*This post is sponsored by TUL® for Office Depot® Office Max®. All opinions are mine. For more information please see my Disclosure.
It’s the perfect time of year to start thinking about your next bullet journal. You’ll have enough time to set up your priority pages and feel confident in your planning routine as you head into 2019.
If you haven’t yet picked out your dream notebook and are still on the hunt for your perfect match– perfect notebook match, let me introduce you to the TUL® for Office Depot® Office Max®.
Sitting alongside all of the other notebooks on my desk, this one stands out the most. With the disc binding and stunning cover, it’s hard to miss.
But, the TUL™ Discbound Notebook isn’t just a pretty face. It has layers and layers of features that make it a top choice for your next bullet journal.
In the following sections, I’ll fill you in on the what the TUL™ Custom Note-Taking System is, five reasons it’s superior to other notebooks, and some bonus features that really drive it home.
What is the TUL™ Custom Note-Taking System?
The TUL™ Custom Note-Taking System is a completely customizable discbound notebook. So what the heck does discbound mean?
Discbound is a method of binding using discs to hold the cover and pages in place. It also allows the user to add and remove pages as they wish. Meaning, you get to decide the contents of your notebook.
The TUL™ Discbound Notebooks come in two sizes, junior and letter. The US measurements of the paper inside are 5.5″x8.5″ and 8.5″x11″, respectively.
They are also offered in a variety of cover styles including poly, leather, and pebbled leather.
And from there, you have lots of color options including tan, black, gray, blue, pink, rose gold, navy, and more.
Recently, TUL® released their Brilliance collection, including both notebooks and pens. They are only available through the end of the year. Hurry, and snag yours here before 2018 comes to a close.
You can find the rest of their notebooks at Office Depot® Office Max®, in-store or online.
5 Reasons to Make the TUL® Your Next Bullet Journal
As bullet journaling becomes more popular, more and more notebooks are appearing on the market. And when the time comes to choose a notebook for your bullet journal, the options can be overwhelming.
There are plenty of great options, but the TUL™ Discbound Notebooks stands out above the rest for five big reasons.
1). You Can Add and Remove Pages
Unlike your standard thread-bound notebook, the TUL™ Custom Note-Taking System allows you to add and remove pages as you wish.
In other notebooks, when you run out of pages, that’s it. You’re just out. But, with the TUL™ Discbound Notebooks, you can continue to add pages as you need them. You can even purchase larger disks to hold more pages in your bullet journal.
Want to have some lined paper mixed in each month for journaling? You can! Want half of your notebook to have graph paper and the other half to have lined paper? You can! Do you want a notebook that only holds three months worth of spreads or one that holds a full year? Either way is doable with the TUL®.
In the photo above I am replacing the lined paper that came in the notebook with TUL™ Graph Ruled Refill Pages. The entire process of replacing all of the pages in the notebook took under five minutes.
2). You Can Rearrange Pages
This feature definitely ties into number one on the list. But instead of just adding or removing pages, you can also rearrange them. This is the solution to one of the top questions I’m asked.
“How do I set up my bullet journal? Should I put my collections in the back of my notebook, have the spaced throughout, separate my notebook into sections, or have a completely separate notebook.”
You can see how this one little issue can keep someone from ever even starting their journal.
With the TUL™ Discbound Notebooks, you don’t have to worry about it. You can rearrange pages to find what works best for you.
In my own personal experience with thread-bound notebooks, I have run into this issue when creating extensive logs. For example, creating a monthly spending log. I started by just making two pages for entries and then I would make my upcoming weekly spread directly following the spending log pages.
But, about two and a half weeks later my spending log would be full and I would have to create a new page that’s separated by weekly spreads for the remainder of that month’s spending.
With the TUL®, I can easily make a new page and then place it in with the rest of my spending log so it will be all together.
3). You Won’t Need to Buy a New Notebook for Your Bullet Journal
Who is down for saving money wherever they can? *hand raised high with fingers wiggling*. Yeah, me too.
I’ve been spending $20-$40 on a new notebook every six months for the past two years. That’s over $100 in notebooks! (PS: I honestly hadn’t done the math up until writing this and that kind of took my breath away).
