I appreciate you including a nice monthly planner. Orange Circle Studios has a lot of great large monthlies (theirs are more composition size), and so does JStory, Stalogy, Delfonics, and Campus Notebooks. I spent just $5 on a MUJI planner that’s just blank months, allowing me to use one monthly spread for finances and another for appointments/online posting.
I’ve been bouncing around for almost 2 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that my favorite is Prayerful Planner. The weekly layout is similar to Passion Planner but it has some notes pages between each week. It also has great monthly dashboards, a Bible reading tracker, and extra material in the front are wonderful. The covers are beautiful and the packaging is second to none. Even better than Simplified and CWM. The customer service (Jen) is THE best, which really tipped the scales for me. She also offers a free sticker download and a themed Bible journaling plan every month. You might want to check them out sometime.
@@Holdenpartyof6 Idk what happened to my reply but it’s gone. I don’t purchase sticker kits so I’ve never tried that. The paper is not super smooth like plum paper. Just a tad bit of grip. It’s excellent quality though.
Hi Amanda! It is super easy to change out the covers on the Laurel Denise planners if the cover you want doesn't match the guts you want! I've done it a few times and it's super simple! 😊
My Laurel Denise Horizontal Planner is the only planner I have been able to use for a whole straight year. It just works for my brain so well. Plus I don’t feel so guilty or pressured to fill the space like I do with other planners. And the paper quality is just wow!! And the price too! I’m so glad you introduced me to them from previous reviews :)
Hi Amanda! I love these favorites videos and look forward to seeing them all year long! The past 2 years I've used Sprouted and really liked the changes she's made this year, but I think I'm going back to the EC Daily Duo for 2025. Not sure why, but I need a change and have loved EC in past years. Your visit to the company was very inspiring, too! I just ordered it and am excited to get into it in the coming year! And I'm ordering HanCanPlan stickers to go with it! Can't wait! Thanks for all you do! Happy Holidays!🩷
Aw, thanks for all those kind words Gabby. I totally understand that sometimes we just need a change even if we like what we've been in:) And the EC factory was amazing and gave me a great respect for how much goes into one planner! Happy Holidays to you too friend:) xxx
Hi Amanda - always watch your videos - despite the fact that I have been in the same planners year after year for 3 years. One of them I found from your video review and it is my super flexible work horse - the She's in Her Apron planner. It's my monthly, weekly, daily - for home care, home maintenance and projects, doctor's appts and brainstorming future projects. It's a fabulous planner that I would have never located on my own - so a big thank you Amanda. My other two are not ones you may have reviewed - my B6 HOBO - is my bedside and on the go planner for monthly and daily brain dumping and appts. Finally I use Cocoa Daisy A-5 inserts for monthly, weekly, daily - this is my goal and progress planner. Also, the only one I decorate, as the inserts a a monthly subscription available as complete kits -- with stickers, stamps, washi and all variety of other accessories. This last one allows me to do a little creative planning and enjoy setting up my weeks so I am excited for the projects and achieving my goals. Love all these planners and hooray finally planner peace!
Hi Michelle:) Thanks for taking time to chat and share your line up with me! I love the beauty and seasonality that Cocoa Daisy offers! I am not sure what the B6 Hobo is?
Welcome! It will be in a Comparison video on January 7th with four other Tomoe River Paper Planners:) I did already put the unedited version of that video up for my Patreons;)
So fun seeing your personal favorites and truly an honor to have the Monthly Notebook Planner be part of that! Thank you for sharing, Amanda 🥰🫶 Can’t wait for 2025 planning!
Hi, I've been enjoying your series very much. I have recently bought a hemlock and oak weekly on your recommendation. It's on its way. I think I am going to love it. I used your affliate link and discount-thank you!
Unfortunately, It' can be very expensive to make planners and depends where they manufacture and if it has colours vs black and white, other things like foiling. How large the runs the company afford as well.
I agree- so many people have to be paid in a planner company...and EC I have been to their warehouse in Austin where they are printed and bound and many hands touch your planner before it gets to your hands...that doesn't even count the designers that work on them first. They are coiled by hand and packed by hand;) Just like anything else we can choose what to spend our money on based on what we value;) There are many much cheaper planners out there too! And I recently did a video on 3 budget planners...I also just shared southworth planners which are amazing and under $20.
