Have you ever gotten excited by beautiful stationery?
The smoothness of a pen or the fragrance of a new book?
Well, I definitely have!
From the moment I was introduced to it, stationery fascinated me. Bookstores like Crossword were pure bliss for twelve-year-old me. Over the past year and a half, I’ve realized how important it is to own stationery that I like. Why? Online school. You see, if I woke up every morning to an ugly desk with no cool notebooks or pens, I’d lose all my motivation to study. The pandemic has only worsened most students’ procrastination and one thing that has kept me going is my stationery. A part of me knows I’m dramatizing this but honestly, it’s pretty important.
With my renewed enthusiasm for stationery, I recently started following multiple blogs, studytubes and studygrams. Since I’ll be starting college in less than a month, I thought I’d gain some inspiration from these pages. However, I found that most of them were overly extravagant to the core. I for one cannot afford to spend five hundred rupees on Mildliners or the Stabilo products that almost all studygrams and studytubes seem to be promoting. Those colorful pastel highlighters and shiny calligraphy pens are just too expensive!
It is important to understand that notes can look great with simple stationery available near you. If you can afford to splurge, go for it! If not, don’t worry, we’re in the same boat. So, for the stationery lovers out there who are broke-ish like me, here are some affordable substitutes for expensive yet exciting stationery.
1. Faber Castell Highlighters
I know, they don’t look fancy, but Faber Castell highlighters get the job done! Available in both ordinary and pastel colors, I can vouch for their quality. They last for a good amount of time and are great for making your notes colorful.
2. Luxor Spiral Bound Notebooks
In my personal experience, notebooks are something worth investing in. Having a notebook with good-quality paper ensures a smoother writing experience. One big problem with bad-quality paper is the bleeding of ink. Kokuyo Campus products are highly popular among the studygram community however they can get quite pricey. Thus, I suggest Luxor products as an alternative. Their notebooks have great paper quality and over the two years that I’ve used them, I’ve never had an “ink bleeding” situation. Thus, they’re great for note-taking.
3. Luxor or Reynolds Pens
Despite the genuine good ratings surrounding Uniball pens, their prices make me hesitant. Comfort level with pens is highly subjective, thus this recommendation is based solely on my personal experience. When it comes to gel pens, I like the Reynolds Jiffy Gel. Each pen costs around five rupees and guarantees a smooth writing experience.
With regards to ball pens, I’ve been using the Luxor Uniflo pen for a while now and I think it’s very comfortable to write with. Both these companies sell black, blue, and red ink pens which can be enough to make simple, effective and aesthetic notes.
Okay, so these are the three alternates that are simple but pretty important if you’re looking to cut costs. I hope they help you have a great study and note-taking experience! Let me know in the comments below :)