Because it’s so easy to replace and refill the paper in the TUL™ Discbound Notebooks, there really isn’t a need to buy a new notebook. Just buy the refill paper. Each pack comes with 100 pages (50 sheets) for under $5 and you’ll be saving at least half of what you would normally spend on a new notebook.
What other fun stationery supplies could you buy with the money you saved? How about these gorgeous TUL® Brights Retractable Gel Pens? The colors are fiercely vivid and they write so smoothly. These precision engineered pens have been hand tested to ensure performance. My handwriting actually improved when I started using these; no lie.
4). If You Make a Mistake Just Take the Page Out
Yep, you read that right. You messed up and spelled Habit Tracker wrong on next month’s spread? No biggie. It’s super easy to remove pages from the TUL™ Discbound Notebook.
It happens to everyone. You make a mistake or finish a page and just decide you don’t like it AT ALL. I’ve been there.
And in any other notebook, your options are to tear or cut the page out, glue two-pages together, or keep the page that you despise so much just to avoid pulling at the binding.
No more! Seriously, this is probably one of my favorite features of the notebook because it takes the stress and pressure out of creating a perfect spread.
5). It Has Thick Bleed-Proof Paper
If you’ve been around my site for a while, you know how much I live for thick, bleed-proof paper. I love to be able to use markers, pens, highlighters, and sometimes even watercolor in my bullet journal.
So, when I received this notebook one of the first things I did was create a pen test page. I tried a number of different pens, markers, and highlighters that I’ve previously had ghosting or bleeding issues with.
To put the TUL™ Refill Pages to the test, I slowly applied the colors from the pens and markers to the page. This simulates using a pen or marker to color in an area, which is often the cause of bleeding and ghosting.
To my surprise, this paper held up better than any of the notebooks I have used previously. And the list is extensive! I was blown away and could not believe how well it held up to wetter markers.
Which means that you can color, highlight and ombre your headers to your heart’s content without fear of bleeding through to the other side.
Bonus Features of the TUL® System
While I personally found the reasons above to be the most prominent features of the TUL™ Custom Note-Taking System, I’m not done yet. There are a few more reasons that make the TUL™ Discbound Notebook a great option for your next bullet journal.
- Lay-Flat and Flip Back: Do you like to bullet journal on the couch while binge watching Netflix? Me too! But with a standard thread bound journal it can be a little challenging due to the binding. With the TUL®, you can flip your cover and pages all the way back, similarly to a spiral bound notebook.
- No Awkward Hand Placement: When you’re writing or doodling too close to the edges, the task gets a little more complicated. Your hand is falling off the side of the notebook. It’s uncomfortable. But with the TUL™ Discbound Notebook, you can simply remove the page, draw your spread and then place the page back in your notebook.
- Built-In Pen Loop and Pockets: A pen loop and pockets for notes and business cards are both included in the leather versions of the notebook. Being able to have your favorite black pen with you at all times is invaluable.
- Bind Anything: You can literally make anything into a dashboard or add any paper to your journal with the addition of the TUL® Discbound Hole-Punch. Want custom color dividers or to add a printed photo as a dashboard? You can!
- Bright White Paper: One of my biggest complaints with other junior size notebooks is the cream colored paper. It dulls out the colors of your pens and markers. The paper from TUL® is brilliant white and will allow all of your colors to pop off the page with vibrancy.
If you haven’t yet picked a notebook to use for your next bullet journal, be sure to check out the TUL®. Be sure to hurry and grab one of their Limited Edition Brilliance Notebooks before they are unavailable. And let me know in the comments if you have ever tried a discbound notebook before. What features are most appealing to you?
Lynne says
Hi Erin, I can see all the really great point and I’m fairly impressed, but here in the UK it’s not easily available
erinnichols91 says
Can you order them online? I’m sure the shipping is quite pricey. Perhaps they will move to the UK soon.
