If you are staring at a budget planner and you don’t know what to write in it, or where to start, then this article is going to help you. In this article, we will analyze the info most people write down, why they’re doing it, and everything else that’s important to know before you begin.

First, why do people need budget planners?

To take better care of their finances.

How do budget planners actually help?

At its core, a budget planner will help you in two ways:

They help you calculate your net income

They help you keep track of your spending

And if you have a clear picture of both these aspects, then you can take action and adjust them accordingly. If you have a clear picture of your spending habits, then it’s easier to decide which one to cut to do some saving. For example, a lot of people order food and don’t have the slightest idea of how much more they’re spending in comparison to cooking their own food. If you regularly write down how much you spend on takeout and then experiment with cooking exclusively for a while and write down grocery expenses, you will have the possibility to compare and decide what’s best for you in the future. Depending on the cost of groceries versus takeout, you might find out that the time and money saved are not worth the trouble. Or, on the contrary, you might realize that you can save $1,000/month with little effort. The point I’m trying to make is that without keeping track and having a clear picture, it’s very hard to improve on the financial side.

And now let’s see more precisely:

What do people write down in a budget planner?

• Net Monthly Income – this means that after taxes, after payroll deductions, after retirement, and any other deductions you might have, this is the exact amount you have in your wallet at the beginning of the month or after receiving your paycheck.
• Fixed and Regular Monthly Expenses – these are the ones that do not change from month to month. Examples: rent, cell phone bill, car payment. And the ones that change depending on seasonality. Examples: birthday gifts, vacations, clothing, and Christmas shopping.

In addition to these two items above, which are essential, people are also writing down their goals, plans, and adjustments, and, most importantly, they’re regularly reviewing their budget planners to spot places where they could improve their income and expenses.

If you want more details about what people are writing in their budget planners, then let’s dive deeper and look over a few examples. We’ll cover what you need to know in the chapters about calculating income and expenses.

What do you need to do to calculate your income? 

First, you’d have to earn something. There’s no point in taking on budget planning if you don’t have a source of income. Try to get hired first or try to earn money through alternative methods. If you don’t have a stable income yet, check out this article, which will show you examples of how you can make money online. It’s not very difficult, you just need will and perseverance.

After you’ve established a source of income, the next step that you need to understand is how to note down and calculate your income. Here you will have to write down only your net income. This means the money that is physically available in your wallet or on your card that you can use as you please (this does not include your retirement money, taxes, or other similar expenses). If, for example, you’re getting two paychecks, write down paycheck 1 and paycheck 2 next to income. Aside from these, what you should also include here is any “side hustle”. For instance, maybe you’re selling jewelry on Etsy because you enjoy making it. Or maybe you’re passionate about grammar and you’ve offered your editing services on a freelancing website. All of these activities should be included under income, even if it’s not regular income.

In the end, you add them up and you’ll know the exact amount that you have at your disposal. If you think it’s too small and you have spare time, constantly think about methods through which you can increase it.

What do you need to do to calculate your expenses?

This is the problem that most users are facing: while income is not difficult to calculate, as it’s usually pretty straightforward, when it comes to expenses things tend to become much more complicated. Most people don’t have the slightest idea how their money is spent every month. In order to do a good job with this, you need two assets:

1. Awareness
2. Perseverance

You need awareness every time you make an expense, to write it down immediately or keep it in mind and write it down as soon as possible. This awareness can be cultivated in time only through trial and error. In the beginning, you can compensate a little by setting up a system and trying to stick to it by all means. For example, each night before going to bed, you’ll mentally review all the activities that happened that day and write down all the payments you’ve made (especially the ones that you haven’t had time to write down or that you’ve forgotten about). A small budget planner that you can always have with you can also be a helpful solution when you’re trying to build a habit.

You don’t have to get discouraged if you forget to write down something. Even if it gets left out after a daily and weekly review. What’s most important is to constantly take notes so that, at the end of the month, you’ll have the possibility to review your expenses, come to a conclusion, and make the necessary adjustments for the current month. It’s not the end of the world if you forgot to note down a meal or grocery shop at some point. What’s essential is that you manage to make a habit out of writing things down in your planner.

Perseverance is by far the most important thing. It’s what will make the difference between someone who is disciplined and someone who doesn’t know what they’re wasting their hard-earned money on. In my opinion, the easiest way to become more perseverant is by following other people’s examples. If you’re not surrounded by perseverant people, try to find them, make friends with them, ask them about their motivations and steal their “trade secrets”. You can also read books on this topic. I would recommend Steven Pressfield’s “Do The Work” and Brian Tracy’s “Eat the Frog”.

Goals, future plans, and optimizations

I believe you shouldn’t complicate yourself with them until you’ve managed to master the basics. More specifically, this is what this means from my point of view: move on to this chapter only after you’ve managed to consistently track your income and expenses for at least 2-3 months. Only after you’ve built solid tracking habits should you move on to optimizations. See where most of your money is going and think if it’s worth it. Identify patterns like going out too often, buying too much food and then wasting it, tipping too much, taking the taxi too often, and so on. Once you’ve become aware of them, you can start the elimination process. Compare your activities with what others are doing and you might notice that they’re spending much less on certain needs (such as food). There are plenty of YouTube videos teaching you how to save money, but you can do this on your own once you clearly identify the problem. Choose one major improvement a month (don’t try to do too many changes at once) and move on to the next only after you’ve incorporated the first one. Like this, step by step, you will improve your financial situation!

The post What to Write in a Budget Planner? first appeared on My Blog.

1. What is a budget planner and do you really need one?
2. What makes you use a budget planner regularly?
3. What differentiates a budget planner from another?

Only after covering these perspectives will we move on to the analysis of the 5 best budget planners (which are among the most popular right now), see what sets them apart, and which one of these would be the most suitable for you:

• Clever Fox Budget Planner – best for on-the-go use, perfect for young individuals.
• GoGirl Budget Book – best for beginners seeking an intuitive and easy-to-use budget planner.
• Legend Budget Planner Deluxe – best for those seeking a small, sturdy, and flexible planner for special financial needs.
• Mead Organizer Expense Tracker – best for managing complex budgets and extensive financial paperwork
• Boxclever Press Budget Planner – best for organizing and storing monthly receipts and invoices, not for on-the-go use

What is a budget planner?

A budget planner is a tool that helps you keep track of your money. It can be physical or digital and it has all kinds of features and particularities that the producer considers important for money management.

Budget planners can be both physical and digital, but this article will focus mainly on the physical ones. These are the ones that people often refer to as budget binders or budget books. If you are interested in a digital one, you should know that I already two of the most popular ones: Truebill and Acorns. Furthermore, if you’re looking for detailed insights into digital budget planners, I have comprehensive reviews available. For a deep dive into one popular choice, you can read my Rocket Money app review, where I explore its features and effectiveness. Separately, in my Acorns app review, I focus on identifying the best use cases for this app, helping you decide if it’s the right fit for your financial management needs.

Some of these features could be useful to you, while others might just confuse or hinder you. That’s why it’s important for you to understand your needs as best as possible, and only then pick the solution that is the most suitable for you. But first, let’s see if you actually need a budget planner.

Do you really need a budget planner?

A lot of people attribute a large part of their success to using a budget planner, but we shouldn’t let ourselves be easily influenced by these types of stories. Maybe they might have been successful without a planner as well. Moreover, we also have to take into account confirmation bias. For each successful individual, we could be ignoring hundreds of thousands who’ve had budget planners and didn’t become successful.

