Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch for Making Discbound Edge

This Classic Happy Planner Hole Punch Is a Game Changer for Both Productivity and Cost Savings!

Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch for Punching a Discbound Edge. If you want to be able to add almost ANY paper to your Happy Planner, you NEED this punch! The punch is an outstanding investment, because it will save you a small fortune on your planner supplies. It will pay for itself if you are a hardcore planner user.

Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch for Punching a Discbound Edge. If you want to be able to add almost ANY paper to your Happy Planner, you NEED this punch! This punch is an outstanding investment, because it will save you a small fortune on your planner supplies. It will pay for itself if you are a hardcore planner user.

If you use the Happy Planner or any comparable discbound planner system, you’ll want to consider making a small upfront investment in the Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch in order to maximize your productivity and minimize the amount of money you’ll spend on buying planner refill pages.


How is that possible, you might ask? What exactly does this punch do for you that allows you to be more productive or save more money on your planner supplies?


Let me explain:

Be More Productive by Increasing Your Options for Planner Page Layouts

Me and My Big Ideas, the manufacturer of the Happy Planner, makes a staggering variety of planner refill pages, accessories, calendar extension packs and filler paper available. For many planner users, these off-the-shelf accessories are adequate for customizing their planners to perfection.


But, there are limitations on the designs that are available.


For example, I have looked at every planner and extension pack available from the stores that sell Happy Planners, and I have yet to find a planner layout that is ideal for freelance writers to use for organizing their client lists, website passwords and project lists.


Since I have a Happy Planner hole punch that creates the discbound page edges, I can add virtually any paper to my planner. So I am working on designing my own perfect planner layout that I can print out as often as I need. I can simply print the page, punch it with this punch and add the page to my planner in the spot where I need it.


This punch also allows me to download other designers’ planner bundles and layouts to use for further customizing my planner.


So if you’ve ever spent literally hours at the store or online, looking through all the available planner layouts and stressing out because none of them offer you quite the right layout design, this system is going to solve that problem for you easily. You now have access to the tools you need for customizing your planner to do exactly what you need it to do.

How This Happy Planner Hole Punch Saves You Money on Planner Supplies

If you have a classic-sized Happy Planner, at current pricing, you typically spend around $7 for 40 sheets of filler paper to use in your Happy Planner. On one hand, I think this cost is reasonable for what you get — which is high-quality paper that resists bleed-through if you write on it with markers or highlighters.


But, on the other hand, if you need to use a lot of paper, you’ll spend a fortune at these prices.


If you’re color coding your planner using highlighters and markers, I recommend just buying the branded Happy Planner pages. But if you’ll be writing on your pages with ordinary pencil or ballpoint pen, you can save some cash by using a lesser quality paper and punching the discbound edge yourself so you can add it to your planner. This isn’t an option when you stick to buying only the branded Happy Planner refills and extension packs.


This punch also allows you to make use of paper that might go to waste otherwise. For example, I have some decades-old scrapbooking paper that I am not ever going to use in my scrapbooks and memory albums. I’m going to re-purpose that old paper and use it in my planner. It’s possible for me to do so because I can use the Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch and punch the edges of the papers to make them compatible with the Happy Planner.


So, come to think of it, that’s one more selling point for this punch: The punch is an environmentally friendly solution that can help to keep your old, unwanted papers out of the landfill. They don’t have to go to waste, because if you can use them in your planner, this punch will give you the means to actually make it happen.

This Hole Punch Is Easy to Use

I just got this punch a few days ago. So far I’ve used it to punch a few dozen pages. So far so good! It works exactly as expected and is extremely easy to use.


My punch is going to get hardcore, consistent use — so if I later experience any problems with it, I will come back and update this review. But so far, it has been working like a champ.

Punch All 9 Holes at Once

With this punch, you can easily punch all 9 of the holes you need for adding your pages into your Happy Planner or most other similarly-sized discbound planners. You don’t have to mess around with punching each hole individually or worrying about getting the spacing correct. The punch will automatically give you the correct spacing. YAY!! And you’ll save a lot of time using this punch as compared against other alternatives that require you to line up each hole before you punch.


You’ll also probably avoid wasting the amount of paper you’d waste with alternatives that require you to line up each hole before punching. With the Classic Happy Planner 9-hole punch, I haven’t yet wasted any paper or made any mistakes in my punching, because this punch is fairly dummy-proof to use.

Cons

There aren’t many downsides that I’ve experienced with this punch, and overall, I am highly enthusiastic about it. I think it offers you an outstanding value for the money you’ll spend on it. That said, I’d be a bad reviewer if I didn’t mention the few downsides I noticed with this punch:

  • This punch only works with the Classic, Mini and Smaller sized Happy Planners. It DOES NOT work with the Big Happy Planners. If you want to create your own pages for the Big Happy Planner, you’ll have to buy the larger sized Happy Planner Punch, which has 12 holes — or, possibly, one of the alternatives mentioned below.
  • Even this smaller-sized 9-Hole punch is big and really heavy. It will take up a lot of space in your craft supplies. This might not be a huge issue for you if you’re living in a sizable home. If you’re, for example, a New York City apartment dweller or a full-time RVer, or anyone who lives in a tiny space, you might want to consider some of the available alternatives before you purchase this punch (Scroll down to find suggestions for possible alternatives). I happen to live in a studio-sized condo at the moment, and I’m OK with the amount of space this punch takes up — but I’m going to have to get rid of some other less-used punches so I have space to store this one. So I do think it’s totally worth the space investment, but your mileage may vary.
  • This punch does not cut through anything heavier than cardstock, so you cannot use it for punching laminated papers to make planner covers. If you’re hoping to use your hole punch to make yourself new planner covers or very thick dividers, see below for suggested alternatives to this punch.
    • Possible Alternatives to the Happy Planner Discbound Hole Punch

      There are bunches of interesting alternatives to this Happy Planner hole punch. Which one you’d want would depend on what you’re hoping to accomplish with your planner. The following are some alternatives I’m aware of.


