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Erin Condren Petite Planner for a Customizable Planner Solution

The Erin Condren Petite Planner is a fantastic option for an easy customizable planner system to help you get your life organized on a budget. Find more Erin Condren planner reviews here.

Note: I received some of the products shown free from Erin Condren for review and promotion consideration. Opinions expressed are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links or referral links. Purchases from these links provides a small commission or discounts towards future purchases to me at no extra cost to you. Refer to my Full Privacy Policy and Disclaimers here.

Erin Condren is known for producing high quality planners that are colorful, fun and functional. I have been a fan of Erin Condren’s planner since I started using them in 2015 and they have never disappointed me. In this post, I will be telling you everything you need to know about the Erin Condren Petite Planner line so you can decide if it’s the best planner and organizer for you.

What is the Erin Condren Petite Planner?

The Erin Condren Petite Planner is similar to a traveler’s notebook system where you can build your own planner with a cover (called a folio) with 4 elastic strings inside that holds up to 4 planners or journals.

Erin Condren Petite Planners Folios in Starry Sky, Colorblends and Champagne

The journals slide easily in and out of the folio and the elastic band holds it in place in the page seam. It’s super easy to customize your planner whenever you need to since you just slide the various journals in and out.

Erin Condren just released their new round of Petite Planners and I’m so excited to share them with you. They have a great selection of petite planners and journals so you can build your ultimate planning solution.

Here’s a list of the types of Erin Condren petite planners and journals you can get as of the date of this post. Please check Erin Condren’s website for full details.

  • 2022 or 2023 Daily Petite Planners (each planner has one quarter’s worth of daily pages)
  • July 2022-Dec 2023 18 month Monthly Petite Planner
  • Budget Book
  • Wellness Log
  • Self Care Journal
  • Meal Planner
  • Goal Setting Journal
  • Holiday Prep Planner
  • Travel Journal
  • Pet Parent Petite Planner
  • Gratitude Journal
  • Year in Preview PetitePlanner
  • Plant Journal
  • Breast Cancer Journal
  • Productivity Journal
  • Lined Journals (a couple feature Star Wars and Hello Kitty!)

As you can see there is a wide variety to choose from and you can easily swap out the books in your folio as your needs change (for me, that’s pretty often).

In this Erin Condren petite planner review, I’ll walk you through the following to help you decide if this Erin Condren Petite Planner layout is right for your life and style:

  • the best features that make the Erin Condren petite planner unique
  • pictures of the Erin Condren folio and petite planners I have
  • pros and cons of the Erin Condren petite planner
  • if the Erin Condren petite planner is worth the money

For detailed specifications about the Erin Condren petite planner and folio system, please visit the Erin Condren website. .

So let’s get to it!

Erin Condren Petite Planner’s Best Features

Here are my favorite features of the Erin Condren Petite Planner system that makes it stand out in the planner market.

You Can Build Your Planner!

I don’t know if I have ADHD (impulsivity issues) but it sure feels like it a lot of times. As a result, I change my mind OFTEN about what I need and want in my planner and my mind is always racing with new ideas, to dos and goals to pursue. Top that off with brain fog from my autoimmune Rheumatoid Arthritis and being a mom of 3 very smart, cute and unpredictable young men, and I change my planning needs often to try and juggle my life and the chaos in my head.

The beauty of the Erin Condren Petite Planner system is that you can build your planner easily. The sewn bound notebooks are easily interchangeable in the elastics of the Erin Condren folio or you can slip one of the notebooks into your purse or current A5 system to test it out.

You don’t have to worry about printing or punching inserts or keeping an index to be able to find the subjects you need. All your content can be organized in a series of topic based or blank journals.

My Erin Condren Petite Planner collection from 2020 – colorful planners and journals fit inside the folio

I started my Petite Planner collection in 2020 (shown above) and you can see what I put in my previous Erin Condren petite planner, I like to swap out the journals for what I need and where I need it. I have several folios and journals because I use them in different places, such as I can:

  • take one folio with me for managing daily life and thoughts,
  • leave one folio at my desk for my blog and side hustle work
  • take the menu planner alone in my purse for grocery shopping, and
  • leave the gratitude journal on my nightstand to make sure I see it and do it each night! (see below or link to How to Use the Erin Condren Petite Planner post).

What do you need in your ideal planner? With the Erin Condren Petite Planner system, you can build your planner easily to meets your needs.

An Affordable Customizable Planner!

A lot of the customizable planners or build your own planners have a high financial cost. And then there’s an emotional cost and incredible guilt if you don’t stick with that expensive tool all year. That’s happened to me plenty.

What I love about the Erin Condren Petite Planner system is that it’s pretty affordable.

Individual journals right now start at $9.50 to $14.50. You can buy one and see how it works for you before you commit to the whole system. If you can only get one, I recommend the meal planner. I have an older version but I still use it!

