Did @SterlingInk fix the Hobonichi Cousin?

Thank you for this video. You did a great job. I used the cousin for the first time this year and was pretty good with it. Skipped a few days here and there but I'm ok with that. I just use them for other things. I was torn for 2023...but I went with the cousin again. I know the common planner is a smaller planner and that's normally what I like .... but I feel like everything is too crammed in there together. And I dont like some of the fonts...it seems too big or too small and just not balanced well. I've gotten used to the A5 size and I enjoy it now that I have my own planning style.

Great video! Got one of the common planners from today’s release. Super excited to get it and set it up. 🧡

I am totally in love with both. The Cousin is still going to be my daily use memory keeper/planner because I work mid shift from 3pm to 11pm so my hours are odd. I also do occasional overnights. The Common Planner is absolutely perfect for my financial overhaul that I'll be doing in 2023. I am moving to days soon so it may become my planner for 2024, but I'll see how I like it for the money stuff. My EDC is actually going to be a Traveler's Notebook in the Passport size and I'm really enjoying the customizability. The K9s are getting their own passport too for their records, so when we travel I can just take out an insert and have everything in hand. 2023 is going to be a badass year I know it!!

Thank you for a thoughtful, thorough video. I just received my Common Planner (2 books, 1/2 year each, different colors) and I’m thrilled with it. There are hundreds of A5 planners to choose from, but relatively few in my favorite size, B6, at least in the US. I probably won’t do much with the goal pages, but the rest is so much better suited to me than the Cousin. I wouldn’t have thought to gild the page edges, but it really does look nice with the cover colors and helps the planner stand out from the other notebooks on my desk. You have a new subscriber. 🧡

I thunk this will definitely work for those people that complained about the colors, calendars and all, which these planner is made for honestly. Originality, not there diefinitely but i guess it all comes down to preferences. I will still be using hobo even with the paper shift coz honestly, i like the color red, and the colors each page, it just give a little life to the book, also i just love the brand and papershift wasn't that big for me. But do understand people who wouldn't.

I am going to go with the Cousin for 2023 since I bought it already. I do love it... for the most part. The biggest drawback I see to the cousin is that it really doesn't have a spot for me to just have a wide open space to brainstorm projects. I am a student (way, way untraditional, haha) and really appreciate the ability to have a spot to write everything down that I need for a class. What tests do I need to take? What tasks do I need to complete? What is the material? I am such a paper and pen girl that it helps my brain to be able to lay it out and see it. I find the Cousin very limited in that realm. I do use the daily pages for my to-do's and for my journaling so I suppose I could do it in there, but I came to the Cousin from utilizing the bullet journal system for over 5 years and having a wide open blank page is so satisfying, ha! I will be very curious to hear how you like this planner after using it for the year. It has some definite appeals, I might have to give it a go next year, we'll see :) Thanks for your review!

I picked up the common planner, 6 months version. Haven't tried yet the hobonichi cousin. I wanted something that can be easy to travel with and simple. just received mine, excited to try them.

I’m going to use the Common Planner for a work planner. I like the free form “dailies”. I might only need 1/2 of a page one day, but two the next, and I never need any on the weekend. I just hope I don’t find it TOO small. I like those big squares on the Cousin monthly layout. If I find the Common Planner too small, I’m not above grabbing a Cousin and switching.

I love it but .. I want it in the A6 size.. and not gilded with gold.

I love both and ended up getting both. Cousin for everyday use as I prefer the size and the common for my writing projects which is the perfect size.

While the Sterling Ink is interesting, I love the Hobonichi Cousin. For me, it works so well. I love the size.

I think the common planner looks beautiful but personally I don't think they are comparable and I fell is a bit unfair to say one fix the other. For me they just serve different purposes. The cousin is perfect for me to plan my projects, I love the size, the way the pages structure everything, etc. The common planner is beautiful and I love how kind of fancy it looks. But it gives me the impression of just a notebook with lots of totally blank pages and just a few actual planning pages at the beginning. I would use the common planner for Journaling or non-work related stuff, because I like to have my pages already structured for real daily work planning and the cousin does that perfectly. I'm not into bullet Journaling or making my own planning pages etc so for me the cousin is perfect. So overall for me they are just for different purposes (I guess that's also why the common planner is called like that right?) 😅 And both are beautiful!

Blank spaces don’t bother me. A little blank space lets your eyes rest

Great review. Thank you. I'm only 9 min into your video but posting. I haven't used an A5 Hobonichi but started using a 2023 Hobo weeks just recently. What I like about Hobo and I've read is a desirable feature, is that it lays flat. I just received a Sterling Ink Common Planner and I notice it doesn't lay 'flat'. When I look at your video of the Hobo cousin and common planner, I notice they 'lay' differently. Do you notice that? I'm tempted to get a Hobo A5 cousin to compare but don't want to have extra planners I won't use. Maybe I'll try a Hobo A5 for 2024. For those that have both, what do you notice about how they lay? I would like one that lays as flat as possible as it'll be easier to decorate and write on.

just got the half year common planner. i’m really excited for quarterly planning in it!

