Serious question, did that expensive $80 Leuchtturm1917 notebook actually help your bujo or hurt it?

I've been going back and forth on this for months. I dropped $80 on a set of two Leuchtturm1917 notebooks because everyone online swore they were the gold standard for bullet journaling. The pages are great and the dots are crisp, but honestly, I feel like I'm afraid to mess them up. I find myself hesitating to try new layouts or make mistakes because the paper feels too nice. On the other hand, a friend of mine uses a $5 composition book from the drugstore and her bujo is way more functional and creative than mine. She says the cheap paper frees her up because she doesn't care if she messes up a spread. Has anyone else felt like spending more on a notebook actually held your bujo back instead of helping it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_daniel9d ago

Oh man, I was totally Team Fancy Notebook for years. Thought you had to have the good paper to be a real bullet journalist. But honestly? You kinda just convinced me to grab a cheap one next time, that fear of messing up a pricey notebook is real.

king.aaron9d agoMost Upvoted

About 4 years ago I counted up what I had spent on fancy notebooks and it was over $200. That was a wake-up call for me, @the_daniel. I switched to those $2 composition notebooks from the drugstore and honestly my bullet journal works just as well. The cheap paper means my pens bleed through a little, but I just use one side of the page now and it saves me about $30 a year.