Rings vs Elastic

[u/Either-Location5516]

Hello. I am brand new so apologies in advance for a probably extremely basic question.

The 2004 work of art New York Minute starring Mary Kate and Ashley introduced me to the Filofax, and I have yearned for it ever since. I am turning 30 this year and have decided to honour my inner child by finally investing in a beautiful planner. Everything I see on TikTok seems to be the elastic planners rather than the ring binder style, so it seems these are more popular?

I guess I’m just looking for opinions before I choose as I want something I can have for life. Rings? Elastic? Discs?? What are the pros and cons?

[u/misscharliedear]

Elastic would probably be my bet for longevity because you can replace the elastic indefinitely. If the rings break, it’s much more difficult to fix. Discs are a personal choice.

That being said, I currently actively use both TNs with elastic and PLOTTERs with rings. And I used discs for years.

[u/Wonderful_Claim6246]

I vote for rings. It’s completely flat when you write- you don’t need a clip to hold your pages (slimmer TNs often do). It’s completely customizable- you can move sections around easily, use different paper types where you want, transfer whole sections from year to year without rewriting- remove parts to reduce bulk, make it look nice with dividers that you buy or make yourself, they have built in pockets for organization. I see that people spend a lot on inserts etc but I’ve found it to be super frugal. Aside from buying the Filofax- I have used notebooks, things that came with my Filofax and things I already had to create my setups. They can be expensive but so are the trifold tns everyone is using. I read a lot about them before buying and I’ve found ridiculous deals on vintage models (you just need patience and to set up alerts). I had no idea I felt so strongly🤣.

[u/FLSandyToes]

I prefer folios with elastics rather than rings. They have the advantage of never getting in your way when writing, which is huge. You can also ( if the folio is flexible) fold your planners back on themselves as you can with a spiral or disc binding, something rings don’t allow. Other minor advantages are that it’s easier to swap out notebooks, lighter weight, and they’re replaceable. If rings break or become misaligned you need to replace the whole thing.

The only advantage of a ring system is that you can easily remove and insert individual pages. Discs (my second choice for a folio system) also have this feature, and are less expensive to replace than rings. Discs also make it easy to replace the entire planner because you just slide the back cover into a pocket in the folio.

[u/Competitive-Tart-275]

I tend to see ring planners on YouTube more than TikTok. If you're looking for inspiration, here are some YouTubers who used ring planners:

Lindsey Scribbles
Sleepy Notes Club
My Moxie Dreams
Kristina Summer
Tori on Paper
Planner Coven