Tag: Erin Condren Horizontal

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & Review | #PlanWithPolishland

Happy Saturday! Today I am beyond excited to share with you my purchases from the 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Launch. I can’t believe it’s now been an entire year that I’ve been using my current Life Planner. It really has made my life better in so many ways – I’m more organized than ever before, but I also truly enjoy the creative outlet that planning is for me. While I don’t need a new planner until 2017 begins, I wanted to join in on Erin Condren’s Launch Day and purchase my new planner right away. In this blog post I will share an unboxing of the goodies I purchased on Launch Day, and share my thoughts on the launch and the updated planners.

UNBOXING

I filmed an unboxing video for my YouTube Channel, which is included in this post so you can see me open the box and show you the products “in person.” If you aren’t subscribed to my channel yet, please do so HERE! I post planner videos every Tuesday and Saturday, and sometimes on bonus days, too. If you love Plan With Mes, sticker hauls, and other organizational DIY videos, definitely subscribe (it’s free!).

Here are photos of everything I received so you can get a closer look. I will include direct links to each product on Erin Condren’s website, but if you are new, please use my referral link HERE. Not only will you save $10 off your first Erin Condren purchase, but I earn a $10 reward as well. I really appreciate it when you support me in that way!

ECLP Freebies | 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing

Freebies – VIP Cover, Postcard, Sticker

Erin Condren always includes a free postcard and sticker with every order. This is a great way to spread the positive messages Erin Condren supports with your friends and family. Plus, who doesn’t like a freebie, even if its small? This year Erin Condren did something really special. There was an opportunity to sign up for a VIP list for free a few months ago. VIPs receive emails with sneak peeks about new products, but we also got a free, metallic cover with our launch purchases! This is a $10.00 value, and very much appreciated. I don’t know if you can join the VIP list at this point in time, but here is a detailed look at the cover.

Erin Condren VIP Cover | 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewHere is what the front and back of the VIP cover looks like. It is a beautiful blue with metallic blue foil. I did want to mention that my cover came punched, but not cut. I easily took some scissors to cut it myself. Since this cover was free and the issue easily fixable, I did not feel the need to contact customer service. Erin Condren VIP Cover | 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewThe inside covers are brand new with this launch, and are now formatted to act as dry-erase lists. Erin Condren now sells some wet erase markers, but I plan on using a regular Sharpie. You can learn how to erase Sharpie in THIS quick YouTube video.

Erin Condren Accessories | 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewMoving onto the products I purchased, I decided to get two accessories. First, I picked up the Rose Gold Metallic Snap-In Dashboard (LINK) because I wanted my order to total $100 so I could get free shipping. It was either pay $10 for shipping, or $5 for a dashboard. It was a no-brainer to get the dashboard! I also purchased the new Designer Sticker Book in the Classic Collection Edition 2 (LINK). I’ve really enjoyed the Erin Condren sticker books I’ve purchased in the past, and this one is even prettier than the older ones! You can see photos of each and every page in the sticker book on my Facebook Page HERE.

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewNow it’s time to talk about the Life Planner! This year Erin Condren is doing something quite different. Instead of buying a planner that is already put together, you build your own planner. You get to choose the coil color (Platinum, Gold, Rose Gold, or Black), the layout (Vertical, Horizontal, or Hourly), the color scheme (Neutral or Watercolor), the cover, and any cover personalization. While I really like the ability to create the perfect planner for me, the planner got more expensive than ever due to certain customizations being considered ‘upgrades.’ I’ll talk more about that in a minute. The cover I chose is called the In Bloom Metallic (LINK), and on the left you can see the new Plan for It Pouch that comes with each planner.

Plan for it Pouch | 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewHere is a look at the Plan for It Pouch and the goodies you’ll find in it. In the past, the pouch used to be attached to the Life Planner in the back. Now you can choose where to put it, or even if you want to put it in your planner. I’m not going to use the pouch, as it bulks up my planner and I don’t use it anyway. Included is a Coil Clip, 3 Compliment Cards, 2 20% off coupons, and a sample sticker book. I love that we get some goodies with every Life Planner!

