Erin Condren Life Planner Review + Coupon

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Erin Condren Life Planner
Erin Condren Life Planner

Erin Condren Life Planners are all over the place, and I basically had to have one too!  I took the plunge and ordered a gold edition!  The only way for new customers to get a coupon code for Erin Condren is to sign up using a referral link. This one is mine! You will save $10 by signing up with that link, don’t make your account until you sign up.

2016 Life Planner Updates

Check out the info on the new 2016 Life Planners here! The layout has been simplified, there is an optional horizontal layout (sort of like a FiloFax style), a Rose Gold limited edition, and updated styles. I will have a full review soon! I love the new sticker books. I find all the washi tape really hard to manage but I love decorating my planner (it makes me feel crafty). So I prefer to use the stickers. I also get custom stickers for both the blog and my regular job.

2015 Life Planner Updates

You can also visit Erin Condren and find out all about the new 2015 planners! They are mostly the same, but with some great new features – a perpetual address book that isn’t bound with the planner, removable covers for mixing & matching, new designer sticker packs to decorate your planner, and other new and great tweaks! Otherwise the layout is largely the same as my current planner. My planner is continuing to work GREAT for my needs, and I do evolve it as I go. I use a variety of the other products, love the stationery, and the desk pad is a workhorse for me!

I’m going to order some of the new repositionable stickers, I love those things, I don’t want to fool with my making my own stickers, I just want to put my recurring events in my planner easily and I totally recommend them! The other thing I’m going to recommend without even trying it yet are those new snap in holders called the “coil clips” under accessories. I often stick tag pad sheets in my planner with washi tape (example) and I think these would be great!

Erin Condren Life Planner Review

My overall summary of my Erin Condren Life Planner Review: I love this planner, I really needed a full-on paper planner (so funny, because I’m usually 100% digital!) and I have been totally using it. There is no reason to get a gold edition unless you love the looks of it, as I did.  Even though I love it, I rarely even see the cover, because I have it laying out or folded back!

The Box
The Box

Erin Condren takes a lot of pride in their packaging. You can see my unboxing on Youtube if you want! This was my fifth order and I got a great coupon! I can’t wait to use it. Erin Condren has an excellent loyalty program, so if you love their stuff, sign up and place a crazy amount of orders. I’ve actually made quite a few orders from them – last year Erin Condren had a great $20 off coupon for current coupons and I detailed how to save the most with that coupon. It’s not currently available but I hope they will start a similar promotion soon!

Inside Cover
Inside Cover

The gold Life Planner is gorgeous. GORGEOUS! The coils are dipped in gold and the cover has gold foil. It’s sturdily laminated but not too thick. I wish my name was in gold, too. (see the outside cover at the top of the post)  It’s an “on*the*go” life planner and to be honest, if it were any larger, it wouldn’t be portable.  Obviously the pages are bound and I like that for now better than inserting my own pages and mixing and matching. There are tons of cover options and you can have photos printed on the regular planners.

Birthdays & Anniversaries
Birthdays & Anniversaries

I will not use this section. I plan on covering up the headers with washi tape and making lists – movies I want to rent, that sort of thing. Some people use it as a daily gratitude journal. You can write one thing every day you are thankful for. I keep my birthdays on my iphone calendar and don’t intend to write them all down every year. I think that’s nuts.

18 month calendar
18 month calendar

This calendar was for easy reference. I wasn’t thrilled that it started in the middle of July. If you watched my YouTube video, you can see I wasn’t thrilled with something else – they started my planner with the wrong month. I was quite frankly ticked! Erin Condren sent me a very generous gift card to compensate and I will be purchasing a matching notebook. I am the first person to say that this company has grown too fast and their QC has not been on top of properly producing orders and getting them out the door (this took weeks). But I’m more than happy with their customer service and loyalty program.

Month at a Glance
Month at a Glance

There is a layout for each month, with notes on the side. Everything has a laminated tab, so they are easy to grab.

Elastic Band
Elastic Band

I love the elastic band! I use it to keep all the other months tucked away. I also use it if I tape something on the inside cover to keep it down.

Quote
Quote

There are inspirational quotes scattered all over the planner. I generally ignore these but they’re nice to read.

Color Coding
Color Coding

I like the visual cues in the planner. This is the week at a glance, and you can see there are visual cues for different times of day, and when months switch.  Every week has a weekly goals and notes section and each day has 4 lines underneath – use them for whatever you want. I generally have been using them for meal planning.

Speaking of, here’s a look at how I’ve been using my Erin Condren planner.

Weekly Spread
Weekly Spread

Yes, I’m mostly using it as a blog/home planner. You can see I taped in a page of my matching notebook using washi. It has really helped me stay on top of my reviews.  It’s so fun and happy I just want to use it! Plus I paid a bundle for it so I feel obligated. It’s psychological.

