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September 21, 2018

Eccolo Weekly Planner Review (Pros, Cons and a video walkthrough)

When I saw the Eccolo weekly planner it reminded me of a cross between the Limelife, Plum Paper, Recollections and Erin Condren planners. Combined with an affordable price tag made me think this is a planner more people should know about!

I was not compensated for this post. I purchased the planner myself and as always, all opinions are my own!

eccolo weekly planner review horizontal lined similar cheaper alternative to erin condren cute functional affordable monday start colorful pros and cons

Quick facts

  • Size: approx 7: wide x 8.75″ high
  • Wire binding
  • Softcover
  • Dates at a glance
  • Colorful inside pages
  • 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
  • 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
  • Tabs
  • 12 month or 18 month duration
  • Notes page for each month
  • Goal setting / list page for each month

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).

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner videos!

The Cover

The cover is hardcover but feels soft (nto sure how best to describe it!).  It’s lightweight.

eccolo weekly planner review horizontal lined unlined layout inspirational quotes colorful functional erin condren alternative plum paper 2018

How cute is this pineapple cover?!

eccolo weekly planner review horizontal lined unlined layout inspirational quotes colorful functional erin condren alternative plum paper pineapple

I purchased 2 versions – the 12 month and 18 month. Despite the extra pages in the 18 month it doesn’t feel like it weighs much more than the 12 month version.

As you can see in the photo below the edges are already getting a bit bent  / worn and I haven’t even had a chance to use them yet!

The 12 month planner is approx 2cm thick.

The 18 month planner is approx 2.5cm thick.

eccolo planner review 12 month 18 month pros and cons hardbound horizontal monday start week colorful similar to erin condren plum paper

The cover extends beyond the pages to protect the tabseccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size video

Monthly Dividers

There are different divider pages throughout the planner. Here are a few…

eccolo horizontal weekly planner review academic year 12 month 18 month 2 page monthly calendar lined unlined review pros and cons dividers tabs

eccolo horizontal weekly planner review academic year 12 month 18 month 2 page monthly calendar lined unlined review pros and cons note paper

eccolo planner review video horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size

Monthly Planning

Functional with lots of writing space and a big checklist for the month.

The birthdays and anniversaries sections are too big and could be better used for project planning, monthly cleaning etc.

eccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size video notes

eccolo planner review monthly goals notes ideas cute colorful cheaper alternative to erin condren mambi happy planner similar medium size decorative

Monthly Calendar

Week starts on Sunday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts on Monday).

I thought since the tabs / dividers are different colors, that the weeks and months would be different colors to (and match the dividers), however, the same teal color is used for all months and all weeks of the planner. It’s a nice color… but a bit of variety in the months would be even nicer.

The line spacing of the sidebar is just right.

National holidays for the USA are pre-printed.

eccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size video simple

Unfortunately the planner splits the days in 2 rather than re-starting the numbering on the top row. And even worse, it splits them in half diagonally 🙁

eccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size video 2 page monthly calendar

Weekly Planner

The weekly planner starts on a Monday (not consistent with the monthly calendar that starts on Sunday).

eccolo weekly planner review horizontal lined unlined layout inspirational quotes colorful functional erin condren alternative plum paper

The quotes take up a lot of space on the page. It would’ve been more practical if they were in the top header section on the right page of the spread. The space where they are could’ve been better used for notes, habit tracking, weekly goals etc.

eccolo horizontal weekly planner review academic year 12 month 18 month 2 page monthly calendar lined unlined review pros and cons

Saturday and Sunday get the same amount of space as a weekday.

eccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover recommend

Dates at a glance

Dates at a glance for the current year and next year.

eccolo planner review horizontal monday start lined checklist cute colorful functional cheaper alternative to erin condren hardcover medium size video dates at a glance

Extras pages

There are no extra pages in this planner.

Planner Stickers

There are 3 different sheets and you get 2 copies of each – for both the 12 month and the 18 month versions.

