Looking for a fun, colorful, and gorgeous way to budget? The Erin Condren Budget Book might be the perfect solution for you!
The Erin Condren Budget Book is a beautifully designed product that just might make budgeting fun.
But will it work for you? Let’s flip through the book and I’ll share my opinion on whether I think it’s worth the $6 price tag.
What’s in the Erin Condren Budget Book?
The Erin Condren Budget Book contains the following colorful pages (scroll down for pictures of each page):
- Savings challenge. This is the very first page of the book. For each month, there is a “goal deposit” and an “actual deposit” for your savings. This challenge is definitely not as exciting as some of these money challenges, but it’s a little motivating…
- Monthly budget template (1 page for each month of the year). This is a very typical budget template. It includes space to write your income (expected and actual) and your expenses (broken down in typical budget categories).
- Important contacts. Space to write information for nine contacts (including their name, phone, and email)
- Important passwords. Space to write information for nine passwords (including the website, username, and password)
- Debt management tracker. Allows for you to list/track your debt payments.
Here’s a picture of all the pages in the Budget Book:
Pros of the Erin Condren Budget Book
- Oh-my-gosh it’s gorgeous! Like all Erin Condren products, this is beautifully designed with happy colors and lovely simplicity. It may motivate you to actually start a budget 🙂
- It’s small enough to fit inside your Erin Condren Life Planner (in the folder or in the pouch)
- It’s the same size as the Erin Condren Perpetual Calendar. They go perfectly together, especially if you are already using your Erin Condren Perpedual Calendar as a spending log!
- It lists all the typical budget categories and gives you 9 extra spaces for any personalized budget categories you want to add
Cons of the Erin Condren Budget Book
- I don’t like the debt management tracker. This would have never worked for me when I was paying off my student debt. I had over 10 debts, and the 28 lines provided in the budget book wouldn’t have lasted me 3 months! My debts wouldn’t have been organized, and it would be hard for me to track or visualize my progress. So, I think this page is totally useless (unless you are in the extreme minority and only have one debt). With all that said, this is a BUDGET book, not necessarily a debt tracker book.
- The sheets for important contacts and important passwords are useless for me. Who needs a place to write down important contacts anymore (seems so outdated since everyone uses a cell phone for this now)? I also would never write down my passwords in a budget book…
- I don’t like the spots for personal debt and student loan debt on each month’s budget. First of all, many people have more than just two debts. Also, student loan debt is personal debt…this is just a weird way to label debt.
Is it worth the money?
It’s $6, so let’s get real – it’s not going to break the bank.
But is it worth the few dollars? – it depends! Let me explain…
Yes, it’s worth the money if you are:
- Unsure of how to start your first budget. This is such a simple (and beautiful) way to ease into budgeting. Anybody can figure out how to budget with this book. Also, having a physical reminder (a physical book) is a great way to make sure you fill out a budget each month!
- A teenager or college student. Even if you don’t have a lot of expenses, one day you will! This is a great way to get you in the habit of budgeting/adulting. (And if you have a teenager or college student, I personally think this is a great gift idea and the perfect way to introduce budgeting.)
- A pen & paper kind of person. If budget spreadsheets overwhelm you, or writing things down keep you motivated, then this budget book is perfect!
- A lover of all things Erin Condren. If you’ve got her Life Planner, pens, stickers, and perpetual calendar, then yes, I do think this is for you.
No, it’s not worth the money if you are:
- Wanting all your financial information in one spot. While the budget book is a great way to create a budget each month, that’s all it can really help you with. You can’t track your net worth, track your investments, or identify the categories you’ve over- (or under-) spent in.
- Trying to crawl your way out of debt. I am not a fan of the debt management tracker – I don’t think it’s helpful for someone with more than one debt. I also don’t like how the monthly budget only has two spots for debt.
In summary, I think the Erin Condren Budget Book is great for someone who is just learning how to budget, has a simple financial life, or loves pen & paper for creating their monthly budget. It’s a beautifully designed book and might make you actually want to budget each month.
However, if you are a recent college grad with tons of student debt or the average joe with many different types of debt, I think you may need a different solution to help you budget AND track your debt. One exception: if you are in debt, and don’t have a budget, then this might be the perfect baby step to getting your financial life in order.
Where can I buy it?
You can buy the budget book on the Erin Condren website, Staples, or Amazon (yay, the Erin Condren products are finally on Amazon!). If you decide to purchase a calendar (or anything) on the Erin Condren website, you can get $10 off your first purchase with my affiliate link.
Do you use the Erin Condren Budget Book (or other Erin Condren products)? If not, how do you create a budget each month?
