A beautiful, customizable planner might be just what you need to stop stressing and get organized! My Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner review covers everything you need to know about this fantastic organizational tool!
I recently discovered that there’s a whole world of planners out there. It probably says a lot about me that I was surprised by not only the wide variety of brands but also the crazy assortment of styles.
Apparently, I’ve been a bit nearsighted in my idea of this product. I didn’t realize that there were daily and weekly designs.
When I heard the term “monthly planner” I thought it might be the same thing as a calendar!
It’s clear that I needed to update all my ideas of what a planner is and what it actually does. Since receiving my Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner, I’ve learned that it’s so much more than a calendar.
To be honest, for the first time ever I’m understanding the beauty of planning. I’m also wondering how my life would be different if I had learned how to use one of these fifteen years ago!
But there’s no sense dwelling on my rather unorganized past. We’re here and the time is now. Keeping our household schedules straight is a huge challenge for me, but I’m going to try to change that going forward!
This is now my main planner, and I’m working on getting it just right.
Watch my Erin Condren haul and unboxing video. It features this product and plenty of other fun products I picked out!
In the meantime, I want to get started on this Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner review. I’m here to show you every single part of it so you can decide for yourself if it’s right for you.
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About the Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner
Erin Condren Discount Code
New Erin Condren customers will get a FREE $10 erincondren.com coupon code (with no minimum purchase!) when you click here!
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Described at a planner and notebook, this 7″ x 9″ organizational tool gives you a beautiful way to track to-dos and tackle projects in amazingly streamlined style!
The Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner features a year of monthly spreads and note pages that make it perfect for fitness tracking, project planning, budgeting or goal setting. There are endless possibilities!
The Deluxe Monthly Planner Includes:
- 12 months of planning with a tabbed dated calendar pages
- 40 lined note pages with optional additional pages
- 2 sheets of stickers
- your choice of sizes and color schemes
How to shop for the your planner
Did you know that the Erin Condren brand evolved from home shopping parties with stickers and note cards? It’s pretty amazing that ErinCondren.com is now the premiere source of customizable organizational products!
If you’re familiar with Erin Condren, they’re known for “transforming the act of scheduling each day into celebrating each day!” How? With gorgeous products and coordinating accessories that make you happy when you look at them and use them.
One of the best parts is the ability to design and customize your selection into your personal style. If you have specific needs, Erin Condren can meet them!
The customizations vary in price. Some customizations are free, others are upgrades that will cost a between $5 and $10.
Deluxe Monthly Planner base prices:
- Traditional cover: $40.00
- Metallic cover: $45.00
Free Customization Options
A lot of the choices for the monthly planner are identical or very similar to the options for the Erin Condren Life Planner. If you’re familiar with that one and you’re looking for something a a bit lighter, this one might be for you.
- Choice of a neutral color theme or a colorful theme for inside pages.
- Choice of cover background image or color for certain designs.
- Calendar option lets you choose which month to start your selected product, up to four months into the future.
- Choice of cover design, including uploading your own image, collage images, pattern, or design.
- Your name or up to 50 characters on the front cover.
- Accent colors for your design.
- Choice of color for the back cover.
Erin Condren’s Upgrade Options
There are several options that are an extra charge. Some of these can make your selection exactly what you need it to be.
Other options will make your selection into a stunning, eye-catching creation that exactly suits your aesthetic!
- Increase the size from 7 x 9 inches to 8.5 x 11 inches. The bigger option is the size of a standard sheet of paper. The length and width will be the same as a normal spiral-bound notebook, but it will be much thicker. This upgrade is $5.00
- Add additional pages starting at $5:
- 40 additional lined pages for $5.00
- Add 40 additional dot grid pages for $5.00
- 80 additional productivity pages for $10.00
- Add 80 additional dot grid pages for $10.00
- 80 additional productivity pages for $10.00
- Choose your coil color. The default is Platinum, which looks like silver. Upgrade to Gold, Rose Gold or Black for $10.00. You can see the various coil colors in the above image.
My Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner
I went through the full experience of ordering my own Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner, so I can tell you exactly what the order process is like. It’s SO easy, not painful at all!
The Ordering Process
I chose the Create Your Own Deluxe Monthly Planner so I could have my own design on the cover. After selecting the Colorful color theme, I chose to have it start in August.
Note – having mine start in August was my mistake, since I didn’t even place the order until the month had started. If I had really thought it through I would have started it the following month.
