Plan Your Life {Erin Condren Life Planner Review & Giveaway}

*Mommys Craft Obsession received a complimentary Life Planner for review in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions*

One fun fact about me is that I've always had a slight obsession with school supplies. Okay, make that major obsession. As a young adult I couldn't wait for back to school season and I would walk up and down the aisles of Target again and again, picking up miscellaneous items that I didn't necessarily need, but wanted.

The one school supply item that I was always severely disappointed in were the planners. I could never find a planner that had everything I wanted; organization, style, practicality. To this day I still get a new planner every year although I may not be the best at remembering to actually use it all 365 days of the year, I still love having one on hand. Yet I still haven't found a planner that fulfills my crazy expectations. Until I found the Erin Condren Life planner.

When I first heard about the Erin Condren Life Planners I quickly fell into lust with them. Brightly colored covers, tons of room to write, multiple ways of viewing your calendar (weekly, monthly). What more could you ask for? When I had the opportunity to work with Erin Condren and review one of their Life Planners I was ecstatic. It took me a few days to decide which one planner was the perfect one for me, and hours to choose what I wanted the cover to say, but I soon came to a decision and I couldn't be happier. 

According to the website it would take about a week or so before my planner would ship and the anxious "instant gratification" side of me was shaking in her boots, but I quickly brushed it aside and got excited all over again because I then remembered that this planner was being made for me! It wasn't a planner that was just sitting on the shelf with 60 other identical ones, and I loved that.

When the Life Planner arrived I was so excited to rip into it that I almost forgot to take pictures of the gorgeous presentation! The Life Planner came bubble wrapped and also included a sample pack of gift labels that are personalized! 

The main reason why I love this planner so much is because it gives you options on how to look at the months and how to plan your life. You have the option of writing in the monthly or weekly planning spaces, and you can also flip to the year view and see all of the months at once. 

I prefer to write in the weekly planning spaces (bottom left image) and love that it is divided into three daily sections - morning, day, and night. This helps me plan out the sections of my day as oppose to looking at the entire day at once which can be slightly overwhelming sometimes! There are also sections on each page for weekly goals & notes, and an area to write meal places, exercise routines, to-do's, thoughts, or whatever else you feel the need to jot down. Each weekly planning section also has a small calendar of the entire month in the top left hand corner. 

The planner is broken down by what I call identification tabs (or dividers) to keep yourself organized and to assist you in turning to the section you need promptly. Depending on when you purchase/start your calendar will depend on how many dividers your planner has - for example my planner starts from March 2014 and I have a total of 14 dividers including all of the months, 2013/2014, special dates, notes, and contacts.

Another feature of the Life Planner that I love is the built in contact book. In it I am able to write down contacts (Name & Address) as well as important phone numbers that I may need while on the go. These days with smartphones it is so simple to just pull up Google or throw an address into the "notes" section of your phone, but I personally still love to use a good old fashioned address book for my addresses and I really appreciate that the Life Planner has a mini built in one so if I'm not around my address book I can still access a smaller version.

The greatness of this planner doesn't stop there! In addition to all of those great planning qualities, the Life Planner also has a handful of bonus features that I love, love, love. The Life Planner also included a moveable ruler, a 2015 and 2016 yearly calendar, a plastic sealable folder with some bonus labels to use, and a double sided folder to keep extra papers in! All of these extras are located at the back of the planner so they won't get in your way during every day use, but are still quickly accessible for when you want or need them!

In addition, you also receive four pages of small labels - two printed and two blank! The printed labels are perfect for use within the planner due to saying things such as "birthday!" and "doc appt. @_____" There are even labels that read "Mani/Pedi" and "Game!". I personally love them because they give a pop of color and fun in between your own handwriting!

Regardless of how you plan your life, Erin Condren's Life Planner will come in handy for anyone who wants to take charge and organize their days. Below is my look at the end of next week, and as you can see it's pretty busy and I haven't even finished planning out the days! I use my Life Planner to jot down everything from reminders such as "Wedding Dress Steamed" to remind myself to take it into the dress shop that day, and I use it for specific time obligations such as "12:00pm Hair" on my wedding day. 

Overall I adore that the Life Planners are so versatile and can be used every single day for basic planning or for planning out crazy days if you're a mom of multiples or a busy student. My only complaint with the Life Planner is it's size. This planner measures 9.25" in height and 7.25" width. Where I truly love the amount of space that I have to write, the planner itself is quite large and wouldn't be 100% ideal for someone who carries small purses or is a heavy diaper bag packer such as myself. With that being said, I forced myself to organize my diaper bag a little better so that I could get the planner to fit without any issues! Aside form the size, this planner in my opinion is perfect. It's great quality and will last throughout the year due to the laminated covers and identification tabs (dividers). I recommend this planner to anyone who is ready to plan their life and plan it with a little bit of style and fun color!

To Purchase: You can purchase and customize the Life Planner on ErinCondren.com  for $50 for a classic (mine was a classic) or $75 for a Gold Edition! BUT right now they are having a sale on their Life Planners and at this time you can snag a classic for $37.50 and a Gold Edition for $56.25!

To Win: Mommys Craft Obsession and Erin Condren are teaming up to give YOU the chance to win a $50 gift certificate to their website! This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a 2014 Life Planner and start planning your days to perfection! Enter the giveaway form below for your chance to win!

Entry-Form

Congrats to Jennifer Coleman!

The Giveaway will close late on the evening of April 13th. The winner will be chosen at random through  Giveaway Tools.  The winner will be announced both on Giveaway Tools form as well as notified by email and announced on MCO’s Facebook. The winner will have their prize sent to them by ErinCondren.com, Mommys Craft Obsession is not responsible for prize shipment. Must be 18 years and older. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google are in no way affiliated with this giveaway. No Purchase Necessary. Void where prohibited by law. US Only. This review is 100% original and in my own words. Everything written is from my own personal view point and opinions and I have not been influenced by any outside sources. What works for me, may not work for you. All photos have been taken by me unless stated otherwise. I have been provided with product to review by ErinCondren.com however I have not been compensated monetarily for this review. This disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.