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. Artists Loft instead of Leuchttrum
If you do want to stick with the traditional sewn bound notebooks then there are plenty to choose from. Unfortunately they all seem to have yucky yellow paper in common. While the somewhat expensive Leuchttrum is quite well known, the less popular Artists Loft journal is very affordable and one of the very few I’ve found with bright white paper.
Review of the Artist’s Loft Journal
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)
Read more: 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
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Cori says
Thank you for this list. I especially agree with the customized bullet journal set up, and really enjoyed the blog post on that topic.