Great video Amanda! Thanks for sharing your personal favorites! I have Laurel Denise and just love their unique layout, agree the aesthetic is simply unmatched! ❤️ their unique layout is a game changer! I also love Planner Perfect and Hemlock and Oak all which I’m using next year! 😅🙈✨
Thanks for sharing your favorites! They are all solid planners. I picked up the little monthly sticker set from HanCanPlan and I cant wait to use them in my 2025 MomAgenda!
I have the collab stickers from HanCanPlan. They are beautiful as well as absolutely adorable!!! Thinking 2025 is going to have me doing quarterly restacks. So many I want to use!!!!
I am working through what to use for 2025. I have plum paper vertical priority planner for my main planner. I have a monthly Ashley Shelley not sure how I am going to use it yet. Wish I could sit down with you and reason through it all. Thank you for such a thorough video.
every single time I think I have my planners figured out, I go for a different one just to "experiment" and that is my downfall. I do not know why I am that way. Lol I am going back to a daily next Summer; most likely Plum Paper.
Does anyone else feel intimated by trying a new type of planner? I'm trying the EC daily duo for the first time. I've always used horizontal layouts and avoided putting in work and life stuff in the same planner. Next year is going to be so different for me.
I think it's always hard to change anything in our lives! At least for me...the older I get...I find I feel this more. But I also know change is part of life and often leads to things working better or it's just necessary! Try not to take it too seriously and view it as an experiment ...and give it a bit of time;) It might take a bit before you find your groove in it;)
Like some of the other commenters, I have been in a real planner dilemma. I’m looking for a spiral bound planner for 2025 and I’ve already purchased two, and I don’t like either one. Well, one might work, but the other one has already been donated. I’m OK with that but these planners are expensive. I love using bound planners and ring planners. I have them in all sizes and shapes. Been a Franklin Covey fanatic since they came out in the 80s, or late 70s I can’t remember. I have used them consistently since then, but not as my only planner. Sometimes it’s my main planner sometimes it’s a project planner sometimes it’s a home management planner. I also like my pocket and personal size Filofax planners. I have used spiral bound planners in the past. My favorite font and layout is Erin Condron, but I have to say I hate the paper! am I crazy? Am I the only one? I don’t know, but I just can’t get on with the paper. I absolutely love their notebooks in both A5 size and the 7 x 9 size. I think their covers are gorgeous. I love everything about the EC notebooks except the paper. I have bought so many EC notebooks thinking maybe this time it will work. I’ve also purchased the planner a few times over the past seven or eight years and I stopped using it partway into the year. I find the paper too scratchy and too toothy and no matter which pen I use, I just can’t get on with it. Many of the other spiral planners have vertical layouts. I have never been able to get on with a vertical layout. I prefer daily layouts or dashboard weekly. For that reason, I’m kind of looking at the Laurel Denise. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get on with that big landscape planner. So for spiral bound planners, I don’t want a vertical layout. And I don’t want the traditional horizontal layout because that doesn’t really work for me either. What I really love is the happy planner dashboard layout in an EC planner, but with smooth thick paper! I love smooth versus toothy paper, where the pen feels like it’s just gliding like butter across the paper. I can get along without my preferred daily layout because I still have daily pages in my Franklin Covey. But a weekly layout for me can’t just be vertical or horizontal lines. It needs to include a section for a long weekly to do list. I like it to have a notes section bigger than a couple of inches. And honestly, the days of the week Monday through Sunday sections can be smaller because I just use those for appointments and I put my weekly tasks and notes in the designated sections, that is why I love the happy planner dashboard layout. However, I am so over discs. I did look into the plum paper planner, but I got overwhelmed by their website because you can customize so many things. I like customization but I don’t want to have to think that hard right now. 2024 has been a tough year. Well, all this to say that if there’s anyone else out there like me, you are not alone. I will probably order planners that I won’t even use for next year and yes, I will waste money that could probably go to better use. But I’m going to keep trying until I get it right and I really really appreciate your channel. It is the best channel out therefor planner reviews! Thank you for that!
Cheryl...the whole time I was reading I was thinking Plum Paper was the only one that might fit the bill for you! Then I got down to that part and you had already looked there. I would say that their website is hard at first. It is not the easiest to navigate...but worth it if the planner will work for you and I think you will love their paper. I have a plum paper video coming out next Wednesday, Nov. 27th...wait and watch that video for layout book info and my code that will stack on any sale they are having next week!
