Time Marker dot grid notebook review (cheaper alternative to the Scribbles that Matter)
There seems to be more dupes for well known dot grid notebook brands. So are any of these dupes actually any good? One very obvious dupe is the Time Marker dot grid notebook – it’s cover has a close resemblance to the Scribbles that Matter cover with it’s iconic doodles (one of the first brands that offered a dot grid notebook with a cover other than just a plain, single color cover).
Quick facts
- Size: 5.75″ wide x 8.25″ high
- Hardcover
- Sewn binding
- 4 pre-printed contents pages
- 5mm dot grid pages
- Pen loop
- Pocket folder
Let’s take a closer look!
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I purchased the planner on Amazon however it appears that it’s no longer available. This post is still useful as a comparison of Scribble That Matter’s thicker paper versus cheaper notebooks with thinner paper. I hope it helps you decide if it’s worth spending more for thicker paper (I certainly think so!).
The Cover
The cover is basically the reason I bought the notebook. I really like the graphics indented into the cover and the teal color is very pretty.
Approx 0.75″ (1.8cm) thick
Here’s the Scribbles that Matter notebook cover for comparison:
Pages included in the notebook
At the front are 4 contents pages with big boxes to write in.
Next is all of the dot grid pages:
The pages all have ‘page’ printed on them but are not pre-numbered which is a bit odd to me. It takes a long time to manually write pages numbers in, and is a major downside of the notebook.
You could divide your notebook up into sections e.g. to do lists then page 1, page 2 etc. Then skip to another section such as project planning and have page 1, page 2 etc. But that feels like it would just over-complicate things and it’d be easier if the page numbers were just pre-printed.
The dots are the usual 5mm x 5mm grid that most planners have. The paper is ivory / cream.
Each of the dot grid pages has the months of the year, days of the week and dates of the month pre-printed, so you can just circle those that are applicable. If you wanted to use the pages for other things like cleaning tasks, master to do list etc. where you don’t want to make a specific date, you could cover up this text with washi tape.
Related post: 7 Useful washi tapes for bullet journaling
There is a pocket folder with a pen loop and some loose paper that you could use for shopping lists, a planning key, recurring cleaning tasks or anything else you want. Some washi tape could be used to move it around in your planner.
Pen Testing
I tried various ballpoint, gel, fine tip and marker tip pens as well as highlighters, stamps and dot markers. There was a lot of ghosting on the back side of the page for all of the stationery I tried.
Pros of the Notebook
- Portable size
- Pretty cover design
- Different colored bookmarks
- Pocket folder
- Pen loop
Cons of the Notebook
- Paper is thin – there was a lot of ghosting and bleed through
- Ivory / cream colored paper not bright white
- Pages are not pre-numbered
Would I use this notebook?
No. The cover is really nice, but the paper is way to thin and the page numbers are not pre-printed.
If you like the cover design, it’s very similar to the Scribbles that Matter which does have page numbers, bright white paper and versions with 2 paper thicknesses (120GSM and 160GSM). See this post for my review of these notebooks.
I’ve reviewed dozens of bullet journal notebooks and the ones I gravitate towards the most, are those that have better paper where I don’t have to worry about what pens, markers, highlighters etc. I’m using. If quality paper is also important to you, look for dot grid notebooks with 160 GSM paper. I did a comparison of notebooks with 160 GSM paper (including Scribbles that Matter) in this post.
More notebook reviews:
- Nuuna dot grid notebook (3.5mm grid)
- Amanda Rach Lee (160 GSM paper)
- Dingbats* Notebook for Bullet Journaling Review (super smooth paper!)
Bullet journaling tips:
- 12 monthly bullet journal calendar spreads
- 7 Useful Bullet Journal Tips
- Quick, simple and functional bullet journal decorating tips
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