I skipped any additional note pages and moved on to the Personalize section of ordering.
I knew a silver coil would work well with with my design, so I stuck with the default Platinum choice.
Customizing my Erin Condren Planner
I had a fun design that I had purchased from a stock photo site, so I uploaded that to the website. You can also connect to your Facebook or Instagram account to pull a photo from there!
After your image is added, you can edit how it appears on the cover. Adjust how zoomed in it is, crop it, rotate it, shift it from side to side and even change the tint to black and white, sepia or an entirely different color.
I hadn’t anticipated being able to do so much to the photo after uploading it!
You can choose a different image for the back cover, or you can choose a coordinating color. I chose a coordinating shade of turquoise to match the Colorful theme and the cover design.
I decided to pass on adding my name to the cover. While I love how it looks on most of the designs that are offered, the look just didn’t work as well for my own chosen cover image.
All in all, I went through the entire design and ordering process and ended up with a base product with a customized cover.
Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner Review
The more I research, the more I’m learning that there’s no way to know if any one is right for you without seeing every aspect of it.
Because of that, I’m going to walk you through all the sections of my new planner with pictures of every part. I want you to have a comprehensive look at the entire thing!
The Front Section
The Deluxe Monthly Planner opens with a laminated inside front cover that you can use dry -erase or wet-erase markers on. It’s perfect for jotting short-term notes, lists and reminders.
The next page is the cover page where you can write you name and contact information, just in case you lose it.
The last page of the front section is a 2-page spread of inspiration. I love inspirational, motivating quotes and this one is full of them! My picture of this page is also a great way to see the Colorful theme in action.
The Annual Calendar
The annual calendar pages are the first tabbed section. My tab is 2019/2020.
The section opens to a spread of the 24 months around the pages. You can see mine is July through December. It’s intended to give you a quick view of past and future dates.
The next page of the calendar section is 12 boxes with space for a title and lines for notes. What can this section be used for? Here are some ideas to get your brain working:
- Monthly personal goals
- Weight tracking
- Monthly budget or spending
- Inspiration or affirmations to remember
- Book planning or reading goals
- Seasonal menu reminders
The fact that it’s blank means it’s entirely up to you!
The back page of the calendar section is one lined sheet for notes.
The Months
The Months section consists of 12 separate tabbed sections; one for each month.
I love love LOVE that you can customize your selected product to start in the month of your choice. It’s frustrating to be motivated to start using something and find that it only starts in January. Or that you have to fill all the dates in. Ugh. Who has time for that?
Each tab is labeled for a month, and the tabs are staggered so you can easily pick the month you’re turning to.
Every month section is identical, except for the specific dates, of course! The page with the tab is a slightly heavier card stock than the rest of the sheets.
The front of the tab has a little nugget of inspiration (love!), while the back of the tab has a blank, unlined space for your own use.
The first page of each month is divided into a pretty great arrangement of boxes. There’s one for birthdays and another for monthly goals. A third is a smaller lined box and the bottom section is a bullet journal-style dot grid.
Flip to open up a 2 page calendar spread that covers the entire month. The boxes are square with a decent amount of space to write in them.
There’s also a column on the far right side of the right page for notes and the following month’s calendar.
After the calendar grid there are five full sheets of lined paper for notes.
The Months tabs repeat 11 times for a total of 12 monthly tabs.
The very end of the last monthly tab has a 2 page spread for your future planning needs.
There’s a compact calendar of the entire future year, along with a “In the Coming Year” box for your notes about times ahead of the pages you have.
The Notes Section
The portion of the Deluxe Monthly Planner following 12 individual tabbed months is a tab labeled Notes. This section contains 40 full pages of lined sheets for your use.
If 40 pages isn’t enough, you can choose to add more lined sheets, productivity pages or dot grid pages.
The Back Section
The back section is the final section. It’s the part after the lined note pages, but there isn’t a tab to separate it from the Notes section.
It consists of three elements:
- 2 sticker pages bound into the binding.
- A heavy, 2-pocketed cardstock folder.
- A blank dry-erase/wet-erase dashboard on the inside of the laminated back cover.
Ways to use the Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner
The details are what make this Erin Condren product special, but I love that those details don’t affect how flexible it is!
For someone like me, someone who has never been successful in using something like this, it’s great as a main planner.
Using it as a main planner:
One aspect of using something like this that I’ve never been able to make work is detailing out each day to a granular level.
