Clever Fox

What to know about shopping at Clever Fox

Clever Fox sells only its own planners, journals and organizers, which is why the range hangs together better than a general stationery shop's. It started as one undated productivity planner the founders made for themselves, and now runs to around 174 items in clearly separated families: dated and undated planners in weekly, daily and hourly layouts; budget planners and monthly bill organizers; and a broad journaling line covering gratitude, fitness, food, wellness, travel and Bible study. Plain notebooks, guided workbooks, specialty titles such as the National Parks passport book, and sticker packs for marking a planner up fill in around those.

The thing to compare here is format rather than tier. The same planning method is usually offered in pocket, A5 and larger sizes, and in both dated and undated versions - and the undated ones matter more than they sound, because you can start one in any month without writing off a block of pages. If you have abandoned a planner before, an undated one removes the main reason people do.

The company says it checks materials, binding and packaging on every print run and will put right anything that is not right. At the time of writing it ships free, and takes free returns, on US orders, with prices in US dollars - so the shipping threshold that shapes most stationery orders simply is not a factor.

Two buying tips. These make reliable gifts, and the gratitude, wellness and budget journals in particular are easy to give without knowing much about the recipient's taste - but check the dated versions' start month before buying one as a present, since a dated planner bought late in its year is a short-lived gift. And if you are torn between layouts, the hourly planners suit appointment-heavy weeks while the weekly ones suit project work; buying the wrong one is the usual reason a planner goes unused.

— MoneySaverCodes Team