Confessions of a Homeschooler's 2013 Blog Planner Review

Before our "official" reviews begin for the brand new Mosaic Reviews, we were asked to do a dry run with our choice of several different blog planners.  All are free, and each one offers different features and layouts.  The one I chose is offered by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Isn't it pretty?  Erica is amazingly talented!  I first "met" her when we were both on the same review team, and I can tell you that once I saw all she has to offer, her printables quickly comprised most of my youngest daughter's kindergarten school work.  Although I'm a huge fan of her printables, I chose her planner because it just made the most sense to me.  She thinks like I do.  There is a page at the beginning of the planner that offers a year at a glance.  And the planner comes in two formats-- one with the monthly post layout calendar and one that offers post layout in more of a list form with the dates followed by a blank line that you can use to fill in the details.  These post layout pages all include small boxes that you can check for Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and Pinterest, so you can keep track of which social media sites you have posted to.  There are also small boxes for you to check if you've scheduled a post for that day, and if you have a giveaway/winner for that day.  Each month also has a Blog Notes page for recording all the details for reviews/give-aways, post ideas, and monthly stats.  The color schemes are different for each month, but you can get a good idea of the colors used in the planner from the sample pages in the picture above. 

The pros:  Did I mention it's pretty?  I HATE planning.  And I do a ton of it for the schooling of 4 children, so the last thing I really want is to have more planning to do for my blog, of all places, which is supposed to be a creative outlet, not drudgery.  But the reality is I have long passed the point where I can keep track of everything in my head and never have one of those "oops, I forgot..." moments, so I really, truly needed a planner.  And I knew I'd be much more likely to use it if it was pretty and made me happy to look at it :-).  This one is and does.  And I have always been a "month at a glance" sort of girl.  Always.  So it just clicked with me to have my planner work that way.  I love the Notes pages that give me a place to  record more info about reviews and giveaways when I need to, and give me a place to keep post ideas where they are easy to find again.  And as I branch out into other forms of social media, it's definitely nice to be able to check a box for "yep, I shared it there" instead of trying to remember them all each time.  This planner is just perfect for me!

The cons:  Remember how pretty it is?  Well, you can only appreciate that if you print it in color.  That could be a con if a) you don't have a color printer or b) you don't want to spend about $11 to have your free planner printed at a print shop.  I do have a color printer, but chose to have it printed because I had free credit to use.  And since I was having a printing place do it, I had it bound too.  The whole thing cost me about $13.  I probably would have just done it at home and stapled it if I didn't have the credit, but I had it and it was literally expiring in a few days, so I made use of it.  Other than that, there's not a single con I can think of.

The bottom line:  I'm very happy with my planner.  It provides me with everything I need, laid out in a way that makes complete sense to me.  And it's pretty ;-).  Oh, and did I mention FREE.  So if you need a blog planner, I would definitely recommend the 2013 Blog Planner from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler also offers tons of other free printables from pre-k worksheets, to journaling pages, to short unit studies...and everything in between.  You can check out her blog and find all of her printables at Confessions of a Homeschooler.

After March 1st, you can read all about what my fellow Mosaic Reviews members thought of the planners they reviewed by clicking on Mosaic Reviews.

Comments

Glenda said…
I am so glad I found your site through the post HSBA did on the top 10 blogs as I needed a homeschool planner. I hope you will visit me as well. If you have time come and do a guest post for me. I love when I have visitors on the blog.
Unknown said…
Great Review! Good point about color printing.
Jennifer said…
Love that you included pro's and con's based on your experience. Well done!
Christephi said…
I think this planner is laid out so "me" too! Great review! :-)

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