Can we talk about the beginner bujo advice that messed me up for 6 months

My coworker Jenna told me back in January that I had to use a fancy dotted Leuchtturm notebook to start bullet journaling right. She said any other paper would bleed through and ruin the whole thing. So I dropped $30 on that notebook and spent weeks stressing about making every spread perfect. Turns out she was dead wrong. I finally grabbed a $5 cheap notebook from Target last month, and honestly it works fine. The ink bleeds a little but who cares? My journal is actually getting used now instead of sitting on a shelf looking pretty. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from someone who acted like the gear mattered more than just starting?

3 comments

3 Comments

reed.elliot24d ago

Ngl I'm gonna disagree hard here. I started with a $5 composition notebook from CVS and the ghosting drove me crazy to the point where I quit for two months. Switched to a $20 Leuchtturm and suddenly my spreads actually looked clean enough that I wanted to keep going. For some people that extra money makes a real difference in motivation, not just the paper quality.

knight.dylan24d agoProlific Poster

My first bullet journal was a $3 Moleskine copy from a discount store and the paper was so thin you could see the page before it through two layers. I stuck with it for six months though because I liked the portability and size, even with all the ghosting. I think sometimes beginners get too focused on the paper quality instead of just building the habit of writing stuff down. If the ghosting bugs you that much then sure spend the money, but I don't think it's the make-or-break for most people.

avery_flores1724d ago

Five bucks says you both have a point.