Wonderful news! Can’t wait to watch the video. Thank you so much for your response and I will definitely give plum paper planner another look. The last two months have been dealing with the loss of my mom and settling her estate and it’s been nonstop meetings, phone calls, emails, etc. so I’ve just been leaning towards things that were quick and simple. But, I do need to take the time to really look at the Plum paper planner and I will give it serious consideration. Thanks again and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Off-topic but… Do you have any information about the Cultivate What Matters black Friday sale? I am debating on whether to buy now or wait till Black Friday. I always buy with your coupon code as well. So thank you for that.
I will take a look. It sounds like a business planner- and I don't usually do those types of reviews just bc they are so niche and all the work that goes into a video isn't worth it when it doesn't appeal to bugger groups of people;)
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I appreciate you including a nice monthly planner. Orange Circle Studios has a lot of great large monthlies (theirs are more composition size), and so does JStory, Stalogy, Delfonics, and Campus Notebooks. I spent just $5 on a MUJI planner that’s just blank months, allowing me to use one monthly spread for finances and another for appointments/online posting.
It is so cool that you've found so many good options for monthly planning! Thanks for sharing them with me:)
I’ve been bouncing around for almost 2 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that my favorite is Prayerful Planner. The weekly layout is similar to Passion Planner but it has some notes pages between each week. It also has great monthly dashboards, a Bible reading tracker, and extra material in the front are wonderful. The covers are beautiful and the packaging is second to none. Even better than Simplified and CWM. The customer service (Jen) is THE best, which really tipped the scales for me. She also offers a free sticker download and a themed Bible journaling plan every month. You might want to check them out sometime.
That sounds like a great choice! Does the prayerful planner work with sticker kits? How is the paper? Slick or tooth? Thanks!!
I have seen that planner and it looks awesome:) Thank you for sharing all the reasons why you love it.
@@Holdenpartyof6 Idk what happened to my reply but it’s gone. I don’t purchase sticker kits so I’ve never tried that. The paper is not super smooth like plum paper. Just a tad bit of grip. It’s excellent quality though.
Hi Amanda! It is super easy to change out the covers on the Laurel Denise planners if the cover you want doesn't match the guts you want! I've done it a few times and it's super simple! 😊
Thank you! I have done it once with the wire-0 binding:) But I will take all the support:)
My Laurel Denise Horizontal Planner is the only planner I have been able to use for a whole straight year. It just works for my brain so well. Plus I don’t feel so guilty or pressured to fill the space like I do with other planners. And the paper quality is just wow!! And the price too! I’m so glad you introduced me to them from previous reviews :)
Oh, yay! I love hearing this! You found your golden ticket for now:)
Hi Amanda! I love these favorites videos and look forward to seeing them all year long!
The past 2 years I've used Sprouted and really liked the changes she's made this year, but I think I'm going back to the EC Daily Duo for 2025. Not sure why, but I need a change and have loved EC in past years. Your visit to the company was very inspiring, too! I just ordered it and am excited to get into it in the coming year! And I'm ordering HanCanPlan stickers to go with it! Can't wait! Thanks for all you do! Happy Holidays!🩷
Aw, thanks for all those kind words Gabby. I totally understand that sometimes we just need a change even if we like what we've been in:) And the EC factory was amazing and gave me a great respect for how much goes into one planner! Happy Holidays to you too friend:) xxx
Hi Amanda - always watch your videos - despite the fact that I have been in the same planners year after year for 3 years. One of them I found from your video review and it is my super flexible work horse - the She's in Her Apron planner. It's my monthly, weekly, daily - for home care, home maintenance and projects, doctor's appts and brainstorming future projects. It's a fabulous planner that I would have never located on my own - so a big thank you Amanda. My other two are not ones you may have reviewed - my B6 HOBO - is my bedside and on the go planner for monthly and daily brain dumping and appts. Finally I use Cocoa Daisy A-5 inserts for monthly, weekly, daily - this is my goal and progress planner. Also, the only one I decorate, as the inserts a a monthly subscription available as complete kits -- with stickers, stamps, washi and all variety of other accessories. This last one allows me to do a little creative planning and enjoy setting up my weeks so I am excited for the projects and achieving my goals. Love all these planners and hooray finally planner peace!
Hi Michelle:) Thanks for taking time to chat and share your line up with me! I love the beauty and seasonality that Cocoa Daisy offers! I am not sure what the B6 Hobo is?
