Keeping It Together – KIT Life Planner Review

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While the planner craze may be at its highest at the moment, the fact of the matter is – I’ve been a paper planner and addict since before graduating from high school.  I find a way to sync my paper with my electronic planners, but just find it so rewarding to see things written down and fulfilling my tasks when I do.  About two years ago I was introduced to the KIT Life Planner, otherwise known as Keeping It Together planner and it easily became one of my favorites.  I reviewed this planner then and after a year on KIT Life hiatus, I have picked up another one and am using it as my desk planner for 2016.  Today I am sharing with you my thoughts and whether or not I still have a love for this beast or not.

The Keeping It Together 2016 Planner (also known as the KIT Life Planner which is what I will refer to moving forward) is a beast of a planner offering you a month on two page spread as well as a day per page spread.  It retails for $55.00 (currently on sale for $50) and is a gorgeous and well put together creation by a team of ladies whose mission is to “Do More, Be More, Give More each and every day!”  This awesome and highly customizable tool (planner) is not only stunning, fun and girly, but it helps you to keep up with all your day to day essentials, task lists, appointments and so much more making it a one stop for all your daily needs.  With areas to prioritize your day to gratitude, nutrition, fitness and goal settings – even meal planning, you literally have everything on one page to get it all done and so much more.

I am the type of person that really needs a lot of room in a planner and while traditional planners and calendars do serve their purpose with me, I love having “day per page” organizers because they give me the room to write and plan out my day as I need.  The KIT Life Planner offers spaces for inspiration – if you know me, you know I’m a big “quote” person and I don’t need to look up a quote each day – because the KIT Life Planner has one printed on each day for reference.  I also love to track my water intake (which you can do in the provided slot) as well as add a plethora of notes, to-do lists and so much more.  While this planner is big and a bit bulky, making it a challenge to carry around some what in my purse, I leave it on my desk and use it as my go-to desk planner for notes, lists and more.

Some of the additions to this planner that I don’t recall in that one from 2014 are:

• Quarterly Check-in Pages
• Peek at the Week
• Side by Side Budgeting Tools
• Occasions to Celebrate
• Fit & Fab Tips
• What’s Cooking… Meal or Dinner Planner per page

The design on each page and covers is so lively, fun and girly.  If you know me, you know that I’m a huge fan of Hello Kitty and Lisa Frank so the colors just resonate to me and make me happy and cheerful.  It’s part of this planner offers you a variety of options to not only be productive, but to bring more of that positive outlook that keeps us on track in our lives.  KIT Life’s Team had a mission to optimize your life with pizzazz but to remain focused on the results.

So let’s get into the details of the planner – because we all love details… right?

This planner weighs approximately 2.30 lbs, though it is pretty lightweight when you consider what you have inside of this beast.  For the most part it is available for shipment within 2 business days – I literally received my planner in 4 days after placing my order.  Customer service is fabulous!  I have never had any issues with the times I have communicated with the team and they respond promptly which is awesome.  The planner is approximately 10 1/2 inches wide by 9 inches tall and about 1 1/4 inch thick.  In comparison with my Erin Condren, this planner is visibly shorter and definitely thicker and wider.  It has some weight to it – so that is the reason why I leave it at home on my desk.  But if I have to carry it with me (which I do at least once a week) I have no issue with taking it along.

The pages are thick and well made.  I have used a variety of pens without any issues of bleeding.  Currently I’m using my Pilot G2 Pens in many colors, Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and Paper Mate Flair pens and each write smoothly and sit nicely on the surface of the paper without bleeding.  Each pen dries fairly quickly on the paper as well as I don’t have issue with smudging.  The tabs on the planner are also well made and have a laminated coating which make them very durable for daily use and the planner cover has a great thick lamination which makes it sturdy as well.  In the 2014 planner my coil was plastic and it seems that for 2016 it is more of a wire coil with movement.  There is some wiggle room in the coil and it is not has sturdy as that from the Erin Condren, but nonetheless, it’s still well made and there is an ease to turning pages, etc.  The Planner cover is not interchangeable as you would expect from other similar planners, but I’m sure you could DIY one and put a new one on, as I am in the process of doing right now.

While ordering your planner you can decide to add in a few extras like note pages or a direct sales add in for an additional cost.  There are also a variety of planner accessories to choose from like the Planner Dashboard (which allows you to clip into your coils and change out as you need), To Do Dashboard Inserts (these go into the clip in dashboard), and Organizational, Nutrition Tracker and Event Stickers.

While I have the Classic Edition, there is also a Crown Edition which retails for $65.00 (currently sold out) and a Direct Sales Planner which is perfect for those of you in that type of industry.

If you are a planner lover or someone who likes to stay organized, I highly suggest checking out the KIT Life Planner.  Those that use their planners for strictly decorating may find that this planner is too big for you or too cumbersome, but as someone who literally needs a to do list to keep me on track, the KIT Life Planner offers all of that and so much more.  With so many planners on the market today, I find myself looking for one that will not only be functional – but offer me some flare and happiness and that is why I love the KIT Life Planner so much.  There are so many ways to customize this to give that extra touch of personalization if that is what you are looking for.  As a mother who really utilizes the space in this planner, I am really finding that it is one I truly enjoy.

My video review and walk through of the KIT Life Planner

Some suggestions I have for a few changes:

• I would love to see more cover options available.  Whether it is to DIY our own or purchase directly from KIT Life – I would love that option as I love changing out my covers like I change my mood… lol.
• A small section with bullet points or something along those lines (hearts would be cute) that I can list a few appointments or an open time schedule where I can add in appointments for the day.  I do own stamps and can do it myself, but I love when it is readily available.
• Would love to see two lines for the meal section.  The one line works well for dinner planning, which is what my family does together most weekdays – but would love some extra space for additional planning.
• I would love love to see KIT Life come up with a week on two page design (similar to that of Erin Condren).  I hate to compare the two but they are so similar and referencing it easiest that way.  I take my Erin Condren with me on the go because it allows me to have my family’s schedule on the go as well as give me an opportunity to stay organized and take notes when needed.  If KIT Life came out with a planner that offered smaller spacing for planning and organization while fitting a full week on two pages, I think it would really be a great addition to their line.  I would purchase the full sized and the smaller version because I love them so much that it would allow me to have both at my finger tips.  If they do decide to go the route of a week on two page spread – I would love to see some time slots or bullet points in there as well for planning appointments, it would make a wonderful and usable design.  I have ideas KIT Life, so let me know if you want to hear them 🙂
• Lastly, I would love to see KIT Life design something for bloggers and YouTubers.  I currently use my own designed inserts or pages to track certain things with my blog and YouTube channel, but I would love an option for something along this line for the future.

Overall – I can’t rave enough about this planner.  Yes, as a mother – I think this is perfect because it allows me great organization for my family, but I love writing in all these notes on the fly and have them readily available and this planner really gives me the space to be able to do so.  It is a little large, but I think overall – that doesn’t change how much I enjoy it.

What about you?  Have you heard of the KIT Life Planner before?  If so, is this something you think you could consider purchasing for yourself or someone you know for planning and organization?  Are you a planner?  If so – what planner do you use?

Stop on by and check out my video where I walk you through the pages of the planner and provide my thoughts.  You can see this video here.  You can purchase this planner, the accessories and add ons at: http://kitlife.net/

Disclaimer:  This product was purchased with my own money, however KIT Life did provide me with a few accessories / freebies and a discount on this planner as I have worked with them in the past.  All opinions are my own, 100% honest and unbiased, as with anything on this site.  I was not paid to provide my thoughts.