I’ve tried to find research papers that would shine some light on this subject, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything that states loud and clear that we need a budget planner. I did find something interesting though, a study conducted between February 1 and 16, 2021, by Logica Research (Schwab’s 2021 Modern Wealth Survey) on a sample of 1,000 Americans between the ages of 21 and 75, which showed that 66% of people don’t have a financial plan written down. Out of these, half haven’t even thought about setting a financial goal. This means that out of three Americans, one hasn’t even thought about a financial goal, so there’s nothing to write, one has thought about it but hasn’t written it down, and one has written it down. If you’re in the third category, you probably already have something to write your goals in, if you’re in the second category there’s a big chance you’d find a budget planner useful, and if you’re in the first category you probably don’t need one (but then again, you’re probably not reading this article either).

A budget planner can specifically help you in these cases:

• If you feel like you are spending much more than you should, but you don’t know exactly why and you can’t really put a finger on the problem.
• If you would like to make some sacrifices and save more, but don’t have an overview to see what you could cut with the least amount of effort and a greater result.

A budget planner cannot help you in these cases:

• If you don’t have a regular and reliable source of income, but a lot of spare time. You should probably focus on finding a reliable source of income first, and then start saving.
• If you don’t have time. Perhaps you have enough money, but you can’t afford to allot more time to other activities. You might be in a special situation where it’s easier for you to make more money than to spend time making up a plan to save money.

If you’ve decided that you truly need a budget planner, the next thing you need to understand is that its power lies in its regular use. There’s no use in having a budget planner that’s gathering dust and is not up to date with expenses. Because of this, before buying one you should understand what makes people not use it regularly.

What makes you use a budget planner regularly?

1. First of all good looks. It’s important that your budget planner is attractive so that you want to use it as often as possible. If it’s bulky and ugly, you probably won’t be tempted to grab it as often as when it’s a pleasure to look at it.
2. If it’s formed to meet your needs so that you don’t have to erase, cut, and other such things that would complicate your workflow. Basically, it’s important that it creates as little friction as possible.
3. If it’s easy to access and usable so that you can easily carry it with you. If, for example, it’s a big thick book, you probably won’t carry it with you to all the meetings and situations where you could have jotted down something relevant.
4. If you understand well ahead of time what you have to write down in it, and why. If you don’t use your mental capacity to figure out beforehand what you need to write down, you’ll almost certainly waste opportunities when they come and you’ll have to make extra effort to remember everything that happened.
5. If you understand the power of habits well. If you manage to make a habit out of writing down, you will have a major advantage in using it long-term. If you don’t know a lot about the subject, I suggest reading the book “Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results” by James Clear.

What are the key differentiating factors when choosing the best budget planner?

• Look / Design – As we talked about above, you should really like the way it looks.
  • Weight – This is important especially if you have to carry it at different meetings, shops, or if you’re out and about a lot.
  • Size – If the budget planner is big, it might be uncomfortable to work with it, carry it along, access it, or browse it… For women, it will most likely be important that it fits in their bag.

• Preformatted Information – essential and necessary information that repeats often should be preformatted so you don’t have to waste time writing it down.

• • Dated / Undated – for most beginners, an undated budget planner would be more useful because they don’t have their taking notes habits formed yet. For people who have been regularly writing their financial information for a while, a dated budget planner will certainly be more useful.

• Special Features – this category includes all kinds of features that can help you, like inner pockets for bills or cash, stickers, a user manual that explains how to use it, and so on.

• Cost / Price – Cost is an important factor to consider because we’re talking about budgeting, whose end goal is to save money. It would be a very bad start to overpay and throw money on a budget planner. The idea is to pay as little as possible and get the basic features you want to use. Then, if you keep using it for the long term, maybe invest more, but only if you get real value out of it. Also worth mentioning here is the “money back guarantee” option, which can not only help you to save money in case something doesn’t meet your requirements, but time, nerves, and frustrations that could be easily avoided.

And now that we’ve reviewed the most important things about budget planners, we will analyze and compare the most popular ones so that you can come to a conclusion on which one is the best budget planner for you.

What are the most popular budget planners?

• The most important criterion of choice was the number of reviews on Amazon, but not only. I also made sure they are the most reviewed ones on profile websites.
• I’ve discovered that most existing reviews just list the facts without truly comparing them, which is why I decided to add them to a table so that they’re much easier to compare.
• I didn’t just add my opinions, but looked over hundreds of reviews and picked up what was repeating, which I believe is much more important and relevant for people who want to get a broad overview. I especially checked negative reviews and complaints and picked out only the ones that made sense.
• I didn’t place them in a particular order from best to worst, because that kind of comparison makes no sense. Some of them are better in some cases, while others shine in other circumstances, so the order below is not important:

Clever Fox Budget Planner

The Clever Fox Budget Planner is one of the most popular budget planners on the market. In order to understand just how popular it is when compared to the others, suffice to say that it has ten times as many reviews as the average budget planner. Nevertheless, it has its good and less-than-good parts. Size is by far the most important thing that users complain about in the reviews. The Clever Fox Budget Planner is very small (or much smaller than people perceive it from its Amazon presentation page) and a lot of people are sending it back because of it. Before buying it, it is very important that you get a clear understanding of its size and the implications of its size over the features that you will need. For instance, the Clever Fox Budget Planner will not be useful to you if you have too much debt, too many monthly expenses, if you’re managing the finances of several people like family or close relatives, if you are an independent contractor, or if you have an active mini-business. Instead, Clever Fox Budget Planner is the best budget planner for you if you want to carry it with you all the time, if you want it to fit in your purse, and if you are young or “just starting out”. Another big problem that needs to be mentioned is writing legibility. Even if that’s not a problem for me, there are a lot of people complaining in the reviews about the faded color of the text. If you want a small budget planner, but one where not as many people complain about the faded color, you could take a look over the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe Financial Planner, I’ve written a more detailed review about it here. It also has its pros and cons, but at least it is similarly sized and you will be able to read the text easier, although it will still be small. There are other elements worth mentioning, but I didn’t want this article to be too long. If you want to read an in-depth review exclusively on the Clever Fox Budget Planner, you can do so here.

Pros:

1. High Popularity: Significantly more reviews than the average budget planner.
2. Portability: Compact size allows it to be easily carried and fit in a purse.
3. Ideal for Specific Demographics: Best suited for young individuals or those just starting out in financial planning.

Cons:

1. Size Issues: Smaller than expected, leading to returns by many customers.
2. Limited Use Cases: Not useful for those with substantial debt, numerous monthly expenses, managing finances for multiple people, independent contractors, or those with a mini-business.
3. Legibility Concerns: Complaints about the faded color of the text, impacting readability.

GoGirl Budget Book

The GoGirl Budget Book is by far the most intuitive budget planner out of the five ones I’ve reviewed in parallel, which is why I would recommend it to all beginners who haven’t worked with budget planners before or who simply don’t have the vaguest idea about what they should do or write down. The number of people praising how easy it is to use is impressive, and that contrasts with the fact that almost nobody praises the other budget planners regarding intuitiveness. The other ones actually have negative reviews concerning their intuitiveness. For instance, many people complain about the Clever Fox  Budget Planner. The Legend Budget Planner Deluxe doesn’t look too good either when it comes to intuitiveness. But more specifically, what does it mean that it’s intuitive? It means that, in practice, many more people find it easier to use thanks to how the information is structured. Even though everyone has their way of doing things, the GoGirl Budget Book seems to be a better fit for a wider audience. Being that it is so intuitive, it is the main budget planner I would recommend to beginners.

