After falling in love with the Plotter ring-binder system, I started wondering if there were any more budget-friendly options available. There’s lots to love about the Plotter but there are a couple big cons: they are VERY pricey, they are only available with leather covers and the rings are extremely small at just 0.375″.
I found a vendor on Etsy who makes a slightly less expensive Plotter alternative but its not what I would consider “budget-priced” (prices start a $83.99) called Wuhzi Studio. They also make leather covers so it doesn’t solve for the cons listed above. I dug deeper until I found Personal and A5- sized translucent plastic binders which were less than $5 a piece. The binders ship from China and took about two weeks to reach me.
I think $5 each is definitely budget-priced. The binders are plastic which isn’t ideal but its not leather so it checks the second box on the cons. Finally, the rings measure about 0.75″ which is larger than the Plotter which can be a plus or minus depending on your preference.
For your $5 investment, the binder comes with a sheet of plain white diecut stickers to put on the exterior of your binder and two additional elastics in red and brown. The binder shipped with the black elastic pre-installed.
I hesitated testing this binder because I was concerned that the plastic cover would not lay flat. But lo and behold, it does lay flat! I’m stunned!
I found all my pre-existing papers and tab fit into the binder without issue, even my Plotter paper refills.
With a similar volume of paper in the translucent binder as my Plotter, there is still plenty of room to add additional paper.
When compared to the Plotter on the left, above and a traditional Filofax Original in Personal size on the right, the translucent binder is definitely in-between. It’s a bit larger overall than the Plotter but its not as bulky as the Original which is actually one of the slimmer Filofax binders.
When stacked, you can see the size differences based on the ring sizes and the material thickness. The thin covers help to keep the overall bulk of the translucent binder. The absence of any pockets or slots inside the translucent cover also helps keep the cover slim as well. It’s also comparable to the Plotter which eschewed any built-in pockets or slots so if you need anything to hold ephemera, pens or business cards, you’ll have to purchase additional components.
I purchased the A5 sized translucent binder (also about $5) as well but could not figure out what to use it for right now. I have been using the A5 Filofax Domino to store notes and research and it absolutely requires the oversized 1.25″ sized rings. Like the Personal sized (AKA Bible Size), the binder shipped with extra elastics and a page of stickers.
I think I might end up using both of these binders to hold my extra refills and/or completed pages through the end of the year.
I am not going to give up my Plotter for these budget binders but I like knowing there are some other options.
Are you convinced to try a ring binder system yet?
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