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All About Planners

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September 14, 2017

Carpe Diem A5 Planner (by Simple Stories) Review & Flipthrough

The Carpe Diem brand by Simple Stories are well known for their ring bound covers and inserts. If you’re not a fan of ring bound planners and inserts (like me) they’ve released spiral bound planners for 2018!

Quick Facts

  • Hardbound cover
  • A5 size
  • Spiral binding
  • 16 months (from September 2017 to December 2018)
  • Monthly calendar starts on a Sunday
  • Weekly spread starts on a Monday
  • Weekly spread is horizontal, lined with notes section
  • Ample notes pages at the back of the planner
  • USA national holidays pre-printed in the monthly spread
  • Gold metal corners on the cover
  • Tabs for each month
  • Pocket
  • Sheet of stickers

Let’s take a closer look!

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

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The Cover

The cover is hardbound and very sturdy – it also had gold corners <3

carpe diem 16 months planner review pros and cons horizontal 2 page weekly spread neutral colors a5 spiral bound hardcover cheap planner blogging school academic year

Gold spiral binding. As the planner runs for 16 months it’s quite thick (about 1 inch)
carpe diem spiral bound planner review 2018 pros and cons a5 size cheaper alternative to erin condren horizontal simple minimalist layout bullet journal bujo planning

This belongs to page

Love that hand lettering! So pretty

carpe diem planner simple stores a5 inserts spiral bound review pros cons look inside walkthrough planning horizontal small best planners under 50 dollars neutral color

Dates at a glance

For the previous year and the current year of the planner

carpie diem spiral bound planner 2018 simple stories review minimalist colorful dates at a glance important dates organizer a5 horizontal

Annual Planning

Same style as the monthly planning pages of most calendars – an open-ended layout you can use for anything you like!

carpe diem planner review 2018 colorful a5 horizontal lined hardcover spiral bound best planners for students pros and cons

Monthly Planning & Dividers

Each month features a different design on the dividers.

The monthly planning page is very functional – love how there’s so many lists for: birthday’s, important dates, don’t forget, to do and goals.

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2 Page Monthly Calendar

For whatever weird reason lots of planner companies start the monthly spread on a Sunday but the weekly spread starts on a Monday. The Carpe Diem planner is the same unfortunately 🙁

See how the 31st and the 24th of December are combined in the photo below? The monthly boxes on the calendars are combined, rather than starting on the top row – this is my #1 pet hate – such as waste of functional planning space!

The dates are in the top right corner of the box (which most planners don’t do) meaning you should be able to fit more plans into the boxes.

carpe diem planner 2018 review a5 spiral bound simple minimalist colorful sunday monday 2 page notes sidebar cheaper alternative to erin condren blogging

 Colorful tabs

The tabs are fat so it’s easy to flip to the month you need. They’re also laminated.

carpe diem planner by simple stories review colorful organizer minimalist a5 2 pages per weekly spread horizontal layout cheaper alternative to erin condren

2 Page Weekly Spread

Simple 2 page horizontal lined weekly spread. The boxes could be be split into 2 or 3 – perfect for list making!

Week starts on a Monday

There are 2 styles of this planner – colorful and neutral. The photo below is the neutral.

carpe diem planner 2 pages per week horizontal minimalist black and white simple functional bullet journal a5 hardcover spiral binding cheap planner

Planner Stickers

Bright functional stickers!

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Pocket Folder

This pocket folder is smaller than most planners – you won’t be able to fit many papers in it.

carpe diem planner review simple stores a5 pocket folder planner accessories colorful school mom blogging academic year pros cons cheap planner hardcover

Pros of the Carpe Diem A5 Planner

  • Hardcover won’t get damaged easily
  • 2 page spread for each week which is lined i.e. super functional!
  • Very functional monthly planning page with lots of checklists! <3
  • More notes pages than most planners include
  • 2 styles – a colorful version and a neutral black and white version
  • Pocket folder at the back of the planner
  • Different designs for each monthly divider so you won’t get bored looking at the same pattern / design every month
  • The tabs are fat so it’s easy to flip to the month you need. They’re also laminated

carpe diem planner by simple stories review colorful organizer minimalist a5 2 pages per weekly spread horizontal layout cheaper alternative to erin condren

Cons of the Carpe Diem A5 Planner

  • The monthly boxes on calendars are combined, rather than starting on the top row – this is my #1 pet hate – such as waste of functional planning space!
  • There is a pocket at the back of the planner but it’s not very fat and would fill up quickly
  • The weekly spread is functional but rather plain – the kind of layout you can find at almost any planner company or could quickly DIY yourself 

carpe diem monthly calendar 2 page spread combined boxes don't like cons planner review a5 spiral binding planners i don't recommend

Would I use this planner?

No. While I prefer horizontal planner layouts, this planner is a bit too simple for me. There’s nothing special enough about it that makes me excited to want to use it. It has the same horizontal layout you can find at almost any planner company.

The main thing I like the layout of the monthly planning page with all the checklists.

The planners feature a lot of floral accents – I’m not a fan of anything floral.

Overall this planner doesn’t suit me but if you want to try out my sister has the planner in her shop (along with 1,000+ other planner supplies!)

Want more planner reviews?

For all my planner reviews (there are many!) click here.

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You may also be interested in...

  • Color coded weekly spread using highlighters in the Pretty Simple PlannerColor coded weekly spread using highlighters in the Pretty Simple Planner
  • Pretty Simple Planners Review (Horizontal Lined Weekly Planner)Pretty Simple Planners Review (Horizontal Lined Weekly Planner)
  • Carpe Diem Home Planner Review (Pros, Cons & Video Walkthrough)Carpe Diem Home Planner Review (Pros, Cons & Video Walkthrough)
  • Clever Fox Daily Planner Review (Pros, Cons & a Video Walkthrough)Clever Fox Daily Planner Review (Pros, Cons & a Video Walkthrough)
  • Minimalist black and white weekly spread in the Moleskine Weekly PlannerMinimalist black and white weekly spread in the Moleskine Weekly Planner
  • Rainbow and Neutral Weekly Planner Spread Using the Unique PlannerRainbow and Neutral Weekly Planner Spread Using the Unique Planner

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Posted In: Horizontal Weekly, Planner Reviews, Planning Tips & Inspiration · Tagged: 2 pages per week planner, a5 planner, a5 planner inserts, a5 spiral bound planner, best planners for school, best planners under 50 dollars, carpe diem planner, carpe diem planner inserts, carpe diem planner review, carpe diem review, carpe diem spiral bound planner, cheap planner, cheaper alternatives to erin condren, hardbound cover, horizontal weekly planner, minimalist planner, planner review, planner under 30 dollars, simple stories planner review, spiral bound planners

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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.

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