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewLet’s talk about my new Life Planner in more detail! I’ll share how I built my planner, and any coordinating prices.

  • Life Planner – $50
  • Rose Gold Coil – $10
  • Rose Gold Cover – $10
  • Personalized Cover – $5
  • Horizontal Layout – n/a
  • Colorful Color Scheme – n/a
  • 6 Months of 2016 – $5

TOTAL: $80

If you’ve been following my #PlanWithPolishland posts since last year, you’ll know this is $5 more than I spent on my first Life Planner. The price increase is due to the $5 cost for personalization. I find this charge completely unnecessary, because personalized metallic covers are sold separately for $10 total. I don’t understand why I need to pay $5 extra for personalization when it comes on a planner, and not on its own. I did decide to get the personalization because it’s what I wanted, but I did want to point out my disappointment with this charge in particular. I am otherwise very happy with the added options for the Life Planner this year.

I want to show you a quick example of my Life Planner. Here is what a month looks like! This is January.

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewEach month you get a Notes Page and a Quote Page in the monthly colors.

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewThat is followed by the Monthly Calendar.

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & ReviewFinally, here is what the Weekly Pages look like. It is very similar to last year’s Horizontal, but features the watercolor effect instead of the geometric print at the top of the page. I am loving it!

MY THOUGHTS ON LAUNCH DAY

I wanted to close out this blog post with my thoughts on Launch Day and my experience. I am very thankful that my Launch Day, June 1, was very successful. I logged into my Erin Condren account early, and had my order submitted two minutes before the official launch even began. I know there were a lot of technological issues on Launch Day, but I can only speak to my own personal experience. I had zero issues while ordering and received my confirmation email immediately after placing my order.

My order shipped on June 16, which was five days before my estimated ship time of June 21. I was a bit frustrated that people who placed orders days after me, and even weeks after me, got their orders before I did. I know I was one of the first to order, so it doesn’t make any sense why people who ordered so long after me received their packages before me. I don’t know what was going on at Erin Condren, but it felt like they were using a ‘last in, first out’ method instead of ‘first in, first out,’ when it came to shipping orders. Nonetheless, I can’t (and won’t!) complain too much because my order shipped out on time, and I received it in time for the start of the planner (June 27th).

The only issue I had with my Launch Day order was very miniscule. My tracking number never updated, and for five business days read “Order Processed” only. This means that the shipping label was created, but UPS never received the package. I emailed Erin Condren’s customer service team to find out what was going on, and it turns out I was given an incorrect tracking number. Not only was my email responded to in just over two hours, but the representative was very polite and helpful.

My order arrived on June 23, and everything was just perfect besides the little mistake with my VIP cover. I am beyond pleased with my Launch Day experience! I know that there were a lot of hiccups on launch day, and that many orders arrived damaged or with multiple errors. Again, I can only share my personal Erin Condren experience, and I am very happy to report that everything went quite smoothly for me this year! That is why I continue to purchase from and recommend Erin Condren. The products are amazing quality, and I think the customer service is great. Any issues I’ve ever had were always resolved in a timely manner.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

That brings us to the end of this very long and detailed blog post! I hope you found this post helpful if you are considering an Erin Condren Life Planner. If you have any #PlanWithPolishland blog post or video requests, feel free to leave them in the comments of this post. I am so excited to use my new goodies!

Please share your thoughts on Erin Condren’s 2017 Launch Day with me in the comments! Did it go smoothly for you? Did you experience any issues? Let me know! 