Other things that you should know about the GoGirl Budget Book are that it has decent quality, it is pretty sturdy, and it is small (which is why it will have the same size-related issues as the ones mentioned above with the Clever Fox Budget Planner). I should also mention that it has fewer reviews than the other four budget planners I’ve analyzed, which makes it harder to identify systemic problems that people are complaining about. If you want to read a more detailed review of the GoGirl Budget Book, you can do so here. So, GoGirl Budget Book would be the best budget planner for you if you truly want one of the most intuitive budget planners out there. Don’t forget to check the issues I had with it in the detailed review I mentioned above.

Pros:

1. High Intuitiveness: The most intuitive among the five budget planners reviewed, making it highly recommended for beginners.
2. Ease of Use: Praised for its user-friendliness and structured information, suitable for a wider audience.
3. Quality and Durability: Decent quality and sturdy build.

Cons:

1. Size Limitations: Small size leads to similar issues as noted with the Clever Fox Budget Planner, potentially limiting its functionality.
2. Limited Reviews: Fewer reviews compared to other planners, making it challenging to identify systemic issues or common complaints.

Legend Budget Planner Deluxe

The Legend Budget Planner Deluxe has two characteristics that set it apart from the competition: the fact that it’s small and sturdy. In general, small budget planners are not seen as very sturdy, but here we have an exception. The fact that it’s of superior quality is not just my personal opinion. I’ve analyzed hundreds of reviews, starting with the negative ones, so I could form a clear opinion on the problems that most people are complaining about, and I’ve tried to find patterns that bring much more value to a potential buyer. After finishing the analysis, I can conclude that the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is by far the most praised.

By comparison, the Clever Fox Budget Planner has had quite a small number of reviews praising it for its quality and sturdiness, and probably double or triple that amount criticizing it for being flimsy. For the GoGirl Budget Book, reviews complaining about the quality are mainly lacking, whereas quite a few people are praising it for its sturdiness.

Small and sturdy – are the words that would characterize the best the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. However, it wasn’t the sturdiest out of the five budget planners I’ve compared, but the sturdiest out of the small ones. If quality/sturdiness is the most important factor for you when purchasing a budget planner, and size is not an issue, you should take a look at the Boxclever Press Budget Planner, which also has its own set of cons: it is bigger, thick, bulky, and heavy. The fact that the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is small has its own set of size-related disadvantages that I’ve mentioned in the first part of the Clever Fox Budget Planner review. Check them out before making a purchase.

Something else worth mentioning is that it has mixed reviews regarding its intuitiveness. I’ve seen people complaining it has pages they’re not using, or that it is confusing particularly for a beginner. If intuitiveness is a key decision-making factor for you, then it’s probably best to take a look at the GoGirl  Budget Book, which is by far the most loved by beginners and praised for its ease of use. One detail that can also lead to confusion is that there aren’t predefined expense categories in the Monthly Budget section, unlike with most budget planners, such as transportation, food, electricity, and so on. Many people’s confusion might be caused by this, but it also has a major advantage, namely that you can use the planner for the financial tracking of a small business or if you are an independent contractor. If the lack of predefined categories is not a problem for you, you can probably skip the intuitiveness part.

In my opinion, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is the best budget planner for people who want more from a budget planner. The fact that it doesn’t have predefined expense fields gives you greater flexibility and allows you to use it for special endeavors, such as in the case of an independent contractor, or house and apartment renovations, but not very complex ones as it is in the category of small budget planners. It is not very intuitive, which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners, but it compensates a lot when it comes to design and overall look. In short, if you need a small, sturdy, and easy-to-adjust planner for special needs, go for it! If you want to read more info on it, check out this in-depth review.

Pros:

1. Unique Combination: Small yet sturdy, setting it apart from other small budget planners.
2. Superior Quality: Praised in numerous reviews for its quality and durability.
3. Flexibility: Absence of predefined expense fields offers greater flexibility, especially useful for tracking finances of small businesses or independent contractors.
4. Aesthetic Design: Attractive overall design and look.

Cons:

1. Lack of Intuitiveness: Confusing for beginners, with mixed reviews regarding its user-friendliness.
2. Size-Related Disadvantages: Small size may limit its functionality for more complex financial tracking.
3. No Predefined Expense Categories: Could cause confusion, particularly for those accustomed to more structured budget planners.
4. Limited Suitability: Not the best option for beginners or those needing a budget planner for complex financial situations.

Mead Organizer Expense Tracker

The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker has a characteristic that sets it apart by a mile from its competitors. It is one of the best budget planners if you need a lot of room to write. This one is ideal for complex budgets and has the ability to store more bills and papers (separate pockets for bills and receipts). Out of the five budget planers I’ve reviewed in parallel, this one was the only one consistently praised for having enough space. Most are not just smaller but have constant size-related complaints. Even the Boxclever Press Budget Planner, which is the same size, isn’t even remotely as praised. But what exactly does it mean, in practice, “enough room to write”? It means that it can be used even by an independent contractor who works with budgets and invoices on a day-to-day basis. It means that you can manage much more complex budgets, for the entire family, maybe even for grandparents, including situations where you have more debt or expenses, or when you’re conducting or about to be conducting multiple financial operations. It is also good for full-house renovations, or if your writing tends to be larger than most people’s. However, because it is a big planner, it most certainly won’t fit easily in your purse, and it will be harder to carry around, being among the heaviest as well.

Other two important features differentiating it from its competitors are pockets for each month to store your bills and receipts, and you also get separate pockets for bills and receipts. From what I’ve seen in the reviews, these are the two most frequent reasons for purchase. But, more specifically, what does this mean for the average person? What is the significance of having not only one pocket for each month but two so you can separate bills from receipts? It means that your papers will be much more orderly and in the same place.

The third detail differentiating it from the competition is that it breaks down easily, which is one of its biggest cons when compared to the alternatives. The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is the most complained about budget planner when it comes to quality. And it’s not just a small difference, but a significant one visible in tens to hundreds of reviews! If you want to read about people’s specific complaints, I’ve done an in-depth review of the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker here.

The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker has lots of structured organizational charts, as well as ample room to add any other content areas related to running a household, or even a personal business. The quality is the worst when it comes to budget planners, but it has other qualities that make it more attractive. I would say it’s perfect for people who have a lot of things to write down, big debts to pay, or complex financial problems that they’re struggling with regularly.

Pros:

1. Ample Writing Space: Ideal for those needing a lot of room to write, suitable for managing complex budgets.
2. Storage Capacity: Features separate pockets for bills and receipts, facilitating better organization of financial paperwork.
3. Versatility: Suitable for a wide range of uses, including for independent contractors, household management, or personal businesses.
4. Structured Organization: Contains detailed organizational charts and sections for diverse financial tracking needs.

Cons:

1. Poor Durability: Frequently criticized for its quality, with a significant number of reviews mentioning that it breaks down easily.
2. Bulky Size: Its large size makes it less convenient for carrying around, especially if filled with documents.
3. Quality Issues: Regarded as having the worst quality among the reviewed budget planners, a major drawback despite its other features.

Boxclever Press Budget Planner

The Boxclever Press Budget Planner is one of the sturdiest and most well-built budget planners out there, even though it is a spiral-bound planner. After having read hundreds of reviews, starting with the negative ones, I’ve noticed a lot of people praise it for its sturdiness. And that is impressive because most budget planners are not praised for this quality. However, its sturdy construction can also be considered a disadvantage because it can be perceived as bulkier than the alternatives. One of the features that define the Boxclever Press Budget Planner and differentiate it from the competition is the slip-in pocket for each month’s receipts. This is a feature a lot of people praise in the reviews and it is probably one of the main reasons for purchase, but probably also one of the reasons that make it look bulkier.

