Planners

Home is a good place to be.  

The last few days, I've been all over the place.  Today is the first day that I'll have spent at home since Wednesday.  I left Thursday afternoon and came home Friday evening.  Then I left again Saturday morning and came home Sunday evening.  I left again yesterday morning for the day for an Orthodontist appointment for my oldest.  I've traveled over 700 miles since Thursday.  Whew!

Some days for me are quiet and relaxing, and others are very busy.  Having a busy schedule, I have to have a planner that works for me.  Some people like small planners that they can take with them, some people like white boards to keep track of all the family happenings, and some keep track of everything on their phone calendars.   I personally like a big, chunky planner that has lots of room.  After all, it has to keep up with a years worth of happenings for my family.  I can pack it with me if I want to, but I don't usually want to.  I look through my planner each day, and make a list and go from there.  It's my home base.

If you're like me, you've been hearing all about the Erin Condren planner and the Simplified planner.  I fell in love with the Erin Condren planner and I've bought 2 of them now over the last couple of years.  I've loved them!

I've been hearing so many good things about the Simplified planner as well, so I decided I'd give it a try this year.  The layout of the Simplified planner is what finally sold me.  I love that it has a spot for your 'to do' list for each day, plus notes, and a spot for meal planning.

See...

 In the Erin Codren planner, the margins for lists were very small and not divided up for each day.  They ran together for the whole week.  I prefer each day having it's own section for lists.  The Erin Condren planner did have big section for notes and extra notepads in the back of the planner that the Simplified planner doesn't have.  It's really just what you think you'll utilize most.  Either way would work.

The planners are both about the same size, which I like.

 The binder is a little bigger on the Simplified planner, which I think makes turning the pages a little harder, and the paper seems a bit thinner in the Simplified planner as well.  Otherwise I'm loving the Simplified planner so far.  We'll see over time, how it holds up.

 I do miss personalizing my planner like I've done the last couple of years with the Erin Condren planner.  But the Simplified planner is pretty, so I'm still good.  

I wish I could tell you that I absolutely loved one planner over the other, but I don't.  I like and dislike a couple things about each of them.  If the two companies would just merge, they would have the perfect planner for me, and I wouldn't have to choose one over the other.

Have any of you ever purchased one of these?  What were your thoughts?  Do you like big or small planners, or do you just keep track of everything on your phone?

PS.  This is not an affliliated post, I just thought I'd share my 2 cents on these planners in case you've been as curious as I have been.

XOXO