Review: Belle de Jour 2010 Power Planner

So here's the scenario, the year's first quarter is almost over. Two months had already went by. Would you still go out of your way and purchase a planner? Well, I DID!!! Haha!

I finally got a Belle de Jour 2010 Power Planner! Yes, I finally got it JUST NOW! Haha! I know 2 months had already passed since the start of 2010 but I just can't help myself. A few months ago, our local Fully Booked didn't have any copies available. One second I thought maybe I am just not meant to have one. (The drama! LOL). So I just shoved the idea of owning one at the back of my head.

My BF just loves Fully Booked because it carries the whole line of books (Forgotten Realms) that he goes for. One day while I was out with my him, we stopped by the other Fully Booked branch in our place (we only have 2 here in Angeles City). And lo and behold, there were available copies of the planner. I was hesitant to get one at first but I eventually gave in. I bought it for PHP 598.

Here are the things I like about the planner:
(1) The cover is made of a hardbound material. However, if you examine it closely, the pages are actually held by a spring coil.

Front cover

(2) There are a lot of useful pages such as menstrual tracker, habit tracker, health checklist, savings and expenses tracker, etc.

Menstrual tracker

Health checklist

Savings tracker

(3) Useful topic pages on fashion, health, beauty, lifestyle, etc. are presented before each month's first week.

Makeup tips for the month of June

(4) Very cute and cool designs/prints.
(5) There is a separate monthly view/page and weekly view/page.

Monthly view

Weekly view

(5) It comes with a separate to-do list/scribble/note pad.
(6) Of course it comes with 60 discount coupons from a variety of beauty, food, health, fashion establishments.
(7) Every page in the planner has tons of inspirational quotes and motivational goals.

notepad and already detached coupons

Boo factors:
(1) It is a bit too pricey for me. However, one must consider the 60 discount coupons that comes with it. So if you really think about it, its a fair deal.
(2) The planner is too heavy, bulky, big for me.
(3) It has too many "special pages" that are intended for the same purpose which is scribbling down quick notes, things to do, etc.
(4) A majority of the discount coupons are from establishments in Manila so provincial BDJ owners (like me) will not be able to utilize all of them.

Overall, I really like this planner. It also offers this coupon completion promo which basically means you have to use up at least 55 coupons in order to get the 2011 planner for free. However, I think this is very hard to accomplish especially for provincial BDJ users like me. And probably even for those who have quick access to all the establishments. I mean come on, you have to use 55 out of 60 coupons. Haha! There are even bizarre coupons like those from Motolite.