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ne of my favorite parts of the end of the year is shopping around and looking at the pretty new planners that are coming up and dreaming of ways I can organize my life. Since college, I’ve used the same planner (the Moleskine Weekly Planner) but that never stopped me from looking and lusting. This year I did pull the trigger and buy a new one, but before I reveal The One, I thought I’d share some of the other contenders!

Day Designer: this thick spiral bound notebook features a hard cover with thick black and white stripes. Join her email list to get a preview of the daily pages, which include a priority to-do list and hour-by-hour blocks to plot your day.

May Books: I’ve reviewed May Designs before, and I really like them. I considered getting one of them for the new year, but wasn’t sure they’d offer enough space for me.

Sessa Vee: Her printable planners are absolutely gorgeous. Pretty, florally designs and extremely functional. Ultimately I didn’t go with this one because after waffling back and forth and back and forth again, I decided against doing a three-ring binder for portability reasons.

Kate Spade: I would have gone with this one if it had been in-stock at the kate spade website where it is $12 cheaper, but these sell out fast. I love the gold dots, and the hard cover keeps the spiral from being exposed and getting tangled up on things in your bag. It also opens so that the pages lay flat, which is awesome for writing and keeping things organized.

And after all that, the one I said yes to: the ban.do 2015 17-month planner. (This is an extremely popular one and the design I originally wanted, a cover that reads “I am very busy.” is sold out everywhere. The linked website is actually the only webstore I found that still had either design in stock!) It has a lot of the features I loved about my Moleskine (pocket on the back cover, ribbon to cord off pages, and elastic band to keep it shut) as well as things I always wished for in my red beauties – tabbed months and full page calendar views, for example. (If Hattan Home still has it in stock, use code “OINKOINK” to save 10%!) It’s also the most affordable on the list, clocking in around $20 pre-discount.

Inside, it features colorful illustrations, fun messages to cheer up dreary days, and suggestions for weekend activities – “dye your hair pink” and “bake a pumpkin pie from scratch” are two of my favorites!

I’m only sad that I didn’t get this planner a few months ago so I could have been using to to its maximum, but I’m excited to jump in now.

How do you organize your life? Are you a physical planner person like me or are you all digital?