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Notability vs. Goodnotes Review

I thought I’d weigh in on 2 popular journaling apps. From what I know these are the top 2 annotation/journaling apps out there for the iPad at the moment. I wanted to give you a list of pros and cons of each and then weigh in on which one I prefer to use. But first, let’s talk about what I use these apps for so the pros and cons will make a bit of sense. 
 
I’ve been experimenting with my work flow for a few years now. I’ve tried using everything. From to do lists, notes, and calendar apps native to my iPhone to paper planners. I’ve tried carrying around a notebook. After much trial and error I’ve found that for me a combination of apps and a planner works best for me, but more on my workflow later. In April I tested out turning my bullet journal into a digital one and I’ve never looked back. Journaling apps like Notability and Goodnotes are great for taking your planner or bullet journal digital.
 
I have to admit that I felt like I was betraying the stationery world a little bit by taking my planner digital. Don’t get me wrong, I love paper. I mean love. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I actually prefer my digital bullet journal to my paper planner!
 
When I first converted over to a digital planner I used Notability. I had purchased it in the past (it costs $5.99) so I decided to give it a try.
 
 
A few pros to Notability:
  • Great UI, easy to figure out.
  • Ease of writing. My penmanship doesn’t look butchered like it normally does on digital screens.
  • Pen options. I like that I can change the stroke of my pen and highlighter with a couple of taps.
  • Eraser tool. It’s a smart eraser so if I erase part of a shape or letter it’ll erase the whole thing.
  • Handwriting is searchable. I don’t use this feature, but I imagine a lot of people will find it useful.
  • Side-by-side notes. This is pretty cool, might play around with it to see if this will alleviate my need for a landscape mode. More to come on this feature.
 
A few cons to Notability: 
  • Ease of moving images. Every month I have a memories page in my planner and while it’s easy to add images into the notebook it’s really hard to move it. Maybe I just couldn’t figure it out lol!
  • Landscape mode. This was the biggest con for me. I like to use the app in landscape mode but the actual “paper” itself can’t be rotated to landscape. My planner templates that I designed are all in landscape mode so they feel a little small and have a lot of extra paper room at the bottom that I feel goes to waste. 
Notability’s cons were enough for me to try Goodnotes (it costs $7.99).
 
 
A few pros about Goodnotes:
  • Good UI, easy to figure out.
  • Smart drawing. Makes it easy to draw circles and straight lines.
  • Different papers. I like that I can add different paper types to 1 notebook. I can import a template, use grid paper, lined, or blank. I noticed in Notability it’s 1 type of paper for 1 notebook.
  • Landscape. Freakin. Mode. HECK YES! If I import a landscape page, it imports as landscape! Also, the papers that are available in Goodnotes are by default portrait but I can easily rotate the paper to landscape in a few taps.
  • Ease of importing templates from Procreate. I like that I can import files directly from Procreate and it’s formatted the way I intended it without much effort.
 
A few cons about Goodnotes:
  • For some reason I don’t like the pen UI on Goodnotes compared to Notability. I like that Notability has more colors to choose from, not just shades of the same color. I also like that the pen size is visual on Notability vs. a slider on Goodnotes. I guess that’s just a preference thing.
  • As a lefty, I notice that when I write in Goodnotes it’s kinda glitchy when I drag my hand toward the top left corner. It’s rare that it happens, not a deal breaker, but I use the app so much that I do notice it and it gets a little annoying.
  • Pricier than Notability. But only by $2.
 
After using both for quite some time my current fave is Goodnotes. The biggest deal breaker for me was the lack of landscape papers on Notability. I do have to try, though, the side my side notes feature in Notability to see if that’s a good alternative. I just couldn’t convince myself to be ok with portrait planner pages. If it weren’t for that I think i’d use Notability. So Notability, if you’re reading this get on that landscape mode!
 
xoxo,
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My Grocery Shopping Strategy to Save Money

I know this may be a weird topic but trust me, it’s a story in itself. As an entrepreneur, there are high seasons of business and there are low seasons. Some times you have more business than you can handle and other times you’re searching for the next customer to come around. It’s the nature of being an entrepreneur. Because of that, I’ve learned that knowing when to budget and when to splurge is really important.

This process doesn’t just apply to grocery shopping, but shopping in general is a long process for me. I actually rarely shop for myself. My mom was a very thrifty woman, and she taught me that there are moments when you save and there are moments when you splurge. When it comes to grocery shopping this is especially important. There are moments when you can buy rib eye steaks, and there are moments you buy chuck.