The stickers are a good idea, but they don’t really suit the planner. They’re huge and will take up most of the planning space for each day. There’s also a random assortment of stickers – not enough functional stickers and not enough of each type of sticker that’s provided.

eccolo planner review video pros and cons similar cheaper alternative to erin condren plum paper planner stickers colorful

eccolo planner review video pros and cons similar cheaper alternative to erin condren plum paper planner stickers colorful reminder

eccolo planner review video pros and cons similar cheaper alternative to erin condren plum paper planner stickers colorful gold foil

Tabs

Laminated cardstock which feels thin, but they’re protected by the cover that extends beyond the planning pages, so the tabs should hold up fine. They’re big – with the year printed on them – so easy to grip.

eccolo planner review weekly monthly tabs 18 month horizontal colorful functional similar to plum paper cheaper alternative erin condren

Pen Testing

I tried various ballpoint, gel, fine tip and marker tip pens – there was some ghosting on the back side of the page (maybe one day I’ll find a planner with decent paper?!)

The highlighters didn’t show through too badly but as always, the MAMBI stamps bled through the page.

eccolo weekly planner pen testing ghosting bleed through review pros and cons video cheaper alternative to erin condren

eccolo weekly planner pen testing ghosting bleed through review pros and cons video cheaper alternative to erin condren honest

Pros of the Eccolo Weekly Planner

  • Bright and colorful – the color printing is good quality
  • Affordable
  • 12 month or 18 month duration
  • Double sided dividers (different pattern on the front and back)
  • Tabs are protected by the cover
  • Cute cover designs (and multiple designs to choose from)
  • Good line spacing
  • Functional pages
  • Medium page size – enough room to write while still being portable
  • Doesn’t weigh much (especially for a planner of this page size)
  • Goal setting and notes pages for each month
  • Holidays pre-printed for multiple countries (USA, Canada, UK)

Cons of the Eccolo Weekly Planner

  • The quotes on each weekly spread take up a lot of space
  • Monthly calendar boxes are cut in half rather than re-starting the numbering on the top row
  • No pocket folder
  • Stickers are included but they’re too big for the planner and there aren’t enough functional stickers

Would I use this planner?

Yes. If you follow my blog you’ll know I’m ‘Team Horizontal’. This planner has a functional layout (although I intend to stick stickers over the top of the weekly quote or use whiteout to make better use of the space).

When I try out the planner I intend to use the left side for blog planning and the lined space for list making.

This planner would ideal for someone that wants to avoid using 2 planners, if you like to cluster by category when planning, or if you want to separate work / personal or school / personal.

UPDATE: See how I used this planner in this post!

More planner reviews:

  • Creating a custom, personalised planner with Agendio
  • Dabney Lee for Blue Sky (horizontal page orientation)
  • Weekly Planner from Unique Planners by Pirongs Review 

Planning Tips:

  • How to organize small planner stickers using a reciepts folder
  • Monthly blog post planning using sticky notes (my 6 step process) 
  • How to make use of blank pages in your planner

Browse all posts

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eccolo weekly planner review horizontal cheaper alternative to erin condren plum paper limelife pros and cons

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Posted In: Horizontal Weekly, Planner Reviews · Tagged: academic year planner, cheap weekly planner, cheaper alternative to erin condren horizontal, cheaper alternative to limelife planner, eccollo weekly planner, eccolo horizontal planner, eccolo planner pros and cons, eccolo planner review, eccolo weekly planner, horizontal lined and unlined weekly spread horizontal weekly spread, horizontal weekly planner, horizontal weekly planner review, planners similar to erin condren, planners similar to plum paper

Comments

  1. Carrie says

    September 21, 2018 at 22:18

    Have you ever tested the Lemone notebooks for bullet journaling? They have 120gsm paper and I know that the paper even resists a lot of stamps, maybe also the ones from Mambi…

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