Second Page
Second Page

This page is now pretty full! You can see I used some washi to decorate it a little! I will probably end up using the different boxes (morning/day/night) for different “buckets” of tasks – blog, home, etc. I am not back to my normal schedule and it’s going to take me a while to settle in to using my planner!

Lined Pages
Lined Pages

There are gobs of lined pages…

Blank Pages
Blank Pages

And a few blank pages! Every set of blank pages has a different pattern. I liked this one so much I ordered a notebook with that cover.

Stickers
Stickers

Every planner comes with several pages of pre-printed stickers and blank ones too. There’s an entire page of “birthday” stickers. I was like hmmmm I don’t have that many birthdays to keep track of! I did order some custom stickers.  They are of exciting things like “Julep Day.”

Contacts
Contacts

I will prob fill out some basic emergency information. I will never use the contacts page. Fortunately there’s not a lot of them. If you want a permanent paper address book they have one.

folder
folder

I love this folder to stow stuff in. If you’re wondering where to install your adhesive pen holder, that’s where I put mine. It’s a few dollars extra. I totally haven’t used it. But I’m not at home with my pens. The silver stuff on the other side is just some washi I stuck there after I pulled it off. I am lazy.

Pouch
Pouch

I love the pouch! I am using it to stow all the gift cards I have that need used up! The gold planner also comes with these swell gold paper clips called clipiolas. There are only 2. You also get some really nice gift labels. I ended up with a trunk of Erin Condren gift wrap and I can’t wait to wrap some gorgeous gifts and slap those puppies on!

2 year calendar
2 year calendar

I already stuck my notebook to the back page, but there’s a two year calendar there. It’s pretty dark on the purple printing.

Back Cover
Back Cover

Laaaaa gorgeous! I love the looks of it. Between that and the price, I have really been using it. I love that it’s coil bound so I don’t lose anything. I needed one single place to write everything down. Despite my utter devotion to my phone/laptop/ipad combo, I must admit – it’s easier and faster to just use a paper planner.  My phone is for alarms/reminders. My planner is for writing everything down.

What do you think? Would you drop this sort of change on a planner? The gold edition is $75. The per day cost is very low but it’s a big investment for me, especially as I haven’t been using a paper planner. If you want to check out Erin Condren, use the link and get a $10 off coupon. You can also try code INVITED10. I will be back with more in a few weeks about how I decorate my planner and what pens I use. I definitely need some color coding but one does what she has to when away from home for an extended period (just use a regular pen and write!)

Comments

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  • amittenfull
    10.08.14

    Is the $10 coupon code still valid??

    • Brandy
      10.08.14

      Yep. You have to register on a referral link to get the coupon emailed to you

      • amittenfull
        10.08.14

        Awesome, thanks Brandy!

  • Linsey
    06.26.14

    Was the purple a color you customized? I love the purple, but they don’t have purple on the site!

    • Brandy
      06.26.14

      That was last year. They do not customize the colors of the gilt covers but it is possible they would do it if they have leftover stock. I don’t know why they got rid of it!! I think I got the grey and another cover. When I get my new planner I will post it!

  • Brittany Bennett
    01.08.14

    I’m currently trying to use the INVITED10 coupon and not having any success 🙁

    • Brandy
      01.08.14

      oh no, it might be expired! did you sign up using a referral link (anyones) and get a coupon?

      • Brittany
        01.09.14

        I used your link and got 10.00 off…hope you did too 🙂

        • Brandy
          01.09.14

          awesome thank you so much! I have spent WAY too much at Erin Condren but they do have gorgeous things and great customer service. I can’t wait to get my notebook that I ordered. One of my goals for the year is to send out at least one paper card/note per month, something cute, maybe I’ll get some cards too. It’s kind of a funny NY resolution but whatever!

          • Brittany Bennett
            01.09.14

            That’s so funny….my new goal for this year is to send 1 card per week to someone on my heart for encouragement or just cheer! Great minds! My husband and I lost our daughter last year so I know how uplifting receiving a card in the mail can be! Maybe I’ll order some of EC’s notecards too 🙂

  • Bethany
    01.06.14

    Lots of good ideas here!! I got mine recently but I wish I had ordered an elastic band! The gold edition is very pretty!

    • Laura Jordan
      06.23.14

      use a stretchy thin headband. A child’s size should fit nicely and you have different colors to choose from. If you shop at a dollar store you can get them for 1.00. much less than the band you order here.

  • kaylaann2013
    01.05.14

    I think this is kind of pricey but I have heard nothing but great reviews and a paper planner is a must for me! I think I may have to splurge!

    • Brandy
      01.05.14

      You should know that the regular life planner is much less expensive! The regular one is $50 but obviously I am obsessed with purpley swirly things. It’s still less than a dollar a week. Not to enable you or anything.