • How to Make Planner Stickers
  • Resources & Tools I Recommend

Subscribe to access the free Printables library

Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Privacy

Copyright © 2021 All About Planners · Theme by 17th Avenue