You will certainly not carry the Boxclever Press Budget Planner with you at all times, especially if you store all your receipts in it. I’ve actually seen people complain about this in reviews, but they probably didn’t understand its pros and cons before buying it. If you want a budget planner that you can carry around all the time, consider buying a smaller one, such as the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe, which is also sturdy in addition to being small, so it largely has the same features. But you will clearly lose the possibility of storing all your paperwork, which you don’t want to have with you at all times anyway, right?

Boxclever Press Budget Planner is not the easiest to use, but also not very complicated. In the case of the Boxclever Press Budget Planner as well, we have both positive and negative reviews when it comes to how easy or complicated it is to use. And I can’t say there are many more leaning in one direction. It depends a lot on how your brain is wired and how you are used to looking at the financial side of the planning process. On the intuitive side, it came out similar to the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. If you are a beginner, or if you really want an intuitive budget planner, have a look at the GoGirl Budget Book, which is by far the most praised in terms of its ease of use.

The Boxclever Press Budget Planner is the sturdiest budget planner I’ve reviewed, it is bulky and heavy, and for that reason, it is not suitable for people who want to carry it around. The Boxclever Press Budget Planner is the best budget planner for people who want to keep their financial paperwork in one place (receipts and invoices) and have it nicely organized per month instead of thrown in a pile. If you have to go back to it often for special reasons, then it would be even more useful. If you want to read a more in-depth review of the Boxclever Press Budget Planner, with examples and special use cases, you can do so here.

Pros:

1. Sturdy Construction: Recognized as one of the sturdiest and well-built planners, even among spiral-bound options.
2. Organizational Feature: Unique slip-in pocket for each month’s receipts, highly praised for helping keep financial paperwork organized.
3. Durability: Frequently commended for its robustness.

Cons:

1. Bulky and Heavy: Its sturdy build results in a bulkier and heavier design, making it less suitable for carrying around.
2. User-Friendliness: Mixed reviews regarding its ease of use; not overly complicated but not the easiest for everyone, depending on individual preferences and familiarity with financial planning.
3. Limited Portability: Not ideal for those who need a planner to carry with them regularly, especially if storing all receipts in it.

What is the best-fitted budget planner for your needs?

I hope the reviews above have been helpful in guiding you towards an informed purchase decision. Every budget planner has its own set of pros and cons, you just have to see which one is best suited to your needs. If you want more information about a certain budget planner, don’t forget that this is just a small summary and we have in-depth reviews for each budget planner that I’ve linked to in their corresponding sections. You have here a list of all 5, in case you’ve missed some of them:

Clever Fox Budget Planner Review

GoGirl Budget Book Review

Legend Budget Planner Deluxe Review

Mead Organizer Expense Tracker Review

Boxclever Press Budget Planner Review

What to write in a budget planner?

And now that you’ve decided on what the best budget planner is for you, you should order it online. And while it’s being delivered, you should learn as much as possible about what you should write in it. A good place to start would be this article that covers topics like how to set up goals, organize your finances, and prepare for the future!

The post The 5 Best Budget Planners, Binders or Journals first appeared on My Blog.

Pros:

• Intuitive Use: The GoGirl Budget Book is highly praised for its ease of use, making it an excellent choice for beginners in budget planning. Its user-friendly design stands out among competitors.
• Quality: It offers decent quality and sturdiness, making it durable enough for regular use, though not the most resistant compared to others.
• Size: Its small A5 makes it convenient for carrying around and practical for daily use without causing much surprise or disappointment among its users.
• Aesthetics: The planner is visually appealing, available in 8 different colors, providing a good range of options for personal preference.
• Additional Features: It includes helpful extras like a hardcover, instructions, stickers, three bookmarks, and various thematic pages.

Cons:

• Limited Audience: The GoGirl Budget Book targets a narrower audience (primarily women), which might limit its appeal to a broader demographic.
• Fewer Reviews: With significantly fewer reviews than its competitors, it’s harder to understand its strengths and weaknesses fully.
• Limited Space: Due to its small size, it might not be suitable for those with extensive financial details to manage, such as multiple debts, expenses, or business-related finances.
• Potential Vision Issues: The small writing space might be challenging for individuals with vision problems.
• Durability: While decent, it’s not the most durable option compared to others like the Boxclever Press Budget Planner, which might be a better choice for those needing a more robust planner.

The GoGirl Budget Book is by far the most intuitive budget planner out of the most popular ones I’ve reviewed so far, and that’s not just my perspective, which can be subjective. The number of people praising how easy it is to use is impressive, and that contrasts with the fact that almost nobody praises the other budget planners regarding intuitiveness. The other ones have negative reviews concerning their intuitiveness. For instance, many people complain about the Clever Fox  Budget Planner. The Legend Budget Planner Deluxe doesn’t look too good either when it comes to intuitiveness. The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is the second most intuitive planner. If I were to sort them out based on most people’s opinions regarding their intuitiveness, it would look like this:

Users’ Perception of Intuitiveness

More specifically, what does it mean that it’s intuitive? 

It means that, in practice, many more people find it easier to use thanks to how the information is structured. Everyone has their way of doing things, and the GoGirl Budget Book is a better fit for a wider audience. Should we also consider that most people using it are probably women? I’m not sure, but I wanted to mention this as well. Being so intuitive, it is the main budget planner I recommend to beginners.

It doesn’t really have negative reviews – why, and what does this mean?

Now, because it has a lot fewer reviews when compared to the other popular budget planners –  about 800 compared to Clever Fox’s 22,000 reviews or Legend Budget Planner Deluxe’s 3,200 reviews – it is a lot harder to identify and clarify its major problems. The number of people complaining about it is a lot smaller. This can be a positive thing but also a negative one. The fact that not as many people complain could be because not as many people have bought it. We can’t draw a clear conclusion, but we have to consider that this budget planner hasn’t been talked about as much, either in a positive or negative light. However, let’s see, what are the major issues people are complaining about when it comes to the GoGirl Budget Book?

It has decent quality and is pretty sturdy. It’s not the most resistant to wear and tear out of the five budget planners I’ve reviewed in parallel, but it’s not bad, either. If you plan to use your budget planner very often and need it to be sturdy, the Boxclever Press Budget Planner might be a better fit for you. Many more people praised its durability and sturdiness, but it has other cons, such as being too big and bulky. The GoGirl Budget Book is in the middle in terms of durability, but it is not among the flimsiest. Take a look at the table below if quality and material constitute key decision-making factors for you:

Users’ Perception of Sturdiness

It’s small. It’s exactly as big as the Clever Fox  Budget Planner, but if we compare reviews for both, in the case of Clever Fox, there are many more size-related complaints, which was very surprising for me. While the GoGirl Budget Book has the same A5 size mentioned in the product title, confusing many Clever Fox buyers, it doesn’t produce nearly as many negative reviews. This could be because most of the GoGirl Budget Book audience is probably female, and they are probably more attentive to details and dimensions, so they are not surprised when they get the planner. I couldn’t find any other reasonable explanation.

However, it is essential to consider the size implications and, more specifically, the available space to jot down information is minimal. Because of this, you might run into problems:

• If you have too much debt
• If you have too many expenses
• If you want to manage the finances of several people, for example, the whole family
• If you want to manage business-related stuff. Example: wedding planner, renovations, events
• If you have vision problems due to the small writing

On the other hand, you will also have advantages:

• If you want to carry it with you at all times
• It’s much more practical to handle than a bulky one

However, the size hasn’t been a significant issue in the hundreds of reviews I reviewed, so it might not be an issue for you.

