If you’re hanging out for pay day, here are some cheaper alternatives to more well-known but expensive planner supplies:

1. BLOT versus Papermate pens

I’ll be forever faithful to the Papermate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm pens but… The BLOT gel pens come super close (quality, colors, smooth to write with) and for a much lower price.

Related: High Versus Low Stationery Comparison: Planner Pens

2. Cheap white out

The Keji brand from Officeworks here in Australia is really cheap… but actually good!

I took a punt on the 2 for $1 pack thinking I’d probably bin them and was throwing money away… but surprisingly they’re the best value decent white out tape I’ve ever come across. Much better than paying $5 for 1 roll of white out tape.

3. Aspire sticky notes versus Post it Note

I do really like the super sticky Post it Note 3M in all the rainbow colors and sizes… However the aspire sticky notes come a close second. While only in generic yellow they’re the same size and are just as sticky as the post it 3M.

Aspire, 1.5 x 2″ sticky notes

Post it Note 3M, 1.5 x 2″ sticky notes

Related: 5 Ways to use sticky notes for school or college

4. Happy Planner Discbound instead of the ARC

ARC by Staples came out before MAMBI and was the first discbound notebook I ever bought. I still use it to this day (7 years later).

However, in recent years MAMBI’s Happy Planner range has exploded… With just about every planner accessory you could think of. Cute planners in a variety of layouts, planner stickers etc. It’s also more affordable than the ARC.

So if you’ve never tried discbound (you definitely should!) I’d go with the Happy Planner.

Guide to Discbound Planners & Frequently Asked Questions

5. Custom bullet journal instead of sewn bound notebooks

For how cheap they look and how simple they are, sewn bound notebooks oddly aren’t that cheap.

But surely a custom personalised notebook would cost more than a non-personalised sewn bound notebook right? Not necessarily… There are more and more planner companies offering dot grid notebooks that allow you to personalise the cover (and sometimes add other inside pages too!). The cheapest I’ve come across are the Happy Notes and Plum Paper.

• Happy Notes –  while you can’t personalise the cover there are plenty of cover options and refill pages to choose from so you could create a custom notebook. Since it’s discbound you can add, remove and rearrange pages as often as you like!
• Plum Paper – you can create an entire notebook with just dot grid pages on bright white paper, or add dot grid paper to a traditional weekly planner, choose from many add on pages such as meal planning, blogging, lists, lined etc.

MAMBI Happy Planner Happy Notes Review

Custom Plum Paper Bullet Journal Notebook

6. Cheap versus expensive dot grid notebooks

There are so many options for dot grid notebooks these days. Instead of some of the more expensive brands like Archer and Olive, Leuchtturm or Scribbles that Matter, consider some of these cheaper alternatives:

Clever Fox – affordable price tag, multiple cover colors to choose from, can be purchased from Amazon and decent paper quality despite the cheap price tag. The pro version is a bit more expensive but the paper quality rivals some of the 140 and 160 GSM notebooks out there.

Paipur – if you want a large page size, the Paipur is only $15 USD.

Buke – if you want paper that doesn’t bleed through, then you need a notebook with 160 GSM paper. The buke notebook is the cheapest one I’ve found with 160 GSM paper.

I shared more options in this post: 10 Cheap bullet journal notebooks (that cost less than $15 USD or less)

Leuchtturm 1917 – I’ve never understood the hype around this notebook

7. Daiso highlighters instead of Mildliners

The Mildliner highlighters are ok but there’s plenty of other dual tip highlighters that are just as good – Zebra Just Fit, Tombow Kei Coat, Uni Propus Window etc.

If you like the Mildliner colors then the Daiso soft marking pen are eerily similar. They’re not dual tip but if you use the point of the chisel end then it ends up like a dual tip (as you can do with any highlighter)

If you want more dupes, I did a comparison in this post:: 4 Similar (and cheaper) alternatives to the Zebra Mildliner Dual Tip Highlighters

More planning tips

• Favorite Twin Tip Markers for Planning (Roundup)
• Planning on a budget: If I only had $50 to spend on planner supplies, this is what I’d buy
• How (and why) I pre-plan the week using the Plum Paper horizontal lined with notes layout

Found this post helpful? Pin it!