Freedom Planner 2019

Hello. I received this planner from Santa (i gift it to myself) and i was really excited about it. I unwrapped the planner, put the plastic wrap in the trash and paper page with logo in recycling bin. I sat and wanted to enjoy my planner.I own a tools4wisdom 2016 planner and wanted to try something new this year. Tools4wisdom was nice, but i get bored quickly and wanted to try something new. I searched and searched and decided to go with freedom planner dated for 2017.So now i have old 2016 tools4wisdom and new 2017 freedom planner in front of me. Which one is better???- size: I like better FP , fp smaller than t4w, but thickness is almost same.- cover: FP is a winner, fp hardcover with stronger metal corners, my old t4w has thinner, laminated paper cover, flexible with damaged corners (after a year of use)- cover picture: t4w better. Fp has only two designs of cover, black and lotus. I have lotus not because i love it, but because i didn't want depressing black. T4w has many different cover designs and last year i got exactly what i wanted- there is no winner in "finding the date in the planner" area. T4w planner has tabs with months, it is helpful if you want to check something in different months, fp doesn't have it and you need to search more to find the date you want. But fp has a "string bookmark" which is nice (my old t4w didn't have it and it was rather inconvenient, i had to use my own bookmark for "today's date"). Ideally i would like to see a string bookmark and tabs with months.- binding: fp "double golden spring" - t4w "plastic single spring". T4w seems better, i can turn page smoothly, fp also good but t4w seems slightly better- pages in both planners seem to be made of similar paper, medium quality and thickness, i used pencils and pens last year in t4w, i didn't experience any bleeding through the paper, cannot tell about markers or gel pens- inside:* both planners have shorter one page calendar for "this year", only fp has one page calendar of "next year"*both calendars have pages dedicated to goals, notes, t4w has page for goal mindmap, fp has page for dream board. More room for goals in t4w planner. Fp has "reflecting back" page after every month.*both calendars have less room for Saturday and Sunday, for me it is a minus because not everyone has dayoff on sat sun, we don't have it and Saturday Sunday is same important and need same space as other days.* fp day 7am - 9pm every half hour, 6am - 9pm every hour* fp has every week: tasks and action space, 3 things i am grateful for, inspiring quote; t4w has every week: room for goals for this week, room for daily goals (top priority, secondary priority, other) room for ideas.* inside overall is very similar. Space for planning days and for goals. Seems like t4w has more space for goals and ideas and it may be more nice for somebody planning new business or lots of changes, fp has less space for goals and ideas but has nice quotes, space for 3 things that i am grateful for and may be more suitable for regular people with regular everyday goals.- price: fp $35, t4w $30. Both planners seem to very overpriced. T4w uses more paper, has bigger pages and more pages, has tabs; fp has smaller pages, less pages, doesn't have tabs, has bookmark and elastic closure (forgot to mention it before), has hard cover with metal corners. I would say $2 difference between planners but not $5. For me being so overpriced is the reason for lowering rating to 4 stars for both planners.My choice:Both planners are nice, both deserve 5 stars - 1 star for price =4 stars. Fp suits me more because it is smaller, has bookmark and hard cover, less space for goals (i don't have a need for bigger goal space, prefer quote and room for being grateful). I really like both planners but fp fits my lifestyle better.Why the rating...So i really wanted to enjoy this planner. I planned to sit now and think about my resolutions for next year. It is December 25th and i normally use days after Christmas for planning for new year. I sit and think and plan and write and think again and change and when i am done i write everything on dec 31 or jan 1. But this planner doesn't have January 1. It starts from January 2nd.PLANNER STARTS FROM JANUARY 2ND BECAUSE (seller): "Since our planner spreads start on Mondays and January 1st, 2017 is a Sunday, this year the dated planner starts on January 2nd."How much would it cost to add one page? Sure we would have couple additional days from December, but stil better than no January 1st.Let me check my old t4w. No, it doesn't start from Monday January 4, 2016. (Digging in the trash, searching for plastic wrapper). How greedy people can be not to include January 1st in already so overpriced planner (digging in recycling, searching for paper with logo).Don't want to offend anyone but this planner is overpriced. Go check b and n and you will find similar quality planners with colorful pages for half the price (this one is black and white). Sure there may be different content, i am talking about materials, paper, printing. Planner is beautiful and content is awesome and i would buy it and rated 4stars.But for me, this planner ruined my Christmas. I was so excited and when i opened it so sad and disappointed :( not sure if i want to keep it or not. In this moment i am just so very very very sad and disappointed. How could anyone skip January 1 :( should i buy something different for 2017 and wait for 2018 fp?2018 starts from Monday...

As someone who both personally and professionally gets more done when I have a list in front of me, this Planner is a great tool.I love that this planner is separated into daily columns rather than weekly, as I have enough room to use it for work and at home. It is simple and clean without a bunch of sections that I won't use. I'm not someone who needs to reflect on what I've done each day, so I didn't need anything with pages and pages devoted to reflections and areas of improvement. I just wanted something that I can use to take a few notes and write a few lists each day.The planner is organized by day with the only 'reflection' sections occurring at the end of each month. It also includes a calendar at the start of each month. It runs all the way through 2018, while some planners I looked at only lasted a few months--so this is a good choice for those not wanting to swap out books every quarter.It comes with two pages of stickers with Facebook, dollar sign, gym, mail, star, and other icons to use within the pages. I didn't think I would use them but have used the '$' sticker as a credit card payment reminder each month. Others may have more use for them than I. The built-in ribbon bookmark and elastic book-close are a nice touch for organization and security.My MAIN GRIPE is the quality of paper they used for the pages--it's terrible for this price point. The covers are sturdy and attractive, but the pages are just about the cheapest feeling I've come across. This is evident in the printing as well. The black areas are blotchy and look like they were photocopied from a home printer. I am someone who uses a fountain pen and the pages feather my ink too much for my liking, as cheap paper tends to do. This would be best to write in with a standard stick pen, not a fountain or ball-point. Of course, this complaint isn't a deal breaker as to most, paper is paper, but for $35 it is a bit overpriced for what it is. I expected better paper from what I see as a more 'high-end' planner.But overall I like this product and I feel that it has made me a more productive person. I take it with me everywhere,Other Things I may Change:-I hate flipping through the pages to find each month's calendar. I wish it was all in one section-I would've liked easy to flip-to tabs for each month, as locating a specific date takes a bit too long-I would like a larger section at the front or back with blank pages to take notes--I don't care if this would make the planner thicker-While it may not be an issue for some, somehow dividing the days between work and personal sections would have been welcome