It’s beautiful. Check this video for first impressions. All the popular budget planners reviewed recently look good in their way. This one comes in 8 different colors. Of the five budget planners I’ve reviewed recently, only the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe and the Clever Fox  Budget Planner come in more color variations. This means you have a wide variety of colors to choose from. However, it’s hard to say that one looks better than the other. The most helpful advice here is to take a look for yourself. I checked YouTube for videos presenting it in detail and reviewing all the features, and the video above was the best, created by the channel “Life’s Organized Chaos,” which has more content on this topic. If you’re interested in this type of content, consider subscribing!

GoGirl Budget Book Features:

The most important features are: it’s hardcover, small, and it comes with instructions, a stickers page, three bookmarks, each in a different color, and many thematic pages that I won’t list here because it’s a lot more tedious to read. Look at the video below to see them and get a better view of how it looks and how useful it would be for you.

Comparison with Budget Planning Apps

In the realm of budget planning, traditional planners like the GoGirl Budget Book offer a tangible approach, but how do they stack up against modern budgeting apps? For instance, a Rocket Money review reveals a positive experience with this budgeting app, highlighting its efficiency in tracking expenses and savings. Similarly, the Acorns investing app review points to its innovative approach to micro-investing, allowing users to grow their savings effortlessly.

While the GoGirl Budget Book excels in intuitiveness and user-friendliness, especially for beginners, budgeting apps like Rocket Money and Acorns bring different advantages. These apps offer real-time tracking, automated savings, and investment options, making them a dynamic choice for tech-savvy users. However, the tactile and personalized experience of a physical planner like the GoGirl Budget Book still appeals to those who prefer a hands-on method of managing their finances.

While budgeting apps offer modern solutions with features like automated savings and investment tools, traditional budget planners remain relevant for their simplicity and tangible user experience. The choice between the two depends on individual preferences and comfort with digital tools.

Conclusion:

The GoGirl Budget Book is the easiest-to-use budget planner if we look at the hundreds of reviewers praising it. In addition, it is one of the budget planners with the least negative reviews. It’s beautiful, sturdy enough, and very small. It is the perfect budget planner for beginners. It also has a “no-hassle refund” policy that you can use to send back quickly if you find it’s not a good match for you.

The post GoGirl Budget Book: In-Depth Review first appeared on My Blog.

The Legend Budget Planner Deluxe

Small and sturdy – are the words that would characterize the best the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. However, it wasn’t the sturdiest of the five budget planners I’ve compared, but it was the sturdiest of the small ones. If you consider quality and sturdiness the most important factors when buying a budget planner, I think you should check out the Boxclever Press Budget Planner, but keep in mind that it has its own disadvantages: it is big, thick, bulky, and heavy. If you want to see a quality/sturdiness comparison that is the result of me going through thousands of reviews for the five most popular budget planners, check out the table below:

Users’ Perception of Sturdiness

Let’s talk about size, and its implications, because the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is one of the smallest popular budget planners on the market, and many people don’t understand the size implications before buying it. I say this because I’ve seen plenty of reviews of people complaining about the size, although it is the first thing specified in the product features on Amazon.

What does the small size mean for the typical user?

• It means the space available for jotting down information is very small
• It will probably have fewer pages than a bulky planner, and usually fewer debt tracking pages
• It is not good for managing complex budgets with many implications
• The calendar boxes are much smaller
• There won’t be enough room for notes, especially if you like writing lots of things
• It is good for beginner users
• It is easy to carry and will probably fit in your purse (check the size)

Another frequent problem with small budget planners is text legibility. This is especially a major disadvantage for older people who have vision problems. Text legibility is influenced by two factors: the size of the text and the color or opacity of the ink used to print it. Both can aggravate the problem, but fortunately, with the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe, people only complain about the smaller size of the text and not the fact that it is faded, unlike in the example of the Clever Fox  Budget Planner. The best option if you really want a small budget planner, but have legibility problems is the GoGirl Budget Book. This one doesn’t have significant negative reviews regarding its legibility, and it is the same size. That being said, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is about in the middle when it comes to legibility, meaning there are people complaining, but not too much, and most are complaining about the size of the text, and not the color.

It has mixed reviews regarding its intuitiveness.

This is very hard to decide, and my personal opinion is not relevant. The Legend Budget Planner has both reviews complaining it isn’t intuitive and reviews praising its intuitiveness, and the number is not overwhelmingly large on either side. And this is very personal, as every individual thinks differently. I’ve seen people complaining it has pages they’re not using, or that it is confusing particularly for a beginner. If intuitiveness is a key decision-making factor for you, then it’s probably best to take a look at the GoGirl  Budget Book, which is by far the most loved by beginners and praised for its ease of use. However, this doesn’t seem to be a major issue overall, especially if you’re not a beginner and you have a general idea about most of the terms and processes you have to go through when filling it out. One detail that can also lead to confusion is that there aren’t predefined expense categories in the Monthly Budget section, unlike with most budget planners, such as transportation, food, electricity, and so on. Many people’s confusion might be caused by this, but it also has a major advantage, namely that you can use the planner for the financial tracking of a small business or if you are an independent contractor. If the lack of predefined categories is not a problem for you, you can probably skip the intuitiveness part.

If you want to see how all the five budget planners I’ve reviewed in parallel are perceived when it comes to intuitiveness, take a look over the table below.

Users’ Perception of Intuitiveness

It’s beautiful. After reading thousands of reviews for the five budget planners, I could say that I was the most impressed by the ones that praised the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe for its beauty and design. It had the largest number of good reviews, but also the most impressive in terms of impact. Here are a few examples of what people are saying:

• Love the color & the design!
• It’s honestly so beautiful that I look forward to using it.
• Budgets and spending habits never looked so beautiful.

All the five budget planners have been pretty praised when it comes to design and overall look, but I perceived this one as the one with the most positive reviews, followed very closely by the second one in the “beauty & design” top, the Clever Fox  Budget Planner.

Legend Budget Planner Deluxe Features:

It has an elastic enclosure to keep it closed and a pen loop, a single bookmarklet (ribbon), and a separate sheet of paper with instructions on how to use it (which is pretty standard for budget planners). It has a lot of page types, I won’t go over them here, it’s way better if you actually see them, and how the layout is structured. I’ve searched for presentation videos and found a very cool one created by Kasey Orange, in which she presents all the details of the planner. I’ve linked it below if you want to take a look over it. Kasey posts videos about personal growth, planning, and personal finance with many examples and tips and tricks, subscribe to her channel if you are interested in this subject.

Conclusion:

In my opinion, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is very suitable for people who want more from a budget planner. The fact that it doesn’t have predefined expense fields gives you greater flexibility and allows you to use it for special endeavors, such as in the case of an independent contractor, or house and apartment renovations, but not very complex ones as it is in the category of small budget planners. It was the lightest of the five I’ve tested, and most importantly, very sturdy for its category. It is not very intuitive, which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners, but it compensates a lot when it comes to design and overall look. In short, if you need a small, sturdy, and easy-to-adjust planner for special needs, go for it!

The post Legend Budget Planner Deluxe: In-Depth Review first appeared on My Blog.

But what exactly does it mean, in practice, “enough room to write”?