I like broad goals and simple to-do lists. My flexible job rarely requires a fixed schedule, and my daily routine with my kids is very set. I don’t need to pencil in driving to school every day, because it’s going to happen.
This particular product gives me some fantastic options to work it into my own style.
All those notes pages are more than enough for the various things I need to get done for the day, and the other pages will keep me on top of events and other items on my schedule.
Using it as a budget planner
This is such a simple way to track your household finances. You can look ahead to assign budgets to your months and weeks, and easily track spending down to the day.
Using it as a homeschooling Tool
Did you know I used to be a homeschool mom? I’m no longer doing it because my kids really wanted to go to traditional school. But I can tell you that this would have been a great homeschool tool for me!
While the brand makes a stunning Teacher Planner, I can honestly say that it would have been way too much and far too detailed for my homeschooling style.
A tool like this would be a great help for setting and reaching goals, plus strategizing our daily plans.
Using it as a family planner
It seems that this is year my kids are going to hit the limit for scheduled activities every day of the week. There are music lessons, scouts, robotics league, 4-H and more.
It’s gotten to a point where I can’t keep it all straight without writing it down. Throw in appointments and special events and I’ll be lost.
This product is a great way to track and stay on top of the comings and goings of your family.
It’s also an excellent tool to prevent scheduling overlaps and conflicts, and to plan out rides, snacks and equipment needs.
Using it for menu planning
I’ve said it before – I need menu planning in my life. Especially now, given how busy our family schedule has become!
I love the idea of jotting down meal plans in calendar squares, as well as keeping track of shopping lists. I could also get behind a list of food that can spoil, to make sure it gets used.
Another great way to use it for menu planning: tracking who likes certain foods and who doesn’t like them.
The Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner FAQ
Let’s finish up this review with answers to all the questions you could have.
If we missed a question, please leave a comment or email us. We’re always happy to add more to this FAQ!
What is a monthly planner?
A monthly planner offers high-level organizing, planning and scheduling for a wide variety of needs. Parents, students, families, and business people can all take advantage of oone to aid in tracking meetings, appointments and tasks.
It’s also a tool that’s used to remember important events, commitments and special occasions.
How big is the Deluxe Monthly Planner?
It comes in two sizes:
- 7″ by 9″ (standard size)
- 8.5″ by 11″ (the upgrade size)
Let me help you visualize: 8.5 inches by 11 inches is the same size as a standard sheet of printer paper.
How is the Monthly Planner used?
One great thing is that it’s created with flexibility in mind. The most specific detail is the calendar dates. Most of the rest can be customized by you!
As stated above, I’m using mine as an overall organizational tool. It’s helping me track schedules, appointments, to-dos and other basic necessities that will keep my life running smoothly.
Here are a few other ways you can use yours:
- Budgeting
- Homeschooling
- Family organizing
- Menu planning
There are plenty of possibilities beyond that list. Do you have ideas for using it? I’d love to hear them!
What is the cost of the Erin Condren Monthly Deluxe Planner?
It has a base price of $40. There may be sales or promo codes that bring the price down. At the same time, optional upgrades will increase the price for you.
What’s the difference between the Erin Condren Life Planner and the Deluxe Monthly Planner?
The difference is in the details.
The Erin Condren Life Planner is far more detailed than the Monthly Planner.
Here’s what you’ll find in the Life Planner:
- Tabbed monthly calendar spreads
- Dated weekly spreads
- Time-blocked daily pages
- Contact information sheets
- Inspirational quotes throughout
- Four sticker sheets
- Coloring spreads
- Inspiration board
- Notes pages
- Dot grid pages
- Folder
You can read the entire article above to see what’s included in the Deluxe Monthly Planner, but I made a list to compare the two:
- Tabbed monthly calendar spreads
- Inspirational quotes throughout
- 2 sticker sheets
- Notes pages
- Folder
You definitely get more with the Life Planner, but I know I don’t need more. I need a simple solution, and the one I have is perfect for that!
I hope this review has been helpful as you evaluate whether the Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner is right for you!
If you have any comments, questions or takeaways from this article, please leave a comment.
Shelley says
Question or your opinir…. Which would make more sense for me?
I am caring for my elderly parents (meals, appts, etc), family still at home with one chronically I’ll adult child (appts, meds, breathing treatments). I work weekends as a nurse so all week I can nurse my family. Trying to pay off debt….need I day more? Life planner or deluxe planner? I am colorful, love to have stickers, etc. This is all new for me…..