Although I wrote what I thought would be the last post in my “choosing a planner” series yesterday, some new information came to light today about the discs for the Staples Arc style of planner that I use, which utilizes a disc binding system. If you recall from the previous post, the disc binding system is available under various brand names: Levenger Circa, Rollabind, Staples Arc, Atoma, and there are probably others of which I am not aware. To make this system work, the minimum starter items you need include a planner and a set of discs. Obviously, if you buy a planner, then you have the discs, as shown below. This is my vacation journal, which accommodates about 60 pages that are included in the planner.
If you need to add pages to your “starter”planner or notebook, you’ll need to purchase expansion discs. Locally, many of you will have the option of shopping at Staples, and buying either black or blue discs. My own experience is that my local stores don’t carry the discs (and other accessories) in large quantities, but you can solve that issue by purchasing online at Staples. The planners can be found HERE, and the accessories HERE. If you visit Coupons.com, you may be able to find a coupon to purchase these items at a discounted price. I bought the punch and planner, for example, for 25 percent off the regular price. Another more economical punch option is to purchase a Levenger’s Circa 1-2-3 Portable Punch for $19. The lightweight punch, which handles one sheet at a time, ships free anywhere in the U.S. 48 contiguous states.
The other option is to visit the sites I named above that sell disc bound planners. One of them, however, Rollabind, may not be a viable option. According to “MK” of Red Harp Ants in her post, More on Disc-bound notebooks, this company has not been accepting orders. When I checked the Better Business Bureau report on this Florida company, I felt a little leery. You can read the report for yourself, and come to your own conclusions.
“MK” really likes the disc binding system and has been searching for places to buy the discs. Her research pointed her to Atoma, the Belgian company that invented the disc binding system and began selling it in 1948, and to a U.S. distributor in Appleton, Wisconsin called Myndology. I have contacted this company about their discs, which are imported and come in a range of colors, and hope to receive some samples soon to determine how well they will work with my Staples Arc punch. You may find this video from the Atoma company fun to watch, especially since it illustrates both business and non-business uses of the disc bound notebook system. Interestingly, the covers shown are all made of a flexible plastic or vinyl, similar to the quilting template I punched to use as a sheet protector and as an adhesive sticky notes holder. You could visit any office supply store and pick up an inexpensive vinyl or thin plastic folder or binder, and re-purpose it to make covers for a disc bound notebook.
After my husband saw my planner, he asked if I could design the inside pages for his own disc bound planner. Looks like his “At a Glance” planner is seeing its last days!
© 2015 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.
The disks look much nicer than comb binding! I actually spend about there months working at a Staples Copy Center once and saw enough comb binding to last me a lifetime. =p
This past has a lot of detail and information, just like all your other planner posts!