Bullet Journal 101: Cheap Supplies To Start Your Journal

Bullet Journals are amazing for helping you to organize your life. Getting one started though can be super expensive! It’s difficult to justify spending a huge amount on a new venture that you’re not even sure you’ll enjoy, especially if you’re as stingy with money as I am! That’s why I’ve put together a guide of Bullet Journal supplies that are all £10/$12 or less!

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THE JOURNAL

The journal itself is biggest splurge that you’ll need to make for your new hobby. If you’ve done your research already then you’ve probably heard of the Leuchtturm1917 journal. I like to think of these as the Filofax of bullet journalling. They’re the go-to journal for those starting out as they have a brilliant reputation. The Leuchtturm1917’s  come in loads of colours and you can choose whether you’d like dotted, plain or ruled pages to suit your journal style. However at $20/£18, they can be quite pricey when starting out.

Go with this super cheap spiral notebook instead – it’s personalized too! Like the Leuchtturm1917 you can choose whether you would like the pages to be ruled, dotted or plain and they come in a variety of colours too! All for a fraction of the price.

If you prefer to stick to brands then the Minimalism Art journal is a budget-friendly version of the Leuchtturm1917.

Tip: purchase two bullet journals. You can use a cheap one to practice in while the second one is used for ‘best’. Trust me, it’ll save you ripping out or attempting to cover up so many ruined pages!

THE PENS

There are so many options of pens to use in your bullet journal. One of the most popular options are the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens. They come in a pack of 10 bright colours, produce very little bleed and no smudging – winner! They’re great for adding a touch of colour to your journal and are honestly the best fine liners that I’ve used!

When sticking to the basics, you can never go wrong with a set of black liners. You’ll never think that you need a set of different sized black liners but they’re super useful for writing, sketching and drawing lines. This set of Derwent Graphite Pens – 3 Pack are just a little over budget but the price is definitely worth it!

Looking for something even cheaper? Go old school and use the classic colouring pencils to decorate your planner.

THE HIGHLIGHTERS

I love highlighters! They can completely change the look of a journal with very little effort. The Zebra Highlighter Mildliner – 5 Set are super popular among journal enthusiasts. I prefer pastel colours so these highlighters are perfect as the colours that they produce aren’t so vivid. If you feeling extra sparkly today then you can even buy Zebra Glitter Highlighters too!

It took me a lot of scribbles and teared up paper to realize that you can buy erasable pens and highlighters. Save yourself the hassle and purchase these Pilot Highlighter Frixion Light, 6 Soft Color Set. They are brilliant to use for a habit tracker and they erase easily without taking half the page away with it!

THE STENCILS

Stencils are great if your a clumsy drawer. They are super useful for helping you to draw straight lines/shapes and save so much time! This Set of 4 Journal Stencils are perfect to get you started – there is even a stencil to make a neat and pretty to-do list!

There also some amazing stencils that allow you to add calligraphy writing to your journal. My handwriting is terrible so I absolutely ADORE this A-Z Calligraphy Stencil. It’s super easy to use and because it’s transparent you can easily line the letters up next to each other.

THE ACCESSORIES

My favourite thing about planners. Stickers and washi tape can literally change a journal and make it truly individual. I waste so much time drawing habit trackers so it’s super helpful now I’ve found these Weekly Habit Tracker Stickers. Other stickers that save me so much time are these Weekly Water Tracker Stickers. I’ve recently joined the gym again and attempting to drink more water so these stickers are working perfectly for me.

A set of washi tape in assorted colours is a staple accessory that every BuJo beginner needs. This Washi Tape Set – 12 Colours is so cheap and the pastel colours are just gorgeous. Similar to the stencils, you can also use washi tape to create perfectly aligned to-do lists – Checkbox Washi Tape.

THE EDUCATION

No matter how many YouTube videos you watch or images you pin, it can still be a little overwhelming when starting a bullet journal.Dot Journaling―A Practical Guide: How to Start and Keep the Planner, To-Do List, and Diary That’ll Actually Help You Get Your Life Together is a handy little book that explains how you can make a bullet journal work for you. It has lots of examples of different ways to set up the sections and brilliant ideas that you probably wouldn’t have thought of. It’s a super quick read too!

If you haven’t yet used YouTube for bullet journal ideas then take a look! Plan With Me – 5 Days of Bullet Journalling by Living With Lucie shows Lucie setting up her journal and how she uses it in action.

I hope that you found this guide useful. if there are any cheap supplies that I’ve missed that you think are great for BuJo Beginners then just let me know! Good luck journalling!