I’m a self-professed planner addict so when Plum Paper had their Black Friday sale I went a tad overboard buying tons of cute planners to try out!

Here’s a quick video of each of the planners and what I intend to use them for, or you can keep scrolling if you would rather read than watch.

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).

Links mentioned in the video: 

• Anything checklists 
• Recipe Binder

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner related videos!

1. Horizontal lined with notes
   

   I’ve been using a similar layout to this for a while and it was working ok but I decided to try it in a smaller size (7x 9” as opposed to full page size) to see if it’s better portability wise.

I like that this layout keeps the lined writing space to plan your days completely separate from the list making space on a separate page. That way I can fold back the notebook to only see my to do lists (what I‘m intending to use the 2 lined columns on the left page for) or flip it the other way to see what’s coming up for the week, rather than having to have both pages open to see the entire week.

I also like the box at the top with a section to flag anything important. I’m intending to use this section to note what blog posts I’m going to publish each week. It would also be a good space for an inspirational/motivational quote, journaling etc.

I’m not so much a fan of the mini monthly calendar with the dates at glance as I feel this is wasted space when I can easily flick a few pages back to see the monthly view. The only functional way I can think of to use this space is to track my period or days I posted on social media (because I’m so slack at doing that!)

Related: Plum Paper Horizontal Lined + Notes (and a comparison or colorful versus neutral)

2. Student Planner

This planner has the days split into 6 sections. While I’m no longer studying, I liked the sectioned layout (and used a planner layout similar to this when I was studying – which I included in my printable student planner. I’m intending to cover up any reference to school (such as the ‘Quizzes & Test’ section) with some custom header stickers.

I thought 7 sections would be a good idea to keep track of everything in my life such as:

• Each week’s blog posts (separate sections for each of the 3 things I blog about – planners, running an online business and graphic design)
• Products I’m working on
• Personal
• Reminders/don’t forget/random misc./most important task of the day

The only downside to this planner is that Saturday and Sunday boxes are small. I’d rather these were bigger and the notes box removed.

3. Lists Notebook

I have lists for everything. I use my list makers printable kit which I bound into a notebook which I’m going to continue using for my master lists (things like movies to watch, gift ideas for my family etc. – things I don’t need to refer to every day)

I wanted a notebook that was only for ‘quick lists’ that both my sister and I could use. So this will stay on our hall table and we can both add to it as needed.

We also needed some way to store all our collaboration ideas for our shops. I do the YouTube videos and blogging, and she prints & cuts the planner stickers I design. In this notebook we can list ideas for sticker collections, product bundles, collaboration ideas, videos to film etc.

I’m sure the use for this notebook will evolve over time but that’s what we’re planning on it using it for at the moment.

This is my favorite cover from all that I ordered – love pink and aqua! 🙂

The layout is similar to my anything mini checklists so when I saw it I thought – perfect! We were using a similar system with the arc notebook (discbound planning system) but I on purposely wanted a spiral bound notebook. The reason being is that one of us would have a tendency to pull out the page we needed and forget to put it back (ok, it was mostly me :p) so this way it will keep it all in one place.

I could’ve made my own notebook but I wanted to try something different but it was so cheap – only $20USD even with all of the add on pages!

We used to use notepads and trust me when I say that system didn’t work, once that paper was torn off the pad it would end up getting lost somewhere in out apartment. One of my ‘new year’s resolutions’ this year is to try and stop using notepads as much.

4. Recipe Book

I got this recipe book to give to my mum for her upcoming birthday (mum if you read my blog, pretend to act surprised!). She likes planners but is more of a ’done for you’ type person. She doesn’t like having to print off her own pages (her and her printer don’t get along very well). I was going to make a DIY recipe book but wanted it sized smaller than full page size. And since I was placing an order with Plum Paper anyway I though may as well – it was only $30USD.

Related: Creating a custom recipe book with Plum Paper

5. Blog Planner

I like the month at a glance pages that are specifically for blog planning. I have created similar pages in my blog planner though, so I may end up printing at Plum Paper planner size and gluing these into the notebook instead.

The workflow pages were what sold me for this notebook, I’m currently using them to keep track of blog post ideas.

6. Horizontal

I love the horizontal design with the box on the right. Some ideas of how I think I might use this box are:

• Meal planning
• Most important to do/eat that frog
• Blog post to be published that day
• Social media for each day (e..g pinning to pinterest)
• Statistics tracking e.g. blog pageviews, sales and revenue for my shop
• Favorite memory/journaling
• List making
• Income & expenses/daily spending tracking

I like that there are so many options for using the horizontal and that I can split the day into 2 by drawing a line or using some thin washi tape to create 2 sections – for me that will be work and personal.

7. Vertical

I bought the vertical because I wanted to see if stickers from the Erin Condren Vertical Life planner fit, and because I prefer lined writing space.

The columns in the Plum Paper are also open-ended (unlike the Erin Condren planner which is divided into the 3 sections of the same size), so if I need more room for one category than another, I can easily adjust it each week depending on what’s happening for my shop and my life.

I also like that I can choose how many sections I want to divide each day into such as 2 instead of 3, or just leave it one long list and color-code each task using a colored dot sticker.

Related post: How to color-code your planner (so you’ll actually use it effectively)

8. Mini notebooks

I didn’t really need another notebook but they were so cute that I couldn’t resist. I got one for my mum for Christmas which she uses for patchwork quilting reference notes such as what fabric ranges, block sizes she’s used in quilts that she’s made etc. She’s now also using the Quilters Planner which I did a review of here. I may end up giving her the notebook I purchased for myself so she can use it for grocery shopping lists.

Better than the Erin Condren?

I’ll be doing a review of each of the planners and how I’m using them as the year progresses… I”ll also be doing a comparison between the Plum Paper planners and the Erin Condren but so far, the Plum Paper is willing for a couple of main reasons:

• Cheaper shipping
• Faster order processing times (I received my order weeks before my Erin Condren order arrived and I placed both orders on the same day)
• Cheaper price but same quality
• Paper in the Plum Paper planners… there’s just something about it that feels so smooth and easy to write on
• More pre-made designs you can customise the colors, patterns, frames, text style etc.

Update: Ultimate Comparison: Erin Condren Life Planner versus Plum Paper Planners – Which planner is better? 

Some of the other Plum Paper Planners I’ve purchased <3

See this post for my 3rd Plum Paper Haul

More Plum Paper posts:

• How to print printables at Plum Paper planner size from your home printer (step by step tutorial) 
• Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 
• Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself! 
• Ultimate Comparison: Erin Condren Life Planner versus Plum Paper Planners – Which planner is better? 
• Review of the Plum Paper Memory Keepers Book 
• Review of the Plum Paper Me Planner

See how I’ve planned using Plum Paper Planners:

• How (and why) I pre-plan the week using the Plum Paper horizontal lined with notes layout
• Week 3: Plum Paper Vertical Planner – Better than the Erin Condren?
• Week 12: Planning using the Plum Paper Horizontal lined with notes
• Week 17: Using the Plum Paper Vertical Weekly Planner
• Week 29: Plum Paper Me Planner 
• Week 41 (part 3): Daily planning bullet journal style (using a Plum Paper grid dot notebook)

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