Erin Condren: Worth it or Not?

Unless you live under a rock in the blogging world, you know what Erin Condren is and that they have an amazing planner.

If you know that, you also probably know about the price tag. $50. Ouch.

I was unconvinced by all the reviews I read raving about this iconic planner until I saw it in person. Then I rushed home and told Cody it was #1 on my Christmas list. And of course, because he's an amazing husband, he got it for me.

I got the "Favorite Things" cover because it was really colorful and the best way to customize all of it. Over all, I really like the outside. It's very sturdy and the spiral has yet to lose shape or anything that I've experienced with other planners.

The inside is also really colorful and of course, we have the tabs for each month and in a different color. They are laminated and seem to be holding up well.

At the beginning of the planner, you have a full calendar at a glance as well as a calendar to put Birthdays and Anniversaries and things like that. I really like both of these. 

Inside the planner, you have monthly and weekly pages. The monthly pages span across 2 pages, so you have some room to write there.

The weekly pages are all divided into morning, day and night sections. This is one aspect I don't like. I love that it's divided, but I'd rather be able to customize my sections. My top one is school, instead of morning. My middle one is blog instead of day and my bottom one is for everything else.

You have a ruler that attaches to the spiral which I love but it doesn't connect all the way down, so it can get pulled off the spiral easily.

For each week, you have a to do list and a goals section, which I really like.

The right sided picture above is one thing I don't like about the planner. When the months change, there's a strip that states the new month. I think a color change (which it also does) is just fine to indicate the months changing. The extra column just messes up where the days are placed for that month, which is kind of annoying.

At the back of the planner, you have both decorated notes pages and lined pages. I love the lined pages. They are great for keeping things like school schedules on. The decorated pages are cute, but I'm not sure I'll use them.

Also at the back, you have contact pages. One is to list all of your information and one is to list others. I could do without the page to list my information. I have a phone, so I don't need to write all of that down.

I'd love to have another contact page though to write bloggers' addresses down. As it stands right now, you only have 14 slots and I definitely have more than 14 addresses.

The last thing you have at the back are two pockets. I love these. I wish the "keep it together" folder was at the front, but it's not a big deal that it's at the back. The other one is great to hold post it notes or whatever else you want to make sure it's going to go anywhere.

Another thing at the back? The infamous stickers. These stickers are great b/c they are designed to fit the exact width of the columns in the planner. The kicker? They don't make sense! There are a few that say camping, a ton that say "party!" and a couple that say "Vegas!" They are just very lifestyle specific. There aren't enough "payday" stickers to cover the full year and there are only two or three "date night" stickers. For school goers, there are only a few that say "no school." You do get a page of blank stickers, which is nice and I also bought some star stickers at walmart to go along with the planner.

I love that there are quotes throughout and only wish that there were more because as soon as I got it, I read through every single one!

Overall, the only real things I would change are the stickers and the extra column when the month changes. 

So, is the planner worth it? It's a gorgeous planner and so bright and fun. I definitely like it more than my old planner, which was one from Office Depot. I love that it's thicker and easy to carry around. It's slightly smaller than a full size notebook, which makes it easier to transport in purses and things like that. 

I've already told Cody I want another one next year so I think it's worth it, even with the few changes I would make.

Disclaimer: As stated, this was a Christmas gift from my husband and I was not compensated for this post.

Do you have an Erin Condren Life Planner?

Do you love it? Is there anything you would change?

Have you met this amazing blogger?