If you think this system will work for you, then you can also create your own bundle and get the folio and 4 planners and journals for 20% off. They also have a few different themed bundles which help you save money too. Available bundles include:

For an even better deal, if you sign up for the EC insider program mailing list, you can get $10 off your first purchase. So do that cause it’s free to join, you can earn reward points for future discounts and get sale notifications and early shopping first.

View of bottom of Erin Condren Petite Planner with 4 journals banded inside

Portable Planner

The Erin Condren Petite Planner is an A5 size which is a good size for portability for several reasons:

  • You can throw the whole folio and planners in your bag
  • you can take just what you need with you and keep the rest at home
  • there is no coil to worry about getting caught on anything in your purse or bag
  • In general it weighs less than the 7×9 planner because it’s smaller and less paper
  • you could just carry one quarters worth of daily pages for a super light daily planner option.

Erin Condren Paper

Erin Condren Petite Planner paper – sample shown from 2023 October to December Petite Planner

I love the Erin Condren Petite Planner paper. It holds up well to the gel pens I have and the Erin Condren pens and markers. It is made of 80# paper. It does not seem to have the same texture as their coiled planners that has more tooth. The petite planner paper feels smoother and I love it. It does shadow or ghost some for inky gel pens but that it doesn’t bleed through so it does not bother me.

Erin Condren Petite Planner Stickers

I don’t use a lot of stickers in my planning because I’d rather use my precious planner pages to get all the chaos out of my head organized onto paper. But of all the stickers I use, the Petite Planner stickers that are included with the various planners and journals are my favorite. If stickers are important to you, make sure to check the site to see which journals come with stickers, I don’t know if they all do.

The Erin Condren Petite Planner stickers are small, simple and functional and fit in the back pocket of the journal so you can take them out when I need them. The Erin Condren coiled life planners have the sticker sheets coiled into the planner so I usually end up tearing them out and putting them in the pocket anyway so they are easier to access when I’m planning or writing in small victories and happy memories at the end of the day.

Look inside the Erin Condren Petite Planner

Erin Condren Folio

First up let’s talk about the Erin Condren Petite Planner Folio. The folio is made of vegan (synthetic) leather. It’s soft and smooth and lightweight. I’ve had my Starry Sky and Champagne Folios for 3 years and they still look great.

The new Colorblends folio that they sent me is gorgeous! I love the gradient of colors that reminds me of a tropical sunset on the front and a sunrise on the back.

Erin Condren Petite Planner Size

The Erin Condren Petite Planner Folio is 6.69” x 8.25”.

The individual Erin Condren Petite Planners and Journals that fit inside the folio are 5.7” x 8.25” (A5).

Now let’s take a look at some of the new Erin Condren Petite Planner that they kindly sent me to show you! There are many others available on their site like the budget, goal setting, meal planning and wellness logs that are worth checking out too before you decide.

Daily Erin Condren Petite Planners

Ohhhh, I so love the In Bloom design on the 2023 Daily Petite Planners. Pastels and florals in blues, green, mauve and peach are classic and neutral. You could easily take these gorgeous little planners out alone to a meeting or doctor’s appointment if you needed to.

Erin Condren Petite Planner – October to December 2023 daily planner

Each daily Erin Condren Petite Planner contains 3 months worth of calendars and planning pages:

  • Book 1 is Jan to Mar 2023 with a green cover
  • Book 2 is April to June 2023 with a peach cover
  • Book 3 is July to September 2023 with a mauve cover, and
  • Book 4 is October to December 2023 with a blue cover

You can buy the quarterly planners separately or buy them all in a set for 20% off.

The cover is made of a smooth hard cardstock, matte on the outside with rose gold accents and glossy solid color on the inside.

Erin Condren Petite Planner 2023 Daily planner monthly calendar

The interior monthly calendar has a script font for the month title and a serif all caps font for the days of the week. The monthly calendar starts on Sunday and there is a lined notes column on the side.

Erin Condren Petite Planner Friday and shared weekend planning pages

The daily weekday pages are one page per day with:

  • a blank header space
  • 3 color blocked sections,
  • a bulleted to do list section,
  • and a blank notes section.

Saturday and Sunday share a page and has no color blocked sections. I was really hoping that Saturday and Sunday would have their own pages in the new version but sadly not.

On the left hand daily weekday pages there is a mini calendar. You can highlight the week you are in or cover it up with a sticker. I tend to cover it up and honestly, I’d rather have a completely blank space. But it’s a minor issue.

There are no notes pages at the end. There is a pocket with 2 pages of stickers, one for functional planning and the other for 2023 heritage and awareness days, months and observances. I do wish there were some notes pages at the end or in between the weeks to help with weekly planning.

Erin Condren Petite Planner Self Care Journal

This edition of the self care journal has the watercolor meadow wildflowers on the front, it’s a beautiful neutral cover. I like that the self care journal is undated so you can use it whenever you need to.

