Update: Here’s how I set up my Starbucks 2015 Planner.
I finally got my Starbucks 2015 Planner with a little help from my dear sis!
Before I got my planner, I was always looking online for pictures or reviews and couldn’t find any with the information I wanted. Yes, I know there are sample planners at any Starbucks, but sometimes you just want to look at pictures, especially of the inner pages, and start planning your calendaring strategy for next year.
So for anyone who is curious, or who still has not received their planner, here’s an unboxing, err… unwrapping, in pictures.
The planner came in a foil pouch with a foldable sealer – if someone can tell me what they’re really called, I would be grateful 🙂 It’s a white strip of plastic that can be folded, similar to a folder/ paper fastener.
It says the Starbucks 2015 Planner is printed on Forest Stewardship Council Certified Paper, and is sized at 6″ x 7.5″ x 8″ (that’s in inches). The foil bag can also be reused. I think the Best Before 01/01/2016 thing was a nice touch.
There’s a note to let us know that the cover of the planner is water-resistant but the pages are not.
The pouch contains the planner wrapped in tissue, and a box with the Starbucks marker pen and the pin bookmark.
Here’s a close up of the pin bookmark:
You have to pinch the pin before you can put it on your planner. I mean, you have to make the V shape into a very narrow U shape so it can clip on to your planner.
The marker is two-sided. One end has the chalkboard marker, the other end has a brown highlighter. Brown for coffee! Update: I forgot to mention that the brown highlighter smells a bit like coffee!
As you can see, the chalkboard marker was a bit dry out of the box, but that’s an easy fix!
How to revive your dried out Starbucks Chalkboard Marker:
- Dip the dried tip in alcohol! Yes, just plain old rubbing alcohol worked on my chalkboard marker. It’s now as good as new!
How to erase Starbucks Chalkboard Marker:
- As long as you wrote it on a non-porous surface (like laminated paper, plastic, etc), you can just erase it with a wet rag or a wet tissue. If it’s stubborn, you can use a Magic Eraser. I love those things. They can erase anything!
Here are the inside pages of the planner (you can click on the pics to show a bigger image):
The thing I like about this calendar, is that the Year Calendar, Month Calendar and the Weekly Calendar match. All three have Saturdays and Sundays TOGETHER. I know technically the week starts on a Sunday. But for all practical purposes, it starts on a Monday! It’s just easier to plan things out for the weekend with Saturday and Sunday together on the calendar instead of split between two weeks! Events usually happen Fri-Sun or Sat-Sun (like 3-Day Sales). It’s annoying to have to split them up on your calendar into 2 different week lines. This is the reason why I went with the Starbucks Planner. I wasn’t originally planning on getting one, but I had a difficult time looking for a planner with the Sat-Sun configuration that I need. Sometimes other planners have the weekly set up correctly, but still have the monthly page with a split Sat-Sun. This makes it a bit harder especially when you refer to your monthly calendar a lot.
This Connect With Memories page is nice. Like a quick year in review thing or a birthday / anniversary reminder. Kinda wish they included some stickers we can stick on the circles 🙂 I have no clue what May 10 is supposed to be. I googled “May 10 holiday” and came up with nada related to the Philippines. It looks like a Rastafarian GMA to me 😛
The vouchers have the usual – free upsize, free beverage, etc… It’s been years since my last Starbucks planner, so the vouchers that include discounts for the sandwiches are a welcome surprise.
There’s a pocket at the back where you can insert small pieces of paper like receipts and what not.
I don’t know what to make of this piece of paper. Is it just for protection? Should I remove it and throw it out? Should I cut the bottom part out and write on the blank space inside the nameplate? If you know, please share in the comments!
I think this planner can become very useful. It has a lot going for it. It’s well made and feels sturdy. The size is just right. Not too big. Not too small. Easy to carry around and fit inside a bag.
As the usual with weekly planners, I find the space for each day too small. I like writing to-do’s, checklists and notes on my planner, and for that I need space that only a 1-page-a-day planner can provide. BUT, I think this Starbucks 2015 Planner will be good to use as an actual planner. As in – for planned activities / actual planning. I think it’s just enough space. I will use another daily planner to list my daily to-do’s.
So –
Starbucks planner – for actual planning and writing out planned activities;
Other planner – for daily notes/ to-do’s/ scratch paper.
If you are OC and want your Saturdays and Sundays together – this might be the planner for you, too!
The pages are bound with thread, not glue. This means pages will not start falling off after a few weeks of use. The paper is good quality, and thick. I think they can withstand gel pens and fineliners without bleeding.
The chalkboard marker, nameplate and pin bookmark are a nice addition! Although I don’t see myself using the chalkboard marker all that much, but it’s nice and thoughtful.
The pocket at the back is also useful to keep your random pieces of paper from falling out of your planner.
CLOTH COVER
I’m a bit worried about the cloth cover. It’s cloth. It’s going to get dirty and I just can’t handwash it in the sink! Or wipe clean with a wet cloth. Or clean with Wipe Out. I think maybe I should vacuum it once in a while? But that sounds kind of loco. But Manila is a very, very dusty place! And sometimes you just have oily, chocolate or butter-stained hands. Can planners be dry-cleaned? Yeah. That’s my only problem with this planner – how to clean the cloth cover.
