
Sorry I got a little carried away there. This article isn’t supposed to be about apple cozies. Instead I want to introduce you to Palmer’s Planners – a set of financial planners from Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News and World Report’s Alpha Consumer. If you’ve read my review of her book, Generation Earn, you know that I’m a big fan. She comes from a prospective that is more like a blogger than a financial guru – that scores huge points with me. If you aren’t sure about the difference, watch an episode of the Suze Orman show. I find that show entertaining as well, but you don’t get to know the person, and that was one part of Palmer’s book that I really enjoyed.
Palmer’s Planners is a set of financial planners covering topics such as general money planning, getting out of debt, and preparing for a baby. I had a chance to look at a few, and here are couple of thoughts on a few of the products:
- The Money Planner – While all the planners work to supplement the aforementioned Generation Earn book, this is probably the best example of it. It doesn’t go into great depth in any one area of personal finance, but it hits the important parts of many different areas. For example there are a couple of pages on debt in this planner, but the Debt-Free Planner is completely dedicated to the topic. The advantage to this is high-level approach that you don’t get bogged down in any particular area of personal finance. You can find your weaknesses and then focus on them later.
- 2012 Money Planner – The 2012 Money Planner takes a calendar-based approach to your finances. For example, March is mostly about preparing your taxes while August is about going back to school. There are a few quarterly checklists and a year-end review also included.
- Baby Planner – I think saved the best for last. The spiral bound baby planner looks like the perfect gift for an expecting mother. What I especially like about it is that you can give it without looking like an uppity jerk. What do I mean by that? Well if you have a friend who might be in a tough financial spot giving a money planner to someone might come off as rude, but if the person were expecting a baby, the baby planner is a socially acceptable gift. The person might like the planner so much that they pick up the other money planners. (Note: There is a PDF version of this available as well if you just want the information without the pretty packaging.)
Finally, you can get The Money Planner, the 2012 Money Planner, and the Debt-Free planner, by getting the Complete Money Planner Kit. One note of caution… take note what you are ordering, because with “Money Planner” being the most prominent term in the title in three of the products, it can get somewhat confusing.
One thing that I like is that all the planners come in PDF form, so there is no waiting. You can print them… or you can read them on your computer or tablet. In my house, they’ll make their way to our $99 TouchPads quite quickly. The other thing that stands out is the artwork. While I’m the kind of person who just loves text (note the lack of images on most of my posts), the illustrations would likely appeal to my wife. That’s not to be overlooked. While I’m a personal finance nerd, I recognize that not everyone is and every little bit helps.
Personally, I’m going to give the 2012 Money Planner a spin next year. I’ll read through the Money Planner, but I think that it would be a case where, as a personal finance blogger, I do much of what is recommended in there anyway.
P.S. That lead-in paragraph was a half-lie. I have been secreting searching for a way to link to this outstanding Jayne Cobb hat for awhile now. I was serious about the apple cozy though. I can’t believe people would pay $17.50 for such nonsense.
LOL at the apple cozy. You know you’ve been searching for one! I think Palmer’s Planners are a great idea (and probably gift to a young adult) and have a giveaway scheduled later on.
Thanks, Briana, I’m glad you like the concept!
I saw the planners and I love the idea! I definitely plan on buying the get out of debt and 2012 money planners. No need for the baby one yet :)
That was a bit difficult to read with all of the typos and grammatical errors. Lazy, you are really taking your title to heart w/this one!
Still enjoy your blog…just hire a real editor (yourself, for instance) that knows the English language.
Thanks for the constructive criticism Holly.
I’ll try to put more of an effort into reading my articles after I write them. It’s never been my strong suit. Add that to the fact that my brain works faster than I can type and key words get left out.
I’ve also found that an editor is like a lawyer in one sense. It doesn’t end well if you are your own. I sometimes catch my mistakes the second time through, but if I’ve just written an article right before publishing (which is my normal workflow), my brain fills in with the intended words rather than the words that are actually there. Perhaps I can find a 24-7 editing service that can return articles within the hour at a reasonable cost.
I’ll got through this a second time now that’s been a couple of days and see what errors I can find.