Claire says
Lynne, in the UK Staples has an M by Staples range of Arc discbound notebooks in A4 and A5 sizes. They use the same discbound system. Their leather-look covers are not quite as fancy as these ones, though! 🙂
Linda R says
After trying numerous planner systems that just didn’t work for me, I then discovered bullet journaling and realized it was a system I could use as I could adapt it to fit my style and needs. But using a bound journal was going to fit my style or needs. Then during a trip to find some kind of journal I could use I found the TUL system. Voila! I purchased the discs and the grid paper in half size, ruler, zipper case and a bit later, the punch. I made my own covers and dividers. As a crafter with a huge stash of scrapbook paper and a laminator, it was easy. I like the ease of being able to add, remove, and change pages. As a lefthaded writter, I also write upside down, and writing in a hard bound journal or 3 ring binder is difficult. With the disc system, I can easily remove a page, fill in information, the replace it. I eventually got bigger discs to accommodate my increasing journal pages as I found the system very workable for me. I am not a do-it-every-day kind of planning person, which most planners require to keep things orderly. I’ve also adapted the TUL system into a cookbook to write in my recipes and bought the full size system for some entirely different needs that includes more than just planning. The only TUL purchases that I didn’t find helpful to me was the zipper case. The best purchase was the punch. It has allowed me to punch the covers and dividers, printed materials, anything that I wanted to add to one of my disc planners or journals. I highly recommend the TUL system.
erinnichols91 says
Thank you for your comment, Linda! I too am planning to buy the punch to make some dot grid paper. I love the thickness of the grid paper, but I have just become so accustomed to dot-grid that I think I would like it. I’m trying to hint at TUL to make some dot grid paper for the Junior Size. They are such awesome systems and allow for great flexibility which I absolutely love!
Katherine Swank says
I beat you to the TUL notebook! Found this a few months ago. It was the final puzzle-piece to my perfect Bullet Journal. I have 2! One is a special edition cover that I’ve used 2″ discs in. It is my daily life-blood organizer, holding my traditional bullet journal system, health and habit tracking and an extensive financial budgeting and investments collection as well. When I travel for work (weekly for a day or two), I can just take out relevant calendar pages and my habit tracker and insert them into my smaller, traditional cover TUL planner with 1″ discs for on-the-go ease. If it’s budgeting time while on the road, I can take those pages along too – staying on-time and on-track with my life’s To Do List. Brilliant system that’s working for me! Finally!
erinnichols91 says
It truly is such an amazing system. And I will definitely be upgrading my disks to larger ones and then probably getting the punch to make some dot grid paper. I’m thinking since it’s already December that I will start my TUL as my main journal in June or July 2019. Thank you for sharing your method. You seem to have it down to a science and I will consider those ideas when I use mine full time.
Casey says
Nice review! Too bad when I click on your link, I get kind of error that the website won’t show. I have only the availability to call the depot 🙁 I think it is not possible for people in Europe Dx
erinnichols91 says
Hi Casey,
Thank you for reaching out and letting me know that you are having issues with the link not working. I cannot answer why that is, but maybe the product and company do not reach Europe, which is unfortunate. And as others from Europe have reached out to tell me, the shipping costs on these products are very high. I hope, for your sake, that this can be changed in the future.
Jan says
So many possibilities! Erin, what about 2 page spreads with this system? Like the 2page monthly calender you do? I use Ryder’s monthly spread across 2 pages. What are your thoughts splitting 2 page spread with the discs? Other than that, this looks amazing & I’m considering. Thanks so much!
erinnichols91 says
Hi Jan! Thank you so much for the kind words. I think you could very easily do a 2-page spread with this system. You would just need to leave a little extra room along the edges where the disks are, so it would look a little split, but still functional and pretty.
Jan says
Great! Thank you so much!
amanda says
I absolutely love my discbound TUL notebooks. I have 2 of them (one in the letter and one in the junior size) that I have owned for the last 3 years. I also have the punch as well. This has been the best set of notebooks that I have purchased. I love the fact that you can customize your planner/bullet journal. I don’t think that I could ever go back to a regular notebook/ planner for my bullet journal.
Claire says
While the TUL system doesn’t seem to be available in the UK right now, I love the idea of using a discbound system. It looks great and I love the idea of being able to move the pages around where needed – what a great idea!