Newer viewer here. Thank you for your thorough reviews, super helpful! Have you done a review video of Just Scribble planners?
Welcome! It will be in a Comparison video on January 7th with four other Tomoe River Paper Planners:) I did already put the unedited version of that video up for my Patreons;)
@@AmandasFavorites thank you!
Thanks for this!
Have you ever done a “favorite undated planners”?
I have Laurel Denise and Power Sheets. I just need some motivation
I haven't done that...but you are right there are many great undated planners!
You could always use the project insert pages in LD to get that extra space!
Good point! Their inserts are amazing:)
Loved hearing your reasons for why each has a different fave space in your heart! And HanCanPlan’s stickers are the cutest! 💛
Thanks Kim:) xxx
So fun seeing your personal favorites and truly an honor to have the Monthly Notebook Planner be part of that! Thank you for sharing, Amanda 🥰🫶 Can’t wait for 2025 planning!
Thanks Ashley:) I can't wait to use that Monthly Planner this year;)
Hi, I've been enjoying your series very much. I have recently bought a hemlock and oak weekly on your recommendation. It's on its way. I think I am going to love it. I used your affliate link and discount-thank you!
Oh, those hemlock planners are amazing quality! The paper and everything about them! Enjoy it:)
Always look forward to these top 5s every year!! ❤❤
Oh, good! I love hearing this:)
80.00 for a planner is uncalled for!!
Unfortunately, It' can be very expensive to make planners and depends where they manufacture and if it has colours vs black and white, other things like foiling. How large the runs the company afford as well.
I agree- so many people have to be paid in a planner company...and EC I have been to their warehouse in Austin where they are printed and bound and many hands touch your planner before it gets to your hands...that doesn't even count the designers that work on them first. They are coiled by hand and packed by hand;) Just like anything else we can choose what to spend our money on based on what we value;) There are many much cheaper planners out there too! And I recently did a video on 3 budget planners...I also just shared southworth planners which are amazing and under $20.
Great video Amanda! Thanks for sharing your personal favorites! I have Laurel Denise and just love their unique layout, agree the aesthetic is simply unmatched! ❤️ their unique layout is a game changer! I also love Planner Perfect and Hemlock and Oak all which I’m using next year! 😅🙈✨
Thanks for sharing your faves Sonia:)
As usual , loved this video.....this was my guilty pleasure watching this morning....thank you sweet lady 🥰
Awwww, thank you Ruthanne:)
My favorite planner is the PlanBold vertical planner. Has pages for Neal planning and workouts. The paper is Devine!!
Thanks for sharing that with me Amy:) I have never had that planner in my hands;)
Thanks for sharing your favorites! They are all solid planners. I picked up the little monthly sticker set from HanCanPlan and I cant wait to use them in my 2025 MomAgenda!
Oh, the stickers will be perfect in Momagenda!
I have the collab stickers from HanCanPlan. They are beautiful as well as absolutely adorable!!! Thinking 2025 is going to have me doing quarterly restacks. So many I want to use!!!!
yay for the stickers;)
Thank you so much Amanda! You did an amazing job.❤❤
Your stickers are so beautiful! Thanks Hannah:)
I wish the momagenda and passion planner lines were spaced a little wider… I need .25 inch. If they changed that I’d buy both lol
I agree that I would like their lines a bit wider too:) As you have seen from my planning...I don't always stay in those small lines!
I am working through what to use for 2025. I have plum paper vertical priority planner for my main planner. I have a monthly Ashley Shelley not sure how I am going to use it yet. Wish I could sit down with you and reason through it all. Thank you for such a thorough video.
Aw, I understand. Talking through it out loud can sometimes help us so much.
Hi Amanda, have you heard of Start planner? Would love to know your thoughts!
I have heard of it...but haven't looked into it lately. Thanks for letting me know what you want to see;)
Yay🎉 I've been waiting on your 2025 planner videos to start ~ thank you!
Awww, yay! I have many Top 5 for 2025 that came out before this one this year;) The playlist is linked in this video description.
every single time I think I have my planners figured out, I go for a different one just to "experiment" and that is my downfall. I do not know why I am that way. Lol I am going back to a daily next Summer; most likely Plum Paper.
It's hard to resist when window shopping is popping up daily for us online.
Love this, I hope you will make it a tradition!
