If you need some more space for budgeting but don’t want to carry around a second planner, then try the Go Girl Budget Planner.

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Quick facts

• Size: Just under 5.5″ wide x 7.75″ wide (inside pages just under 5.25″ wide x 7.5″ high)
• Hardcover
• Sewn binding
• Pen loop
• Multiple cover colors to choose from
• Undated
• Lasts 12 months
• 2 ribbon bookmarks
• Neutral color scheme
• Savings tracker
• Debt tracker
• Monthly goals, budget, spending, reflection
• Christmas budgeting
• Annual summary
• Dot grid pages
• Pocket folder
• Comes with a sheet of functional budgeting stickers

Price: $16 USD on Amazon

Let’s take a closer look!

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If you’d like to see a comparison between the Go Girl budget planner and the Clever Fox budget planner, let me know in the comments below.

The Cover

The hardcover comes in many color options: green, rose gold, gold, orange, black, purple, pink, turquoise, dark blue, light blue and grey

Just over 0.5″ thick (approx. 1.5cm)

Financial Goals

The notebook starts with space to record up to 7 financial goals followed by a strategy page. The cursive font in the boxes (which is a bit hard to read) says:

• New skills I need to learn to achieve my financial goals
• Actions I will take to earn more money
• Actions I will take to cut my expenses

If you need more space, there are 5 double sided 5mm dot grid pages at the back of the notebook.

The line spacing is 6mm.

Next is the savings tracker (4 pages / 8 sections)

And a debt tracker in the same format (4 pages / 8 sections)

I like that these are broken down into mini goals so you could break down a larger goal into less daunting smaller goals. So paying off say, a $15,000 car loan could be broken down into 3 x $5,000 instalments. Similar to Sugar Mamma’s The $1,000 Project approach.

Monthly Planning

Each month has:

• Monthly summary – 4 financial goals, upcoming purchases, upcoming bills, income and savings
• Monthly budget
• Expense tracker (4 pages)
• Monthly budget review
• 5mm dot grid page

I really like the monthly planning page – really functional and a good overview of the month

There is plenty of space to record all of your everyday purchases, impulse buys and bills.

The monthly budget review has plenty of space to answer these questions (and you might even have a few lines spare to add your own).

• Where did I have the most trouble?
• What could I improve this month?
• What goals can I set for the next month?

There are 12 monthly sections so the planner will last an entire year.

Summary of the year

This page could be improved. There are more than 12 rows but the planner lasts for 12 months so it seems like half the page wouldn’t be used. You can add the monthly savings but there isn’t a section to tie back to the overall savings goals or debt tracker goals you set at the start of the planner.

Christmas Finances

At the back of the planner is a 2 page spread with Christmas budget, Christmas gifts and Christmas spending.

I would’ve liked to see a gift expenses list page too (birthday’s, anniversaries etc.)

There are 5 double sided 5mm dot grid pages at the back of the notebook. You could use these for:

• Drawing graphs to visualise your savings and debt payoff progress
• Plan how you’re going to make some extra money to meet your financial goals
• Brainstorm ideas for Christmas and birthday gifts
• Wish list
• Compare prices, notes and research for big ticket items you want to purchase e.g. a car, an expensive appliance, furniture budget for your first home, renovation budget for your existing home etc.

There is a pocket folder at the back with 1 sheet of stickers – some of which are shiny rose gold foil 🙂

If you like the style of this planner, there is also a Go Girl Weekly Planner.

Pen Testing

I didn’t do a pen test of this planner as I won’t be keeping it (I do my budgeting using Microsoft Excel). However the brand that created the Go Girl Planner also created the Legend Planner and the Clever Fox Planner. The paper feels similar so I expect the results of a pen test would be similar too.

Here’s my pen test of the Clever Fox dotted notebook.

Clever fox is one of the few brands I’ve found that has decent paper in a sewn bound notebook. Bright white with only minor ghosting for marker pens and stamps.

Pros of the Planner

• Portable size
• Pen loop
• Lightweight
• Pocket folder
• Extra dot grid pages at the back
• 2 Ribbon bookmarks (and different colors)
• Multiple cover colors to choose from
• Affordable
• Bright white paper
• Christmas budgeting pages (which not all budget planners include)
• Monthly review page
• Plenty of space to record monthly expenses
• Fits a lot for the small page size and weight of the planner
• Functional sticker sheet

Cons of the Planner

• Some of the cursive fonts are hard to read
• The page design is a bit plain
• Personal preference – some people may prefer a calendar format to see upcoming bills and expenses which this planner does not include
• Summary of the year page could’ve been designed better

If you’d like a copy of the Go Girl Budget Planner, it’s available on Amazon.

Would I use this planner?

No. I prefer to keep track of my finances using spreadsheets I made.

This planner is good, however there are so many options to choose from these days that I would go with the Clever Fox Budget Planner, Happy Planner Budget Planner or the Carpe Diem Budget Planner instead. They have a better design, color and layouts.

More budget planner reviews:

• Otto Budget Planner Review (Undated)
• Recollections Budget Planner
• Carpe Diem Budget Planner
• Happy Planner Budget Edition Review
• Erin Condren Budget Book (Petite Planner)
• Clever Fox Budget Planner

Planning Tips:

• DIY Bullet journal alphabet stencil that costs practically nothing
• 10 ways to save money when buying planner supplies
• My favorite sticky note brands for planning 

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