The Stationery We Actually Bought in 2024: Our Honest JetPens Haul

Introduction

Every year we say we will spend less on stationery, and every year the carts fill anyway. This is our honest look at what we actually bought in 2024: the notebook we repurchase without question, the gel pens that live up to the hype, a tape runner that converted a long-time skeptic, and one eraser so cute it barely gets used. Some of these are workhorse supplies, some are pure joy, and a couple were gifts for family that we admittedly live vicariously through. Here is what made the cut, and who each pick is really for.

Midori Sky Sticky Notes

These semi-translucent sticky notes were easily one of the best small purchases of the year. Layered over journal pages, they let whatever is underneath show faintly through, which makes simple stickers look like they are gazing up at the sky. People commonly use them for annotating books and documents, and that works well, but for us every single note feels like it deserves a small piece of art on it. If you decorate a journal and want an accent that adds atmosphere instead of just color, these are hard to beat.

Pentel Mattehop Gel Pens

The Pentel Mattehop gel pens kept earning their spot all year. The matte ink is rich and juicy, making them a favorite for drawing and doodling, and they handle two tasks that trip up most pens: writing on photographs without streaking, and decorating journal pages without smearing. That photo-friendly performance is genuinely rare, which is why these ended up on our gift recommendations for artists too. If you mix photos into your journal or sketchbook, this is the pen to reach for.

Zebra Mildliner Packs

The Zebra Mildliner packs need little introduction at this point. The newer color sets, especially the olive tones, are beautiful, and the temptation to buy the full packs rather than singles is real. They layer softly, they do not bleed through decent paper, and the collection keeps growing in the most pleasant way. If a new set arrives, it goes in the cart. That is just how it goes.

Kokuyo Dotliner

This purchase came with a plot twist: a former tape runner hater turned into a believer. The Kokuyo Dotliner lays down a clean, even line of adhesive with a satisfying little sound, and it excels at two things glue often fails at. It sticks to tricky surfaces like ticket stubs and other journal ephemera, and it keeps everything lying flat, which matters enormously if your journal is already bulky. It gets used fast enough that refills are basically mandatory. Anyone building thick, collage-heavy journals will understand why this became a fast favorite.

Midori One Day One Page

The Midori One Day One Page is the daily journaling workhorse of this list, and buying two of them is not excess, it is strategy. The pages get gorgeously plumped up over months of writing and sticking things in, so splitting the year across two books keeps each one manageable: one from January to June, the other from June to December. The dot grid is creamy, sturdy, and a favorite for daily writing. As long as there is a journal to fill, this is the one that gets filled.

Kokuyo Mococo

The Kokuyo Mococo was one of those products that got a mention out loud and then ended up in the cart anyway, in pink. It houses a chunky round nib, and the three millimeter version is the one worth grabbing after taking the advice that larger nibs are more fun for monoline lettering. That thick, playful lettering style is genuinely fun to practice, and the Mococo makes it easy to try. If you have wanted to experiment with bold monoline hand lettering, this is a friendly way in.

TWSBI ECO Amazonite

Golly gee, this pen was not needed, and it was bought anyway. The TWSBI ECO in Amazonite has a beautiful marble cap and piston knob, and it slots nicely between other colors already in the collection. It is a piston-filling demonstrator fountain pen, so you get the satisfying see-through body and generous ink capacity the ECO line is known for. If you already love TWSBI pens, you know exactly how this purchase happens.

Uni Jetstream Lite Touch 4&1

This one technically started as a gift. A family member wanted the Pilot Hi-Tec-C multi pen with a full set of fifteen color refills, which is a generous way to explore color. But the bias showed, because the real love of the year was the Uni Jetstream Lite Touch 4&1 in steel blue. It is not even marketed as a multi pen convert’s pen, yet it converted one: smooth writing, a weighty, comfortable feel, and four colors in one clean body. Enabling yourself through gift-giving is a time-honored tradition.

Hobonichi Techo Avec

The number one pick of the year, no contest. The Hobonichi Techo Avec splits the full year into two books so the planner never becomes an unwieldy brick, and it has been repurchased every year since 2021. The paper is famously thin yet handles daily writing and decoration remarkably well, and if only one stationery purchase were allowed ever again, this would be it. Anyone who journals daily already understands; anyone who does not yet, this is the entry point.

Plus Air Mt. Fuji Eraser

The most frivolous purchase of the year, and the most defended. The Plus Air Mt. Fuji eraser is shaped like the famous mountain, and the trick is that the more you use it, the more the snowy peak shape emerges. In practice, barely a corner has been worn down because it is simply too cute to erase with, and it has a dedicated competitor at home already. It is also, genuinely, a very good eraser, which makes the guilt easier to carry.

Buying Advice

If you want one dependable daily tool, the Hobonichi Techo Avec and the Midori One Day One Page cover the planner and journaling ends of the spectrum. For writing and drawing, the Pentel Mattehop gel pens and the Uni Jetstream Lite Touch 4&1 are the safest all-round picks, with the TWSBI ECO Amazonite as the fun fountain pen upgrade. For journal decorators, the Kokuyo Dotliner, Zebra Mildliner packs, and Midori Sky Sticky Notes work beautifully together. And if your budget only stretches to one smile-inducing impulse buy, the Mt. Fuji eraser delivers more joy per dollar than anything else here.

Conclusion

The through-line of this haul is that the best stationery purchases are the ones that actually get used: notebooks filled to the spine, refills bought within weeks, pens that migrate into everyday writing. A few items were pure frivolity, and that is fine too, because an eraser shaped like a mountain pays for itself in smiles. Whatever your budget, pick the item that matches a habit you already have, and it will not feel like a waste.