5 Ways to Save Money on Etsy | #PlanWithPolishland

Welcome back to another #PlanWithPolishland post! Thank you for all the support on my Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing & Review (see it HERE if you missed it). Today I wanted to share some helpful tips on how to save money on Etsy. When I first joined the nail polish community, I was amazed with all of the indie nail polish makers. Now, as I explore the planner world, I am blown away by the stickers that are specifically made for the Erin Condren Life Planner (hereinafter “ECLP”). One of the reasons I wanted an ECLP was because I wanted to make my planner a hobby – I wanted it to be functional and helpful, but also a creative outlet. Stickers are a great way to dress up your planner, so I did a ton of research to decide which shops I was going to place orders with right off the bat. The only issue is, stickers can get really expensive, especially when buying from Etsy shops. I didn’t want to give up such cute stickers, so I came up with a plan to make this new sticker habit both fabulous and affordable!

5 Ways to Save Money on Etsy | #PlanWithPolishland

1. Earn Cash Back on Ebates  Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

If you’re a longtime Adventures in Polishland reader, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of the website Ebates. Ebates is a reputable website that allows you to earn cash back on many of the purchases you make online. All you have to do is sign up, log in to Ebates, and click on the store from which you’d like to purchase. Then Ebates tracks your order and gives you money! Etsy was recently added to Ebates, and you can earn 1% cash back on all Etsy orders. While 1% may not seem like a lot, it’s still money back in your pocket. I highly recommend signing up for Ebates, and if you use my referral link by clicking on the Ebates banner above, I get credit for you!

2. Always Use a Coupon Code

Etsy sticker shops are really great with coupon codes. There is almost always an active code available, and it’s really easy to find them! Make sure you are following Etsy shops on social media, specifically Instagram. Many shops have an Instagram specific coupon code listed on their profile. In addition, a lot of shops have Facebook groups that keep you informed of upcoming releases and sales. I highly recommend joining those groups. Not only will you get money-saving coupons, but you’ll get to know the shop owner and other planner lovers. If you’re not personally on social media, you can still visit a shop’s Instagram page through your web browser or do a classic Google search. Those few extra minutes of looking online could save you a few dollars!

3. Buy More Less Often

An added expense to shopping online is always shipping. This is especially true if you are located in a different country than the store from which you are purchasing. Thus, plan out your purchases and buy more stickers less often. This will ensure you pay the lowest shipping price, and you will get enough stickers to last you a long time. To keep track of the stickers you want to buy, keep a Pinterest Board or add stickers to your Etsy cart for later purchase. Focus on buying a large order from one shop at a time, and make use of those stickers before buying anything else.

4. Only Buy What You Will Use 

This sounds very straightforward, but sometimes this is not an easy rule to follow. There are so many cute stickers on Etsy, and I would love to buy them all. However, I have no need for stickers that are purely decorative. Sure, it would be fun to have macarons or princesses all over my planner, but I focus on buying stickers that are functional. That’s my personal planning style right now. How many times have you heard someone say, “I have no idea when I’ll use this, but I just had to have it!” Don’t be that person! We’re on a budget here! If you want those princess stickers make sure you have a use for them, even if it’s just to decorate. Be honest with yourself and realize that once you click that purchase button you can’t get that money back.

5. Get a Planner Buddy 

Last but not least, find a friend with similar interests! I highly recommend having a planner buddy who is local. This will allow you to split shipping costs with her, and you can also split sticker sheets. For example, some shops have sampler sheets with a variety of different stickers, but you might only want to use half of them. See if your planner buddy will use the other half. If so, you just saved 50% on your purchase! A planner buddy will also hold you accountable for your purchases, and is someone who can share your hobby with you.

That brings us to the end of this #PlanWithPolishland post! I hope you found these tips helpful. The best part is, all five of these tips can be combined to save you the most amount of money possible. I’ll admit I’ve already made a few Etsy sticker purchases, but I’ve followed these steps and feel like each purchase is justified. I am uploading all of my sticker hauls on my YouTube channel, so make sure to SUBSCRIBE to know when those videos go live. My first haul will be embedded in this video below for your convenience!

Do you shop on Etsy? How do you save money? What are your favorite shops? Tell me in the comments!