I’ve been using a Filofax ever since I stumbled across the wide world of internet Filofax lovers, and it’s been a love – hate relationship from the get-go.
First, I ordered what I thought was a personal size Metropol, only to discover that the seller was wrong and it was actually a pocket size. About the size of my hand and way too hard to write in.
I soon gained 3 more (one has been passes on to someone else), and have been using a personal Fusion pretty consistently since I won it in a giveaway over a year ago.
I carry it around, yet rarely use it for more than recording what happened, rather than doing any planning. Below is the Metropol, the Fusion, and my gorgeous A5 Chameleon.
I’ve been hearing about Erin Condren planners for a while (along with a dozen or so others, too), and pulled up the site over the weekend to see what’s up. There was a lot about them that I liked, but they are fairly expensive at a base price of $50.00, and almost every review has mentioned how heavy they are. Very heavy, from what I gather.
I found a comparison blog post between those and Plum Paper Designs. Very similar in style, fewer extras than Condron – which is OK with me: my washi-tape and bells and whistles Filofax extras phase ended rather quickly. The Plum Paper planners are lighter, you can start your year where you want to (mine is Sept, my holdover from school ‘beginning of the year’ feeling), and they start at a mere $31.00.
The biggest thing that attracted me to them was having everything in one place for the entire year, making research at a later date easier. With the Filofax, each page stands alone, and so I have alligator-clipped piles of months clipped together, and going through them gets to be more of a pain than finding what I need is worth. Major fail.
So I’m putting the Filofax away for a year (once I get the Plum Paper) and we’ll see how it goes!
Question: I redid the blog so that the sidebar is gone, making it easier for mobile apps. Had it helped clean things up for you? Or did you prefer the sidebar? Thanks!
©Pip Miller – August 2015
This Healing Hobbit's Life 
Good luck with your new planner. I am such a ring girl, but can appreciate other styles. Yes the page is so much cleaner, but how do I find previous posts?
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That’s a very good question! I thought there was still a calendar somewhere, but maybe I’m wrong. I’ll look into it!
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A lot of people love the Plum Paper, but I really need my rings. How will you survive without that flexibility?
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(I saw “survive” as if we would die without rings. I apologize for being so unnecessarily dramatic. 🙂 )
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Lol! No worries!
Actually, I don’t tend to pull things out or add a whole lot, so I won’t mind not having that flexibility. Plus, when I move things, I lose them! 😉
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I completely understand the need for a break. I have gone through that a couple of times myself. Good luck with the new planner and do show us a sneak preview. 🙂
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Will do! 🙂
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Have you looked into the Hobonichi Planners (A5) size? Like yourself, I prefer my planners to have the whole year in one, and not to be sectioned off by pages like the filofax. Although I love the small and compact size of the personal ring binders, the individual loose pages do not make it easy for storing. For this reason, I’ve also considered purchasing a Van Der Spek personal size with the 30mm rings, but not sure how I would feel about the bulk. Mead Planner made a good year-at-a-glance calender that I absolutely loved, but it seems to have discontinued. Looking forward to seeing how your “ringless” planning goes. 🙂
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