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It’s time for another planner review! Today I’ll be telling you all about the 2019 Erin Condren Hardbound LifePlanner.

Erin Condren Hardbound LifePlanner
It’s been a few months since I’ve posted a planner review. But recently I purchased the 2019 Erin Condren Hardbound Life Planner during a 40% off sale! At the time of writing this, it is still on sale so you should definitely go check it out if you are interested! Plus you can get $10 off your order if you are new to Erin Condren. Just sign up HERE and you will receive a coupon in your email (plus if you make a purchase then I also get a $10 credit).
While I have purchased from Erin Condren before (like the notebook that I use as my financial planner), I haven’t had a Life Planner before. I’ve admired Erin Condren products for years but never had the opportunity to splurge on a Life Planner until now (spoiler alert… I might have purchased a coil bound too- it was also on sale!).
I purchased the large 8×10 inch neutral Hardbound Life Planner, which is a vertical layout. You can see a flip-through in my unboxing video on Youtube below.
Erin Condren: The Company
I pay a lot of attention to how companies act and treat their customers. I personally have had nothing but good experiences with the Erin Condren company. They portray a brand that is uplifting, fun, and friendly. I love that they try to make products that will work for different life stages and needs. And there are so many customization options that will help everyone find what will work best for them.
As I have watched Erin Condren (and many, many Youtube videos from customers) over the years, I have seen them make changes that their customers have requested. For example: thicker paper, laminated tabs, adding tabs to the Deluxe Monthly Planner, and removing the structured notes page before the month and replacing it with standard lined paper (although there were mixed feelings on that one).

Features
Price- $25-30, but can often get them on sale or with a coupon or discount (like $10 off here).
Size and Style- Two sizes to choose from: 8×10 inches and 5×8 inches. The 8×10 is a vertical layout, and the 5×8 is horizontal. Both sizes are available in either colorful or neutral style.
The one I purchased was a 12 month, 2019 dated planner. I have seen in the past that they have also done 18 month hardbound planners, as well as undated planners, but I’m not sure if those options will be offered again or not.
Cover & Appearance- The cover is a hardbound book. It has a very smooth, velvety feel to it. It is not a paper cover. Most of the cover is not foiled, but the year is foiled on the spine and if you choose to have it personalized, then that will also be foiled. The edges of the pages are foiled as well. The binding is sewn so it lays mostly flat, and will stay open when sitting on a desk.
Paper- The paper is the same heavy Mohawk paper that is used in the other Life Planners and notebooks. It has a slight texture to it, which I think makes some pens hard to use on it (mostly the thin felt tip pens like Staedtler and Sharpie Pens). Gel pens have worked just fine for me (Papermate Inkjoy Gel Pens and Pilot G2 pens are great!).
Interior- The design is the same as the coiled Life Planner. They have the same pages at the beginning with foil on the inside cover (which the coiled planners don’t have). There are pages with the 12 boxes, year at a glance, notes page before each month, divider with quote, monthly and weekly planning pages, and next year at a glance. It also has more notes pages than the coiled Life Planner and no coloring pages.
Since it has no coil to add in dashboards or snap in bookmarks, it does have a ribbon bookmark to easily turn to a page. I do wish it had two of them though.

What I’m Loving
The cover just feels amazing! It’s not a standard paper feeling cover, and seems more durable than if it was.
The pages are stitched in, which allows them to lay flat. A mayor perk of this is that you don’t loose page space near the binding, and you also don’t have to try to work around a coil when you are writing close to the center.
And of course a major plus of the Hardbound Life Planner is that it costs much less than the Coiled Life Planners.

The Downside
The downside to having a lower costing Life Planner is that it doesn’t come with the fun extras that the coil bound Life Planners do. There are no tabs on the months, Plan-for-it-Pouch (along with the goodies that come inside it), pocket folder, added in stickers, ruler, or perpetual calendar.
Because of the size difference in the large hardbound vs. the coil bound, many of the stickers that are sold for Erin Condren planners don’t fit the same. I don’t have a problem with the way that full, half, and quarter boxes fit because it is just slightly smaller than the box. But where it gets hard are the larger stickers that are made to go across the top and bottom, and over the days of the week. The total length is different enough that it just looks funky.
To sum it up…
Overall, I really like the hardbound Life Planner. Even after learning as much as I could before purchasing, I was still surprised at the quality of this planner. The cover is amazing, and I love the rose gold foiling! It really is a great option for anyone who would like to try out an Erin Condren planner at a lower price.
I also did a video showing the details of this planner on my Youtube Channel. You can see that video below.
Have you tried the Hardbound Life Planner? Let me know in the comments how you guys use your planners, or if you have any questions about the Erin Condren Hardbound!