I did it last year too...so maybe now 2 in a row it will become one I do yearly:) Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it:)
Does anyone else feel intimated by trying a new type of planner? I'm trying the EC daily duo for the first time. I've always used horizontal layouts and avoided putting in work and life stuff in the same planner. Next year is going to be so different for me.
I think it's always hard to change anything in our lives! At least for me...the older I get...I find I feel this more. But I also know change is part of life and often leads to things working better or it's just necessary! Try not to take it too seriously and view it as an experiment ...and give it a bit of time;) It might take a bit before you find your groove in it;)
Like some of the other commenters, I have been in a real planner dilemma. I’m looking for a spiral bound planner for 2025 and I’ve already purchased two, and I don’t like either one. Well, one might work, but the other one has already been donated. I’m OK with that but these planners are expensive. I love using bound planners and ring planners. I have them in all sizes and shapes. Been a Franklin Covey fanatic since they came out in the 80s, or late 70s I can’t remember. I have used them consistently since then, but not as my only planner. Sometimes it’s my main planner sometimes it’s a project planner sometimes it’s a home management planner. I also like my pocket and personal size Filofax planners.
I have used spiral bound planners in the past. My favorite font and layout is Erin Condron, but I have to say I hate the paper! am I crazy? Am I the only one? I don’t know, but I just can’t get on with the paper. I absolutely love their notebooks in both A5 size and the 7 x 9 size. I think their covers are gorgeous. I love everything about the EC notebooks except the paper. I have bought so many EC notebooks thinking maybe this time it will work. I’ve also purchased the planner a few times over the past seven or eight years and I stopped using it partway into the year. I find the paper too scratchy and too toothy and no matter which pen I use, I just can’t get on with it.
Many of the other spiral planners have vertical layouts. I have never been able to get on with a vertical layout. I prefer daily layouts or dashboard weekly. For that reason, I’m kind of looking at the Laurel Denise. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get on with that big landscape planner. So for spiral bound planners, I don’t want a vertical layout. And I don’t want the traditional horizontal layout because that doesn’t really work for me either. What I really love is the happy planner dashboard layout in an EC planner, but with smooth thick paper! I love smooth versus toothy paper, where the pen feels like it’s just gliding like butter across the paper. I can get along without my preferred daily layout because I still have daily pages in my Franklin Covey. But a weekly layout for me can’t just be vertical or horizontal lines. It needs to include a section for a long weekly to do list. I like it to have a notes section bigger than a couple of inches. And honestly, the days of the week Monday through Sunday sections can be smaller because I just use those for appointments and I put my weekly tasks and notes in the designated sections, that is why I love the happy planner dashboard layout. However, I am so over discs. I did look into the plum paper planner, but I got overwhelmed by their website because you can customize so many things. I like customization but I don’t want to have to think that hard right now. 2024 has been a tough year.
Well, all this to say that if there’s anyone else out there like me, you are not alone. I will probably order planners that I won’t even use for next year and yes, I will waste money that could probably go to better use. But I’m going to keep trying until I get it right and I really really appreciate your channel. It is the best channel out therefor planner reviews! Thank you for that!
Cheryl...the whole time I was reading I was thinking Plum Paper was the only one that might fit the bill for you! Then I got down to that part and you had already looked there. I would say that their website is hard at first. It is not the easiest to navigate...but worth it if the planner will work for you and I think you will love their paper. I have a plum paper video coming out next Wednesday, Nov. 27th...wait and watch that video for layout book info and my code that will stack on any sale they are having next week!
Wonderful news! Can’t wait to watch the video. Thank you so much for your response and I will definitely give plum paper planner another look. The last two months have been dealing with the loss of my mom and settling her estate and it’s been nonstop meetings, phone calls, emails, etc. so I’ve just been leaning towards things that were quick and simple. But, I do need to take the time to really look at the Plum paper planner and I will give it serious consideration. Thanks again and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi.. Love your channel
Thank you so much:)
Off-topic but… Do you have any information about the Cultivate What Matters black Friday sale? I am debating on whether to buy now or wait till Black Friday. I always buy with your coupon code as well. So thank you for that.
Hi! I don't have any information....But my guess is every company will have a sale! So I would wait and see;) xxx
Can you do a review of the 2025 Carrie and Co Business Perfectly Planned Planner?
I will take a look. It sounds like a business planner- and I don't usually do those types of reviews just bc they are so niche and all the work that goes into a video isn't worth it when it doesn't appeal to bugger groups of people;)