I decided on getting the Erin Condren Life Planner because I have heard so much about it and was really curious to see what the hype was about and how it measures up. At $55, it is definitely an investment, but my husband told me he wanted to get mine as an early Christmas present so I caved and told him the design I wanted. If interested, you can click here for $10 using my referral link. I chose the Paisley cover design with my initials in the bottom right hand corner. There are a lot of reasons why I chose this particular planner, but I figured I would break it down to the key selling points for me.
The Coil – The coil on the Erin Condren is very strong and sturdy. The discs on the Happy Planner started to break on me and that was very frustrating. I like the idea of a spiral bound planner and not having to worry about the discs breaking.
The Size – The Erin Condren Life Planner is just a little smaller than the MAMBI Happy Planner. The cover size on the Happy Planner measures 7.75″ x 9.75″ and the pages are 7″ x 9.25″ whereas the Erin Condren Life Planner measures 7″ x 9″. I like the fact that the Erin Condren is smaller, it fits a little better into my purse. 
Stylish & Interchangeable Covers – The cover on my Happy Planner showed signs of wear and tear through the last year. I like the fact that you can purchase additional different covers on Erin Condren’s website for your planner so that you are not stuck with the same design all year long. If you want to change it seasonally, you can. There are tons of designs and personalization options that can make your planner uniquely yours. The cover I chose can be seen in the picture to the right. The paisley design comes in a white or dark gray version, and I chose the white color.
Clear, Snap in Ruler – I love this little ruler – it has helped me create nice straight lines for some of my notes pages as well as comes in handy when trying to tear off washi tape.
Plan for It Pouch – The planner comes with a ton of freebies and this pouch is one of them. Inside are some cute things, but I plan to use this pouch to hold pens, some washi and extra stickers.
Pocket Folder – I like that this planner comes with a pocket folder. I would put paperwork or tuck something into my Happy Planner and would hope that it wouldn’t fall out – and now, I don’t have to worry about that.
Because the Erin Condren comes with so many additional pages, I am customizing these pages towards some of my goals for this year. I have six categories of goals that I am working on: Health, Family, Home, Financial, Work and Personal. Throughout the months I will change up which goals I am working toward so that I don’t get bored. The notes section is particularly important for my planning this year. I have a section about my daughter’s school and class, a section to help keep track of monthly tasks, a section to keep track of my moods throughout the year, and a weight loss tracker (I d
o plan on starting with Weight Watchers again soon and thought this would be a fun way to track the pounds I lose). So without further ado, here is a look at some of my completed pages to start off my year.
This calendar (to the left) is in the front of the book. I use different color pens to mark days off or half days for myself and my daughter. I have a key at the bottom that tells me which color goes to what.
My goals are outlined on this next page divided into the six categories. In each category I break it down into specific things I want to accomplish.
The next few pictures are how I customized my planner’s notes pages. The 365 Days of Emotions is probably my favorite one. I found something similar to this on Pinterest and I thought it was such a great idea. Being in the mental health field and as a therapist, I know how important emotions are and being able to regulate 
your emotions. I thought it was such a cool concept to keep track of the different emotions I feel on a daily basis and see if there are any trends. 
The weight loss tracker is another fun find on Pinterest that I thought would be a cool way of keeping track of pounds lost and rewards for myself for each milestone. I am not specifically looking to lose 32 lbs, but I do plan on joining Weight Watchers later this year and want to have a fun way of keeping track of what I lose. My last page is a My Monthly Tasks page and this is where I am keeping track of different tasks around the house that I need to do each month.
The next pictures are of my weekly spread for New Year’s Week. I was so excited to start planning in this new planner but I felt a little bit intimidated because I wanted it to come out great. Overall I am happy with it. I am continuing to use stickers from the MAMBI sticker books. They are a little larger than the Erin Condren boxes, but it’s not something that bothers me or will keep me from using these sticker books.
That about sums up what my planner is looking like right now. If anyone is interested, I can continue to post pictures of my planner and how I decorate it/plan out my weeks and am keeping up with my goals. Let me know in the comments how you are planning for 2018!
Disclosure: This post does contain a referral link to Erin Condren that provides a $10 off coupon as well as referral credits for myself. This post is not affiliated or sponsored with Erin Condren, I am just providing a look into what I am using for the new year.