      Please be aware that I haven’t actually purchased or used any of these options, so please don’t think of this list as a personal recommendation. I happened to find these alternatives because they are all ones I considered buying. I decided to prioritize the purchase of the Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch, which I actually own, use and recommend. I’d also still be interested in owning all of these other alternatives, but aside from the Crop-A-Dile disc punch (more on that momentarily) I am not planning to prioritize an immediate purchase of any of these other alternatives.

      Crop-A-Dile Disc Power Punch

      We R Memory Keepers We R Makers makes their own discbound planner rings and accessories available. One of their tools in this line is the Crop-A-Dile disc punch. The Crop-A-Dile tool is the one you’d want to consider owning for punching through thick surfaces like chipboard, SOME brands of acrylic or possibly even a laminated cover (I haven’t personally tested it on this type of material so can’t guarantee it will work, but I think it might).


      I used to be on the design team for Clear Scraps, a USA-based manufacturer of clear acrylic albums, chipboard albums and related paper crafts accessories. The ladies at Clear Scraps recommended the Crop-A-Dile line of tools to me because those are the best tools that they knew of for punching through Clear Scraps acrylic and chipboard album pages. I didn’t have a Crop-A-Dile at the time, but most of my design team colleagues did, and they affirmed that the tool works really well for punching through hefty materials. I finally ordered my own Crop-A-Dile hole punch (updated 7-20-2023 When I originally posted this review, I didn’t own the Crop-a-Dile Disc Power Punch. Now I do; I bought it, use it frequently, and highly recommend it.)


      If you’re short on space, this is one of the planner punch solutions you might want to consider, depending on your needs. The Crop-A-Dile is also a big, heavy punch that will take up a considerable amount of space in your craft supplies stash — but in this case, the upside is that it is more versatile than the Happy Planner 9-Hole punch is. You could use it for punching pages to put in the BIG Happy Planners in addition to the Classic and Mini sized Happy Planners. You can also obviously use it to cut through a broader variety of materials than the Happy Planner 9-Hole punch does. So if you’re looking to buy just one punch that could help you customize all sizes of Happy Planners or other discbound planners, the Crop-A-Dile Disc Punch might be a higher priority purchase for you than the Happy Planner 9-Hole punch would be.


      The downside, though, is that, with the Crop-A-Dile Disc Punch, you’d have to spend more time lining up punches and punching your binding holes, because you can only punch one hole at a time with this punch. It does have a guide that’s supposed to help you with that, but even so, getting good results with the Crop-A-Dile disc punch is going to take you more time than getting good results with the Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch.

      Adjustable Planner Punch Board by Maggie Holmes

      The Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch has fixed spacing between the holes. If you’re interested in having a tool that offers you more flexibility, you might prefer other options.

      We R Memory Keepers Punch Board

      Tul Punch

      Office Depot manufactures a line of pens and discbound planners that carry the Tul brand name. One of the accessories for this line is the Tul discbound punch. It’s possible to use this punch to punch discbound page edges that will work with your Happy Planner.

      Arc Punch

      Staples also manufactures their own line of discbound planners; this is known as the Arc system. There is an Arc punch available that you can use for punching discbound page edges that will work with your Happy Planner.

      Where to Buy the Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch for Making Discbound Planner Pages

      There are multiple places you can buy the Classic Happy Planner 9-Hole Punch for making new pages for your Happy Planner:

      • A Cherry on Top Crafts: I can highly recommend this craft store, and I suggest checking here first if you’re hoping to load up on other craft supplies at the same time you place your order for this punch. A Cherry on Top stocks a broad variety of planner supplies, extension packs, binder discs, stickers, paper craft supplies, punches and other craft supplies. The best part: If you run into problems with your order, they offer a toll-free customer service number where you can talk to an actual living human being who is knowledgeable about the store’s products and operations. In my experience, this line is answered promply, without you having to wait on hold forever.
      • Scrapbook.com: If you shop here, be sure to check their deals page to see if they’re offering any freebies you can grab at the time you buy your punch.

      Posted By: Amy Solovay

      About Your Product Reviewer: Amy Solovay is a freelance writer and content marketer with a background in textile design. She holds a bachelor’s degree with a studio art minor from Sweet Briar College and a degree in textile design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Los Angeles.

      If you’re a paper crafter, Amy encourages you to check out more of her paper craft project ideas here at KnittingCrochetCrafts.com. If you’re a business owner, and you’d like to attract more visitors, leads and sales to your business, she invites you to work with her on creating a content strategy that will raise your business’ profile in the search engine results pages.

      This page was last updated on 7-20-2023.