It means it can be used even by an independent contractor who works with budgets and invoices daily. It means that you can manage much more complex budgets for the entire family, maybe even for grandparents, including situations where you have more debt expenses or when you’re conducting or about to be conducting multiple financial operations. The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is also suitable for full-house renovations or if your writing tends to be larger than most people’s. However, because it is a big planner, it most certainly won’t fit easily in your purse, and it will be harder to carry around, being among the heaviest as well. But there are many situations when people have no choice and need to jot down a lot of info, in which case the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is the best.

Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Ample Space: The Mead Organizer is ideal for complex budgets, offering plenty of room for detailed financial tracking. It’s suitable for managing large-scale budgets like full-house renovations or independent contractors dealing with daily invoices.
• Organizational Features: It includes separate pockets for each month, allowing users to organize bills and receipts neatly. This level of organization is a standout feature compared to other planners.
• Intuitive Design: Rated highly for user-friendliness, the Mead Organizer is among the most intuitive budget planners, making it accessible to many users.
• High Customer Loyalty: It boasts many returning customers, indicating intense user satisfaction and reliability over time.
• Aesthetic Appeal: The design and overall look of the Mead Organizer are well-received, adding an element of visual pleasure to budget planning.

Cons:

• Durability Issues: The biggest drawback is its quality, with numerous complaints about pages ripping and plastic rings breaking. This issue is highlighted by its low sturdiness rating compared to other planners.
• Bulky and Heavy: It’s not the most portable option due to its size and capacity. It’s one of the heaviest planners, making it less convenient for on-the-go use.
• Limited Extra Features: Unlike some planners, it lacks additional amenities like pen holders or bookmarks, which might be a downside for some users.
• No Color Variations: No alternative color options are available, which might be a drawback for users looking for personalization.

There are also pockets for each month to store your bills and receipts. I’ve noticed this was one of the critical decision-making factors that convinced many people to buy it. And rightly so, as it is a detail that significantly differentiates it from the competition. Most budget planners don’t have pockets for every month, so the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is perfect for people who want to keep all their financial paperwork in one place.

You also get separate pockets for bills and receipts. You get a pocket each month or two to separate the bills from the receipts. This feature makes the budget planner much more attractive because, undoubtedly, your papers will be more orderly and in a single place.

It is very intuitive. And this is not just my opinion, which could be subjective, but the opinion of hundreds of Amazon reviewers. Out of the five budget planners that I’ve reviewed side by side, the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker was among the most intuitive ones. It was only outperformed by the GoGirl Budget Book, but the difference was pretty marginal if we compare them. They both have positive user reviews regarding intuitiveness. If you want to get a better overview of the intuitiveness of the five budget planners, take a look at the table below:

Users’ Perception of Intuitiveness

The ease of use probably also comes from how the information is structured. In addition, users say it doesn’t have many extra features they don’t need, making it a lot easier to use.

It breaks down easily! Now that we mentioned the pros, we’ve also stumbled upon one of its biggest cons compared to its alternatives. The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is the budget planner with the most significant complaints about quality. And it is not a tiny difference, but a significant one, visible in tens, maybe even hundreds of reviews! Don’t take my word for it; check it for yourself. Here are some of the complaints:

• After using it for one month, the pages started to rip at the punch holes. I would highly suggest the MEAD company to reinforce the holes somehow. I taped them. But they still ripped.
• The paper is very thin, and if you have items in pockets, the pockets will tear off the binder rings when opening and closing the binder.
• The front and back cover is very sturdy, but the inside dividing sheets are not reinforced, and many have already torn when used.
• The rings are plastic and do not last. I thought this would be better quality due to the brand name, but it is not. I would not recommend it.
• Annoying loose plastic ring holders.
• The only problem that I have after using it for a month is that I now see I need to buy the Avery Reinforcements for hole-punched pages.
• Pocket pages need a plastic laminated strip around punched holes. Pockets cannot hold much without holes tearing. Had to buy separate plastic pocket pages and binder hole reinforcement stickers/labels.

I guess after reading these, you understand the problem clearly. This might not be an issue if you are more careful or delicate. Or if you prep ahead of time and reinforce the punch holes, you can avoid the problem before it appears. Take a look at the table below if you want to get a better understanding of the quality of the five budget planners I’ve analyzed side by side, based on the point of view of the users who have reviewed them:

Users’ Perception of Sturdiness

Out of the five budget planners reviewed, the best one in terms of quality was the Boxclever Press Budget Planner. If quality is an essential trait for you, you might find that planner better suited to your needs, but consider that it also has its cons, such as not being as easy to use as the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker and being bulkier and heavier.

One of the most significant details I’ve found about the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is that it has the most returning customers (judging by the people who review it). And that says a lot about its value. All the budget planners I’ve evaluated have reviews from returning customers, but that number is much bigger in the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker case. In some situations, people return after 2 or 3 years and sometimes even after 5. I’ve also seen people confessing that they’ve bought several at once to make sure they wouldn’t be without them in the future. It’s pretty impressive, especially when compared with the competition, where such reviews were nearly nonexistent or rare.

It’s beautiful. The Mead Organizer Expense Tracker doesn’t disappoint in design and overall look. Its design is highly praised, but it is praised by most budget planners as well, and this aspect is a lot more personal. Before buying it, look at the video below; you will get a better view of how it looks instead of just reading or hearing about it.

Mead Organizer Expense Tracker Features:

This budget planner is built on three rings, and it has no pen holder or bookmarks in addition to the main planner, but it has pockets for each month. It has no color alternatives and weighs over 20 ounces or over half a kilogram. I won’t enumerate all the types of pages it has, as that can get boring and hard to imagine, and I believe it would be more intuitive if you watched this video:

Lynn Daniel created the video, which is pretty old, but I haven’t found a more recent one.

Comparison with Budget Planning Apps

In the evolving landscape of financial management tools, it’s essential to consider the role of budget planning apps alongside traditional methods like the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker. This comparison sheds light on how digital solutions stack against physical planners, focusing on popular apps like Rocket Money and Acorns.

This review of Rocket Money highlights its effectiveness in expense tracking. As a digital tool, it offers real-time investment updates, a feature that physical planners cannot match. The ability to be trusted with sensitive financial information is crucial, and Rocket Money has established itself as a secure and reliable app in this regard. Its user-friendly interface makes it a good choice for those new to digital budgeting tools or who prefer a streamlined approach to managing their finances.

On the other hand, the Acorns spare change review reveals a unique investment approach. Acorns rounds up transactions to the nearest dollar and invest the difference, making it an innovative tool for those looking to start investing with minimal effort. This feature particularly appeals to users who might find traditional investment methods intimidating or cumbersome.

Comparatively, the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker offers a tangible experience that many users find satisfying. Writing down expenses and plans can provide a clearer picture of one’s financial situation and goals. However, this method lacks the immediacy and dynamic nature of digital apps, which can provide instant insights and updates on financial status.

Moreover, budget planning apps like Rocket Money and Acorns bring convenience that physical planners cannot. They allow users to manage their finances on the go, integrate with bank accounts for automatic tracking, and offer insights based on spending patterns. This level of integration and automation is a significant advantage in today’s fast-paced world.

However, it’s important to note that the choice between a digital app and a physical planner often comes down to personal preference and comfort with technology. Some users may prefer the tactile experience and the sense of control that comes with manually writing down their financial plans, as offered by the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker. Others might value the efficiency, comprehensive features, and real-time data analysis budget planning apps provide.

Conclusion:

This budget planner has many structured organizational charts and ample room to add other content areas for running a household or personal business. The quality is the worst for budget planners, but it has other attributes that make it more appealing. I believe it would be perfect for people who have a lot of notes to make, significant debts to pay, or complex financial problems they’re struggling with regularly.