There are 7 weeks worth of the following pages

  • Weekly Self care intentions (on left page shown above)
  • Daily logs for positive thoughts, mood and sleep trackers, daily self care and other ways I took care of myself (on right page shown above)
  • Weekly habit tracker (on left page shown below)
  • Weekly reflections (on right page shown below)

There are also some additional celebrating you and self care that worked pages to keep implementing what felt good for you.

I love the functional stickers and back pocket in the self care journal, the rose gold accents are gorgeous!

It’s a lovely guided self care journal if you need help making yourself a priority. September is my birthday month so I’ll be using this one this month as I’m not getting any younger and struggle with making time for my self care sometimes.

Holiday Petite planner

Erin Condren Petite Holiday Planner

This one is so exciting and I bet you this one will sell out as people have been asking for it! The Erin Condren holiday prep petite planner is an undated guided journal and planner that has space to plan 3 months of holidays.

Each holiday section includes:

  • monthly calendar
  • checking in spread
  • this month’s decor
  • traditions
  • priorities and to do’s
  • holiday gathering meal plan
  • memories

I especially love the checking in page to envision the holiday and its importance to your family and the holiday meal plan page which allows you to know requests and allergies.

The end of the book covers budget trackers, card lists, gift lists, wish list and price trackers. It’s a very well thought out holiday planner to help you get ready for your busiest holidays. I love that it’s undated and nonspecific so you can customize it for whichever holidays and family traditions are important to your family.

There is a wide selection of Petite Planners and they do get updated. Some of my other favorites are the meal planner, wellness log, the goal setting journal and the budget book. So be sure to check those out too!

Erin Condren Petite Planner pros and cons

Erin Condren Petite Planner pros

  • Customizable – order the planners and guided journal topics you need and build your ideal planner
  • Small size so it’s portable and you can make it even lighter by taking notebooks out when you commute/travel
  • A wide variety of topics to be able to juggle everything for your work, fun and home, even pet and plant care!
  • Great quality Erin Condren paper
  • Daily planners have a flexible design so you can use the daily pages in different ways
  • Besides the daily planners and monthly calendars, many of the journals are undated so you can use them anytime you need them. Nothing needs to go to waste because it has a date on it.
  • So easy to change out the notebooks in your folio, just slide one out and the other one in.
  • It is easy to create an all in one planner or separate folios for work and personal life using the same system depending on your season of life
  • the small notebook size makes storage much easier too. The ones I’m not using fit nicely in my kitchen desk drawer, and the ones I use are either in a folio or desk organizer. The books are so colorful, happy and pretty, they are nice to display.

Erin Condren Petite Planner cons

  • no weekly or notes pages in the daily planners so you might need a productivity or lined journal to use one of the spots in your folio
  • Saturdays and Sundays share a page in the daily planners. If your weekends are super busy like ours, you might need that productivity or lined journal for extra planning space.
  • the folio has space for 4 planners/journals so you are limited to 4 sections (I think this might also be a good thing to make sure you simplify your planning and what you carry with you)
  • the planner covers are not personalizable like the Erin Condren life planners. You can’t choose different colors.
  • they sell out and sometimes discontinued. I have some petite planners that are great (like the checklist journal and treatment log) that are no longer available to purchase. If you see one you want, you’ll need to snag it and maybe multiples if it really works for you.

Who the Erin Condren Petite Planner is Right For

I like to give suggestions for who I think planners are right for so you don’t waste your time or money on a planner that does not serve your needs well. I think the Erin Condren Petite Planner is right for people who:

  • want a fun and functional all in one planner, or
  • want to keep separate work and home planners that are easily interchangeable, or
  • want a customizable planner that is budget friendly, or
  • have often changing needs since the books are easily interchangeable, or
  • need a portable and lightweight system for travel or commuting, or
  • need a planner system that doesn’t take a lot of storage or desk space
  • people on a budget, you can buy just what you need within your budget,
  • people who haven’t used this kind of system before, you can get just one journal to see if it works for you without spending a lot.

Erin Condren Discount Code

Erin Condren offers a few different discount codes to try out. They also have frequent sales.

My best Erin Condren tip is to sign up for the EC insider program. The benefits:

  • It’s free,
  • you get a $10 off your first purchase coupon
  • you earn rewards for each purchase that can be redeemed for coupon codes (that usually stack on top of sales prices), and
  • you get first notice of sales. Popular items do sell out quickly

Other Erin Condren discount codes:

Be sure to check out one of the Petite Planner bundle deals and grab them before they sell out!

More Planning and Productivity Resources

Well there you have it, a complete review of the Erin Condren Petite Planner system. They have lots of new great planners and journals so you can build your planner and customize the planning solution you need for your current season of life. New planners and journals are released periodically so be sure to check the Erin Condren Petite Planner page for all the details.

As always, leave me a comment with any questions and I’ll be glad to give you my honest feedback, I want you to find the right planner to help you plan and achieve your best life!

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