Customer Reviews

2010 Amy Knapp's Big Grid Family Organizer wall calendar

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been using Amy Knapp's family organizer planner for 3 years, but I never tried the Big Grid organizer calendar until now. I have been using the Plan-It wall calendars for the past 3 years, but this past year noticed a dramatic decrease in quality. So I decided to try the Big Grid organizer this year and am glad I made the change.

I am posting a few more close up photos of what the calendar pages look like on Amazon to help those who might want to see more of this calendar.

Differences between Plan-It Calendars and Amy Knapp's Big Grid Family organizer:
---Plan-it has an area on the far left where you list each family member's name (up to 5 people) and then you are supposed to put that person's schedule on their grid line. The Big Grid Organizer does not have this. However, when I looked at my usage on the Plan-it, many times I ran out of space and wrote things all over day area. So now I use different color markers to designate different family members on this calendar and it seems to be working just as well.
---Plan-it gives you a full space for each day of the year. They do this by "moving" the last few days of a month to the next month's page, where a traditional calendar has triangles or divided spaces if a month spans 5 weeks. Big Grid, has the traditional layout with smaller spaces on the 5th week. However, their grid size is much bigger than Plan-it. But I still think I am going to miss not having full space on each day.
---Big Grid has an area on each grid to put your daily dinner menu. This is similar to the Amy Knapp Family organizer planner. Not sure if I will use this or not.
---Big Grid has tear off "to do" lists in the back of the calendar.
---Both calendars have special event stickers, but I rarely use them.
---Both calendars have a section for phone numbers in the back.
---Only Plan-it has the handy built in magnet hanger and VERY handy paper pocket to store loose papers. However, with the lower quality of my last Plan-It calendar, it was falling apart after 9 months of use and was unable to use these features during the last few months. I hang my new calendar from a hook on the fridge that has command adhesive. You could also put up a hook magnet to hold it up. I will miss my paper storage pocket though!
---Only Plan-It has blank notes pages in the back of the calendar. I am going to miss these also. I am using one of the "to do" list pages in the Big Grid calendar as a general notes page.
---Only Big Grid has space on each month page for monthly notes and reminders. I really like this. I was writing montly reminders in the margins of the Plan-It calendar.
---Big Grid has a much bigger grid, but some of it is taken with the menu planning space.

And finally the Big Grid calendar is printed in the USA, so you are supporting American jobs by purchasing this calendar. The pages are sturdy and thick and ink doesn't bleed through. The binding is a nice strong spiral. This is a big improvement over the quality of the Plan-It calendars.

I loved my Flylady calendar, but I did not want purple any more. THis one has similar sized squares. It comes with stickers, which I never remember to use. I especially like the little block for 'dinner menu' at the bottom of each day.
It's real paper, not slick like some calendars, so you can write effectively on it with anything (markers, pens, pencils). The paper stands up well to colored crayola markers (which I use to color-code the calendar for different family members) - it doesn't bleed through.

It is fairly heavy (I have three magnets to hang it from my fridge), but you really can't get away from a heavy calendar if you need big squares on paper that can handle markers.

All-in-all, a good calendar for organizing a busy family.

I love this calendar!!!!! It is made from the type of paper that you can write in pencil. It has large grids so that you have plenty of space to write multiple activities on each day. I love the extras on this calendar such as: the dinner menu, monthly projects suggestions, the "Don't Forget" section, check off projects list, the calendar stickers, and the extra list in the back for groceries etc. The 2 things that I might add to would be, a large pocket tab in the back to place flyers you may need for additional information, and a long thick and strong magnetic strip on the back of the calendar to adhere to a cabinet or refridgerator.

This calendar has saved my life! The boxes are big enough to fit everyone's schedule. Love the section for dinner. Love the note square at the top for long term things, like change AC filters or friend's vacation dates. Can't live without it.

I've tried a lot of calendars and planners over the years and this is by far the best. It has lots of room for all my family's appointments (and there are 5 of us!). There are stickers and blank shopping lists included which I sometimes use, but for me, this calendar's appeal is there is lots of room for writing without silly pictures in the middle of the calendar taking up valuable space! And the calendar isn't so massive that it takes up your entire wall. I highly recommend it. I have used this calendar for 3 years running.

Each month is written on two pages - no silly little pictures in this calendar. There is room for me to keep track of everyone's appointments and meetings, any events going on in the area, reminders, and even what I plan to cook for dinner. There is plenty of room to write, and it comes with colorful stickers that my daughter loves using for important reminders.

Important holidays are noted, and each month contains a section for Reminders and a little To-Do list. This is exactly what we needed. I will definitely be purchasing another one of these next year.

We have the 09-10 version of the Amy Knapp calendar and have used it well. I went to a big box book store to purchase it again, but could not find it and settled for a different family plan-it calendar that I have used in the past. Needless to say, I am junking that one and buying the 10-11 version on amazon. This calendar has the large grid, like other plan-it calendars, but visually, each day is divided by bold lines and easily separated from the next day. Although it is not as pretty as the other one, everyone can read and write on this one - from the second grader to dad.

We had used big grid calendars for years and didn't get one for 2009. I love this one. It hangs on the side of the frig with large magnet. The grids have enough room for our family of five. I like the shaded dinner menu bar at the bottom of each day.

I tried this organizer last year, loved it, and ordered one for this year. I love all the space for entering the dozens of activities our family participates in every week, no other calendar comes close. Highly recommended for anyone who has to have everything "on the calendar" in order to get everything done and everyone picked up and dropped off at the correct time and place! If only it could drive...

Love the big grids. NEED the big grids, so this calendar really works for me and my busy family. I really do like the stickers in the back. Helps to have colorful visual reminders. Problem is, there are not nearly enough birthday stickers. Does any family really take that many vacations? If so, I am depressed! I think I could use three times more birthday stickers. Other than that little suggestion, keep 'em coming for years to come! Um, I don't really live in Glen Burnie, MD. Guess I need to edit my account. (yah, you had to know that, I know.)