The post Mead Organizer Expense Tracker: In-Depth Review first appeared on My Blog.

One of the most important details that stand out when we talk about the Clever Fox budget planner in comparison with the other budget planners on the market, is the total number of reviews it has. If the total number of reviews varies between 1,500 and 2,500 for a popular budget planner, for Clever Fox we have a number 10 times higher than the average, namely about 25,000 reviews posted on Amazon. And not only that, but from budget planners that have 2,000 – 3,000 reviews, there’s a total pause up to 25,000, which truly makes it an outlier. A lot of people have given their opinion about it. That can be a very good thing, but it can also be a very bad one, depending on the perspective.

Why does the Clever Fox budget planner have so many reviews?

In general, I tend to believe that the more reviews a product has, the better it is for the average buyer. And not necessarily because they’ll check all of them, but because more dedicated people (like me) can thoroughly scrutinize and reveal patterns and systemic product problems, which wouldn’t have come to light otherwise. That’s why I’ve spent several days going through thousands of reviews, starting from one-star ones and going up, until I felt like they were starting to repeat the same things over and over again, and I wasn’t getting any new information.

Just the sole fact that it has many reviews can give it pros or cons:

Pros:

• The more reviews there are, the harder it is to manipulate and influence the general opinion with fake reviews
• If many more people have reviewed it, that means that many more people have also bought it

Cons:

• The information on the product sales page could be misleading, and there could be hundreds of people complaining about it or some other specific thing, but these reviews can be easily overlooked because there are so many reviews overall
• People tend to look at the positive reviews to make a purchase, and the more there are, the easier and faster it is to reach a buying decision. But a large number of positive reviews doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is better.

But let’s go over the information found in thousands of reviews combined with my personal experience. What should you know?

Size – > it is by far the most important feature people who have bought the Clever Fox budget planner are complaining about. The number of people complaining about the size being too small is so large that I initially thought we were dealing with false advertising. So I went to the product page and checked carefully. Luckily, the exact size is clearly mentioned in the product title and is not hidden. It says “A5 Size” in the product title. Moreover, one of the first things mentioned in the description is the exact size in inches: A5 (5.8” x 8.3”). But apparently, that’s still not enough, so I tried to find a few explanations:

• One of my guesses is that most people are probably more familiar with the A4 page size because it is the standard letter size. And from here I see two directions:
  • 1) People see A5 and register it in their heads as A4, they order, and they only then realize just how small it is.
  • 2) People assume A5 is just a little smaller than A4, when in fact A5 is basically half the size of A4. Take a look at this image to visualize the actual difference.
• My second explanation is that most people cannot actually visualize sizes. They see the numbers 5.8” x 8.3′ and quickly glance over them, without taking out a ruler or measuring tape to understand exactly how big that is.
• The third explanation is that all the preview pictures have the same size. Whatever budget planner you browse on Amazon, the preview picture is about the same, for smaller products the zoom is higher. That’s why people don’t even think that the size is different in real life. They order the product, see it is too small, and send it back.

Despite all these complaints, I still think it’s not fake advertising. The dimensions are visible in the places where it matters most. On the other hand, I can’t say the advertising is done in the interest of the average person. The manufacturers could clearly state in the beginning: “Attention: the size is a lot smaller than most people assume.” Furthermore, they could add product photos in which the budget planner is compared to a regular A4 notebook. But this would probably cut down on the number of sales. It would cut down the number of returns as well, but the manufacturer probably prefers it that way, because not everyone who orders it and realizes it is too small will send it back (out of convenience).

And that brings us to the second largest problem. A lot of users have complained that they’ve received the budget planner with notes written in it. That probably happened because a lot of planners were returned due to the size problem, even after people had already written in them, the manufacturers didn’t properly check and sent them to other customers. That wasn’t my case, and I’ve noticed that people who had this problem generally had older reviews, so this might have been handled. However, I haven’t seen it confirmed anywhere, so I can’t comment. If you receive one with things jotted down, send it back as well…

I would like to end the size topic here, but there is another very important perspective that needs to be explored, and it stems directly from this problem. Namely the fact that the space you have at your disposal to write down the information is very small. This is more of an effect of the Clever Fox budget planner being physically small itself. A lot of users complain that the budget planner doesn’t have enough space to manage their finances. But what does the size mean for real-life use cases?

The Clever Fox Budget Planner is not for you:

• If you have too much debt
• If you have too many expenses
• If you want to manage the finances of several people, for example, the whole family
• If you want to manage business-related stuff. Example: wedding planner, renovations, events
• If you have vision problems, due to the small writing

The Clever Fox Budget Planner is ideal for you:

• If you are single, young, or just starting out
• If you don’t have a lot of info to jot down yet
• If you want to carry it with you at all times

Another thing worth mentioning regarding the size: it doesn’t cost less just because it’s smaller. And for that reason, a lot of people complain it is expensive, which in a way is not surprising, because it costs as much as one that is twice its size.

It fits in your purse. I’ve spoken a lot about the negative aspects of its size, so now I would like to talk more about some of its positives as well. “This is very small, only 1 inch bigger than my hand.”, said someone in a review. Its small size can be its main feature in many situations. One of the main aspects of a budget planner is its regular use, which is a problem that discourages many people, specifically because they don’t always have it on them. The fact that it’s small and can fit in your purse can be an essential feature for many women. Out of the five budget planners I’ve reviewed, there were only another two of a similar small size: the GoGirl Budget Book and the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. If the other features of the Clever Fox budget planner are not exactly to your liking, you can check out the other two, they might be more suitable for you.

The writing size and legibility are other key decision-making factors when you have to think about purchasing the Clever Fox budget planner. In addition to it being small, there is another compounding problem that makes things even worse. The lightness of the ink makes the text look faded, which, summed up with the fact that the text is very small, makes things even harder to read. If the manufacturer made the text a lot darker that problem would be easily solved. In addition, the instructions that come with the budget planner are printed in a tiny font, and you might need a magnifying glass to be able to read them. But what does this mean in practice? If you’re older, or if you have vision problems, this project planner is probably not the best for you. If you want a small budget planner, but one where not as many people complain about the faded color, you could take a look over the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe Financial Planner, I’ve written a more detailed review about it here. It also has its pros and cons, but at least it is similarly sized and you will be able to read the text easier, although it will still be small.

It’s flimsy, and it breaks down easily. Compared to the other four budget planners that I’ve tested in parallel, it is quite lacking in terms of quality and durability. It’s not the worst quality, I had a budget planner that even more people complained about easily tearing, namely the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker. The one we’re reviewing now, the Clever Fox budget planner, is a little bit more sturdy, but the other 3 are much better viewed in terms of sturdiness, so it’s quite low in quality rankings. If quality is a key decision-making factor when you want to buy a budget planner, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe Financial Planner will be better suited to your needs, as it’s close to the Clever Fox in size, but of much better quality. And if you want even better quality, and you don’t care about the size, the Boxclever Press Budget Planner is the best choice for you. Take a look over the table below to get an overview of the quality of the five budget planners I’ve analyzed:

Users’ Perception of Sturdiness

It’s not easy to use. I’ve put aside my personal opinion when it comes to its ease of use, and instead checked thousands of reviews to see what the average person thinks about this planner’s complexity of use. The opinion of the majority has much greater value here. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound too good, and there are many reviews like:

• There are no tabs on any section or pages, and I can’t figure out how the sections are even divided or organized.
• I don’t see any structure that would lend itself to helping me be more organized in my spending or saving.
• I finally opened my budget planner and I am totally confused on how to use this.
• It’s so difficult to use, some of the stuff makes no sense about your goals.
• If you don’t need waste removal, bus, train, taxi categories, etc. you’re out of luck because they are prefilled in.