The rule growing up was my mom would buy me anything as long as it’s food and I will eat it. Meaning, whatever is in our cart (including the items she picks) I have to be willing to eat. I’d buy Kid Cuisines, Fruit Roll Ups, and Squeeze-Its. She would buy salads, vegetables, and fruits. I thought it was fair trade. When I’d go shopping with my mom she would show me how to spend our grocery money wisely.

My mom LOVES a good deal, I mean LOVES. Plus, she worked with numbers all the time. She was in accounting before she was in real estate. She would drive all the way to a different grocery store for rib eye steaks if it was only on sale there. Even if it was $0.50 per lb. cheaper she would still go.

I may not be as extreme as her but she did teach me how to make sure I was getting the best price for my money. If we were buying toilet tissue I wouldn’t just look at the cheapest price tag with the same amount of rolls. You would think that 24 roll is 24 rolls. But my mom taught me that not every brand has the same amount of square feet per roll, and that’s where the true savings lie. So when I go to the store I’ll look at the square footage on the packaging. I’ll divide the square footage by the price and find the most affordable from there.

I use this same method when I buy everything – meats, rice, vegetables, etc. I would look at the cheapest price per ounce or per pound. This ensures that I get the best price that I can. So, how do I decide where to shop?

The weekly ads, duh! 😝

Once I get the ads in the mail I’ll sit down and look at all of them, circle things I’m interested in buying, and whichever has the most circles is where I’m going to shop that week. Simple as that! I don’t do extreme couponing or anything, but if I happen to have a coupon on top of the savings that’s icing on the cake! I’m not as extreme as my mom, she’d go to 2-3 grocery stores to grab every single item she needed on sale. I’d rather just go where the most items I want or need are on sale, one stop and I’m done!

I’ve found that this helps me save the most amount of money per week. Between Charlie and I we average about $50 per week on groceries. That averages out to a little over $3.50 per person per day. Not bad!

Happy shopping!

Xoxo,

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August 2018 Goal Setting

Honestly, I’m sitting here on the day that I’m supposed to post this and have no idea what my goals for this month are. Let’s be real, I don’t always have it all together. Heck, I rarely have my life under control. I set goals and sometimes I accomplish them, sometimes I don’t. This month, I just have a block. And since we’re being honest, I just don’t feel it. I don’t feel like being productive. I don’t want to set productivity goals or do things every day that’ll work toward a bigger goal. I just don’t wanna (in a whining little girl voice) lol!

But I’m trying. I’m trying to get myself to set some goals for this month, even if it’s smaller goals. Soooo, here we go…

1. Prioritize a healthier lifestyle. This has been an ongoing goal of mine the last few months, and now my focus is going to be body and mind. I’ve never been one to focus on physical appearances so I’ve had to really find my “why” when it comes to being healthier. For one, it’s for a positive mind. When I eat right, exercise, and take time for myself I feel more relaxed and balanced.

2. Make faith my primary source of fulfillment. Working in a service-based business and in the day and age we’re living in, it’s really easy to fall into the destructive pattern of seeking other’s approval. I always have to remind myself that it’s not the approval of others I need to see, but the Lord’s. I know that if I seek Him and serve Him first, the rest is up to Him.

3. Read a book. I’m currently reading Soar by Bishop T.D. Jakes and I’m determined to finish it this month! At the very least I can read it on the plane when we travel to Washington DC at. The end of the month (surprise!).

4. Complete 1 backyard project. We’ve been using our back yard more often ever since we finished our 1st renovation project. Almost every Sunday, we have friends over, grill, eat, and just chill out there before we all have to begin the hectic week. It’s one of my favorite things about this summer! Charlie and I have a couple other projects we want to work on for the back yard that aren’t too costly – like patch up our fence, create better lighting, and build a fire pit.

5. Get ahead of blog posts. Just like that, guys, I’m backed up on blog posts. *Sigh* After the 30 Day Blogging Challenge I was so ahead of the game for the first time ever and I was determined to keep it going. Clearly, not determined enough lol! So this month, my goal is to get ahead again. At least get in the habit of a regular writing/posting schedule.

As far as theme for the month, I think my keyword is going to be contentment. This is something that I always have a hard time with. As an entrepreneur I’m always striving to be better, keep growing, and never stopping but this is really counterintuitive to the idea of being content. If contentment is being in a state of satisfaction then I feel like I’m always the opposite. I always have this feeling of not being good enough or wanting more. So this month, I’d like to make that the theme. Heck, maybe it’ll be my theme for the next few months because I don’t think I’m going to find contentment in less than 30 days!

Happy planning and goal setting, friends! Whether you’re super motivated or a little lazy like me at the moment, still seize this day and make it your own!

Xoxo,