I bought the Common Planner and am excited to use it. I have not use the Cousin because it’s too big for me.
I love the sophistication of the CP, the gold edges and neutral print inside. I think Catherine did an amazing job!!

I hate the B6 size unless your using rings, and I use the cousin for my family planner which stays open on my kitchen counter, and a weeks as my EDC. I white out the dates on my dailies anyway, and there is no gold!

I am LOVING the commonplace planner by Catherine! I’m so so glad I got it and I never fully used my cousin for the exact same reasons you listed. Catherine created the perfect planner for me lol!

im newish to the hobonichi cousin. I got the common planner and Im BLOWN AWAY. I think it really did fix most of my minor annoyances with the cousin. It is so beautiful, and I can not wait to start using it! in fact, im not. ive already set up december and will be using tomorrow!

There are three main issues I have with the Common Planner: 1) It doesn't come in A5, which is the standard size I have and use for everything, 2) the daily pages aren't dated - although I understand this is a positive for a lot of people, and 3) the lines just aren't dark enough! I'm not talking about the grid, I'm talking about the lines on the monthly calendar and the weekly sections that separate the days. I never knew the line darkness was a problem for me until I ordered the Wonderland222 and started filling out the monthly and weekly sections. My ink (Lamy Benitoite which is a medium/dark blue) completely overwhelmed the pale separating lines and everything just looked scattered and unconfined. It immediately became clear to me that this was a dealbreaker, so I sold my Wonderland222 and I bought a Hobonichi cousin at the last moment.

I really hope Sterling Ink fixes at least the line darkness, and if they do that and offer it in A5 I'll consider it for next year. In the meantime I'm sticking with Hobonichi, even though I dislike the red they use for their weekends.

This is the best comparison and review of the new sterling ink planner I’ve seen so far. Thank you for making this video! ✨

I'm using cousin for 2023. Point of using cousin is I want Japanese planner.

It does look interesting - however, with having to import it from the US, the shipping and taxes would be just way too expensive (if it was still available, lol). Buying a cousin is already expensive but not that expensive.

SOLD!!!!

every time you said the common planner took out or fixed something i kept saying in my head “ but i liked that “ 😭

Do you have a planner recommendation for a planner that does not include weeklys? I love a large daily page and I love my monthly overview in my planner but I never use the weekly portion.

What about the paper quality 🤔? I really love using my fountain pens.

Still like the Hobo better. Thanks for a great comparison though!

THANK YOU for this video. I don’t have the cousin, but have used a plain notebook to create own planner. The Sterling planner looks like exactly what I need, I use monthly and weekly (no daily) but need the extra pages for tracking, journaling, etc.
I will definitely check out the common planner for my next one

How can I reach SterlingInk? I through Instagram and Mail without success. HOW???????

As a natural night owl I love that the cousin goes until 4 am. Usually I can't plan the end of my day and have useless empty space at the beginning of the day or I just ignore the timeline because it doesn't work for me at all. Plus the full day timeline works for all types of schedules imo. For me any daily that stops before 2 am is just not worth it.

Thanks for the review. It's so helpful when trying to decide what to buy. I bought my first Hobonichi Techo a few weeks back and like it. However, the size is good, but I think the b size may work better ( a5 too much room). I also like the common book style. I struggle with switching planners so much ($, etc.) that's why I like videos like this. Thanks again.

Don’t get me wrong Sterling Ink made a lovely minimalist planner, but I see it as the Hobonichi Day Free with the weekly section added and more note pages.

How are each planner's TRP in comparison to each other?

Midnight??? No way. Too early

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Good, but I prefer Hobonichi as a planner. 😊

I really like the common planner. I feel like it does fix some of the issues I personally had with the cousin, the one thing that I personally would've liked to see (and I'm sure I'm part of the minority here for saying this but) is a B6 with a horizontal view... I really love the layout of the hobonichi weeks but I find that the space isn't enough for me so I've been contemplating getting the cousin for 2024 but I can't get behind the vertical weekly layout sadly...

Not sure why people are complaining about the cousin getting too big and heavy… like, Hobonichi does make an A6 planner. Sure it doesn’t have the weeklies but you can buy the weekly booklet if you REALLY need them and it’s still half the size and weight of the cousin… and the Avec is a nice option too!

I wouldn’t say the common planner “fixed” the cousin. I think it fixed the cousin FOR HER. A lot of people enjoy the aspects of the cousin that Rachelle didn’t like

I plan in the months…..never have a use for weekly layout…. But covering the whole day as in the Cousin works for people like myself who work shifts

The purpose of the video: this other planner is better than the hobonichi
People in the comments: actually, you convinced me to get the hobonichi

It's not the size that counts, it's how you use it - Nigel Powers

I wish we could get rid of the blank pages and make the planner lighter

Copying sth, piggybacking on its fame to sell your own product, claiming to have "fixed" it, just feels... tacky, like that gold foiling.

so it's more of a day free than a planner

Ughhh this is so hard.
But thank you for a great video

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O my god it was sooo hard to concentrate because of ur nails😅🙈... 🤩😍🥰 love love love ❤️

I was heavily debating between the hobonichi, midori, and common planner and you totally sold me on the common planner. <3