PSA: You do not need fancy pens to keep a bullet journal going

Last Tuesday at the library meetup here in Boise, a woman next to me said she quit her journal because she could not afford the $40 pen set everyone posts about online. I said that was silly, and I pulled out the cheap ballpoint I have used for 11 months straight. My pages look plain but I still fill every box and finish every month. A good journal is about showing up, not about what you write with. What is the cheapest pen you have stuck with for a whole year?

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taylor9571mo ago

The whole "cheap pen is just as good" thing gets repeated a lot, but it misses a real point. A pen that skips, smears, or hurts your hand after ten minutes makes you not want to open the journal at all. Those $40 sets everyone rolls their eyes at? Some people buy them because the ink flows better and the pages look clean, and that keeps them coming back. Telling a beginner to just grab whatever is lying around sets them up to hate the process and quit by week two. The habit part matters, sure, but acting like tools have zero effect on whether you show up is just not true for everyone. Some people need to like what they are holding to stick with it, and that is fine.

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