Legend Budget Planner Deluxe: In-Depth Review

The Legend Budget Planner Deluxe has two characteristics that set it apart from the competition: the fact that it’s small and the fact that it’s sturdy. In general, small budget planners are not viewed as very sturdy, but we have an exception in this case. Of the five popular budget planners I’ve recently reviewed, only two others are similar in size, but none was as praised for its sturdiness in user reviews as the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe. For example, the Clever Fox Budget Planner had quite a small number of reviewers praising it for its quality and sturdiness, but probably double or triple that amount criticizing it for being flimsy. On the other hand, the GoGirl Budget Book had very few reviews of people complaining about its quality, and a decent number of people actually praising it for its sturdiness. However, the Legend Budget Planner Deluxe is by far the most praised. Its superior quality is not just my opinion. I’ve gone through hundreds of reviews, starting with the negative ones, to form a clear opinion on the most common problems people were complaining about, and I’ve tried to find patterns that bring the most value for a potential buyer.

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!