The 5 Best Budget Planners, Binders or Journals

Written by Remus Zoica in Budget Planners Last Updated November 18, 2023

In this article I will cover 3 important aspects regarding budget planners:

  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:

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!

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