All in all, it’s a good planner and I’m excited to start using it next year! How about you? Are you able to use your planner for the entire year? Or does your calendaring fizzle out after a few weeks?
15 responses to “Starbucks 2015 Planner Unboxing & Review”
Hi! I think the May 10 Holiday is Mother’s Day right? Because Mother’s Day is always the second sunday of May and usually falls to either May 9 or 10. Nice post BTW 🙂
You’re right! Haha. I missed it. Yes, I think it’s Mother’s Day! Thanks, Lucille!
Hi, what if the whiteboard market pen is still not working? 🙁
*marker pen
Hi Anna,
Thank you for reading! Is your Starbucks chalkboard marker dried out? Is it used up or just dried out? If it’s just dried out, have you tried pouring some alcohol into a small container like a tansan or bottle cap, and then dipping your Starbucks chalkboard marker into it for about 5 seconds or longer? The goal here is to make the marker tip wet with alcohol and let it absorb into the insides. How dry is your pen? Is it writing at all? Take note that it is a chalkboard marker and not a whiteboard marker. It should only be used for chalkboard surfaces and not on whiteboards.
If it is really dried up, I’m very sorry 🙁 If so, you can try purchasing another chalkboard marker. National Bookstore probably has some.
xoxo,
The Barat Queen
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Hi! I tried cleaning my cover with tape (just too catch some dust or particles) Mine is black so when it’s dirty, you see it. Tape did the jobe done
What a great idea! Of course, use tape! I’ve been using tape to clean up other things, why didn’t it occur to me to use tape here? Thanks for the awesome idea, K!
That name plate thing attached on the cover is actually detachable. The paper sticking out of the back is just some sort of protection meant to be disposed before using the planner (kinda like a temporary plastic screen protector attached on a newly bought phone). It took me a while to find that out. I even tried to tear it out only to realize that the name plate can easily be detached. I use my chalkboard marker to write my name on the plate but it easily erases with just a hand.
Thanks for letting us know! I figured that out too, eventually. But I just tore the white paper in half and wrote my name on the paper inside the “blank” space at the back of the nameplate, so I have my name written in front in chalkboard marker, and I also have my name written on the back (using colorful pens!)
Hi, i’ve been collecting Starbucks planners since 2010 so when i saw the planners at Starbucks shops last year, i was quite disappointed with how they look except for the brown one as it has design/logo in front. i thought the 2014 planner was better looking with its hard cover and magnet lock. When I received my 2015 planner, i wasn’t that excited at all. I wanted to give a review about it but reading your blog changed my mind. I love the way you presented the planner with a mixture of your humour 🙂
Now, i feel better about it. Thanks 🙂
Hi Lyn! Thank you for your nice comments!
Yes, I know what you mean about the planners! The first few planners that I got from Starbucks many, many years ago were more substantial. They were bigger and just had more “premium” things like leather covers, 3-ring binding, etc.. The more recent Starbucks planners feel a bit less “premium” each year, and simpler.
However, after having had more years of experience with various types of planners, I can honestly say that this year’s simpler planner from Starbucks is better for me. It’s smaller and relatively slim for a planner, so it’s easier to carry around. There are no random pockets and bookmarks and stuff that might fall out of the planner. The layout is simpler, but still has enough space to write comfortably. Less bells & whistles means one can concentrate on actual planning & productivity. Also I like that it doesn’t have the ring-binding anymore. I find ring-bound planners difficult to write on – the ring binding always interferes with my hand when I am writing. This is why I always give up using filofax-type planners.
I think the freebies like the pen & the nice metal pin bookmark make up for the less premium feel of the planner (cloth cover). But the cloth cover is okay now that K (from comment above) suggested we can use tape to clean it. Leather is a pain to maintain, you know. If you store it for a long time, it gets musty and starts growing mold & fungus! You’ll have to wipe it with WipeOut and moisturize the leather with oil. So yeah, now I realize leather is too much trouble.
I agree with you, the design of the planner could have been better. The brown one really was the nicest design. But I like green. It perks me up 🙂 Also, my sister already got the brown one 🙂
Looking forward to their planner for 2016! Hope they retain all the good things about this planner but improve on the looks!
Quick question, have you used your chalkboard pen for anything else? I haven’t at all 🙁
Hi, ano po pwedeng gawin if yung pages niya ay parang matatanggal na? I just got my planner 3 weeks ago at ayun yung pages ng January at November parang matatanggal na yung thread. Ano pong pwedeng gawin? I’m a bit disappointed first time ko pa naman po magkaroon ng planner from Starbucks. Thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for dropping by! Since I can’t see your planner, it’s difficult for me to imagine what is wrong. But here’s what I do whenever I encounter pages that are coming loose from bindings – I tape them back! It depends on the kind of binding and how it is coming loose, but I try to repair it if I can, for example, is there a way to rethread it? Why is it coming loose? Napunit ba yung paper? Or napuputol yung sinulid? Or natatanggal na yung pagkaglue? You have to stop it from getting any more damage and use something (like tape) to put it back the way it was. It depends on how much patience you have and how OC you are, but things like this can usually be fixed with some scotch tape pretty well.
You can also try to contact Starbucks thru their Facebook or Instagram 🙂
Good luck!
Thanks for sharing, now i know what the pin is for. :)). Cheers.