So there are many usability issues that people are complaining about, which makes it less intuitive. But this is also a pretty specific problem, so it depends a lot on what’s important for you. For me, this wouldn’t be an issue, but apparently, it’s an acute problem for many. If you are under the impression that this would be a major problem for you as well, I suggest you try the GoGirl  Budget Book. Not only did it not have significant negative reviews regarding its intuitiveness, but it was praised many times for its ease of use, so it would probably be a much better starting point for you. Take a look over the table below if you want an intuitiveness overview as perceived in hundreds of reviews for the most popular five budget planners I’ve analyzed:

Users’ Perception of Intuitiveness

It’s beautiful. Let’s call things as they are. And I’m not talking just about my personal opinion here, but that of the majority, which is more valuable in this case. The Clever Fox budget planner is among the most positively reviewed when it comes to overall look and design. And not only does it look good, but it comes in a variety of 24 different colors you can choose from. And this far surpasses the competition. For example, out of the five budget planners I’ve reviewed in parallel, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe was in second place, with only 12 color variations. The other ones have even less, some even just one color.

Clever Fox Budget Planner Features:

This planner has a bungee cord to keep it closed tight, a pen holder, a built-in bookmark, two pages of stickers…and a lot of pages and interesting details. I won’t go over each type of page you can find inside the budget planner because it’s boring and it would be way better if you can see it with your own eyes. That is why I searched for videos on Youtube that show the product up close and personal. I selected one in which all the features are presented one by one, clearly and in detail. Take a look at the video below. It won’t have comparisons, pros and cons, and other information that can help with your buying decision, but at least you’ll see exactly what you’re buying. And after all, that’s what our article and website are here for, to help you make an informed decision based on comparisons.

It’s important to note that the video is made at the request of Clever Fox, so it is not an impartial review, but rather a presentation made by Ryan on his channel  “A Man with The Plans”. However, he did a great job, with great attention to detail and quality filming. If you are interested in planning, you should consider subscribing to his channel, as he has a lot of interesting videos on the topic.

It needs more debt tracker pages! A lot of people complain about the space allotted to debt tracking. There are only two pages. “It’s so unrealistic” – a user complained. And it’s close to the truth. Most people have a lot of debt. If you are one of them, you will have to find workarounds or turn to another planner that has more space allotted to this category. For example, the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker is actually praised for this, and it is a good fit for a more complex budget.

Conclusion:

This Journal is undoubtedly not built for a professional, an adult, or a working person. It’s more for someone younger who is just learning how to manage their finances since there are minimal pages/types of pages to fill out and most of them are the same repeated within the month. Overall, I think this is the perfect planner for someone young, single, and just starting out. It’s small and easy to carry around, and above all, very good looking!

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Take a look over the table below, which contains statistics on users’ perception of sturdiness for all the five budget planners I’ve done a parallel comparison of:

Users’ Perception of Sturdiness

However, its sturdy construction can also be considered a disadvantage because it can be perceived as bulkier than the alternatives. For example, I’ve found a user who said this in a review: “although this product is extremely sturdy and easy to use it is just too bulky. I do not know anyone that would want to use a planner or budget book that is so thick. There is absolutely no way to carry this around unless you’re using it in a backpack. It’s too large for a desk drawer once you have receipts or any sort of paperwork in it.“ Apparently, they really couldn’t imagine that there are people who have a lot of debt, a lot of expenses, or who want to keep track of the entire family’s finances, perhaps even their grandparents’. These would be examples of people who especially need a bigger budget planner with more pages.

One of the features that define the Boxclever Press Budget Planner and differentiate it from the competition is the slip-in pocket for each month’s receipts. This is a feature a lot of people praise in the reviews and it is probably one of the main reasons for purchase. In addition to making it easier to use, the pockets are large enough to hold many receipts and papers. And the fact that it doesn’t have just a single pocket, but one for every month, is a big plus when it comes to organization and management. Most popular budget planners only have one pocket. However, more people who reviewed this planner mentioned a problem when it comes to this feature, namely that the pockets are not closed, and if you knock over the planner by accident or hold it upside down, you might end up with all the papers in your lap, although the planner has an elastic to keep it shut. If it had an extra flap at the top of each pocket, it would hold stuff better in place. This budget planner would be ideal for an elderly relative you want to keep track of finances for. You will have everything together, organized by month for easy access.

These pockets also contribute a lot to the overall bulky look that it has. But you will probably not carry it around all the time, especially if you store all your receipts in it. I’ve actually seen people complain about it in reviews, they probably didn’t understand its pros and cons before buying it. If you want a budget planner that you can carry around all the time, consider buying a smaller one, such as the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe, which is also sturdy in addition to being small, so it largely has the same features. But you will clearly lose the possibility of storing yours, your neighbor’s, and your dog’s paperwork, which you don’t want to have with you at all times anyway, right?

Due to the spiral, you can flip the cover to the back of the planner and keep it open on the page that you want without taking up too much space on the desk. That’s a pretty big advantage because it is large enough as it is.

Not the easiest to use, but also not very complicated. In the case of the Boxclever Press Budget Planner as well, we have both positive and negative reviews when it comes to how easy or complicated it is to use. And I can’t say there are many more leaning in one direction. It depends a lot on how your brain is wired and how you are used to looking at the financial side of the planning process. On the intuitive side, it came out similar to the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. If you are a beginner, or if you really want an intuitive budget planner, have a look at the GoGirl Budget Book, which is by far the most praised in terms of its ease of use. And not just from my perspective, but from the perspective of the hundreds of reviews I have personally verified. Take a look at the table below if you want to get a perspective on the intuitiveness of the five budget planners I’ve compared:

Users’ Perception of Intuitiveness

Another thing worth mentioning regarding intuitiveness is that you have predefined fields like household bills, clothing, food, pets, and fun, which are probably welcome for beginners. But if you are an independent contractor, for example, who would need different categories (and you don’t have expenses for food or kids), you will have to find a workaround, maybe by using stickers, or you will have to go to a different budget planner altogether. For example, the Mead Organizer Expense Tracker doesn’t have predefined Monthly Budget categories, so it will be much easier for you to define them yourself.

It’s beautiful. All the five budget planners I’ve compared have had a lot of positive reviews when it comes to design and overall look. The Boxclever Press Budget Planner didn’t necessarily have the most, but they weren’t completely missing either. I believe all modern budget planners have a nice design and don’t disappoint from an aesthetic point of view. If you want to form a more clear opinion, take a look at the video below that contains a page-by-page walkthrough of the product.

Boxclever Press Budget Planner Features:

The budget planner has an elastic to keep it well shut, page markers that are not very well anchored as they are just satin ribbons tied to the top coil, pages for a monthly and yearly overview, it is undated and it comes in just one color (at least on Amazon). It is also the heaviest of the 5 I’ve compared. If you want to get an overview of the types of pages, layout, and structure, take a look at this video:

Conclusion:

The Boxclever Press Budget Planner is the sturdiest budget planner I’ve reviewed, it is bulky and heavy, and for that reason, it is not suitable for people who want to carry it around. It is ideal for people who want to keep their financial paperwork in one place (receipts and invoices) and have it nicely organized per month instead of thrown in a pile. If you have to go back to it often for special reasons, then it would be even more useful. In addition, it is beautiful and quite intuitive to use.

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