Sunday, April 17, 2011

My Filofax, My Love

So, I talked briefly about my Filofax, and how I use it, but with this post I'll flush out some more details and add some pictures. Hope you likes it!

This is my Filofax, it is a personal size Cuban Zip in saddle brown:

This is my personal size Cuban Zip
The picture of it is horrible, sorry. With my flash off, it's too dark, with the flash on it reflects on the leather.  But that's actually a good point; the leather on the Cuban is a smooth, shiny piece of heaven. Smells like a new pair of boots...ahhh, delicious!

Inside front of my Filo
This is the inside front, all stuffed chock full of stuff, which is just how I like my Filofaxes, fluffy and stuffy!  I keep two of those Bic 4-color pens, just hooked into the pen loops by their clips so that they are easier to get in and out.

Inside Cover, my Filofax Cuban Zip
This is another picture of the inside front, that shows the pockets better. Under the pen there is a slash type horizontal pocket, and above that is a zippered pocket where I sometimes stash cash.


clear envelopes in the front of my Filofax
Next I keep a clear envelope, a business card holder with pictures of my kids on one side, and frequently used cards on the other, and then quotes and things in two more clear envelopes. Next is that nifty neato sticky note insert from Filofax. I loves it. The small flags are transparent so you can use them to highlight text too; groovy!


clear envelope and sticky notes in my Filofax

My "Must" do sticker on a divider in my Filofax
Next comes my "MUST" do list. I just keep plain note paper behind here and record in red all the to-do's that are non-negotiable. Only the to-do's that are not tied to a specific date go here.  If I need to do something that has to be done on or by a certain date, that goes on my weekly pages. Cute matryoshka stickers are from Ginko papers.

Washi tags as my "dividers between the dividers"
Between three of my dividers (Must, Research, and Need) I have extra dividers that mark things I want to do, things I want to get, and for ideas. This is the place for a "wish list" and ideas for projects, research, etc. Washi tags came from Cute Tape.


My "Need" divider, which is my shopping list
Next is my "Need" divider. This is my shopping list. I also have another Washi tag in the middle of this section for things I want to get.  Right now I have a personal Malden in black on this list...yep, Filo-crack.

My "Books" divider, where I keep track of books I want to get
This is my Books divider, where I keep books I want to get/read.  I should be better about keeping a list of already read books, but I read so much  that most of the time I forget to list the books here.

My "Blog" divider
This is my Blog divider, and I keep blog fodder ideas here, and posts I've already done. (The whole 4 or 5 of them, haha).

Next, I have my Diary pages. first, marked with the standard black ruler, is the month on one page with notes.  These inserts are horizontal, so you have to turn your planner sideways to use them. I actually like this, because the Cuban doesn't lie flat, and that helps to smash it down so I can write without the rings being in my way.

Month on one page with notes
The weekends on this insert are all listed on the right, which is kind of neat, but I hate the way Filofax smooshes your weekends! Some of us have MORE stuff to do on the weekends and need the space!! But all I record here right now are things like bill due dates, days that my work days pay out on, birthdays, days the schools are closed, etc.

Next in my Diary section is my week on two pages that comes standard when you buy the personal size Filofax. I started with these, but quickly out grew the space.  At first I was using a sheet of blank note paper in between for the overflow, but at Imy's suggestion, I bought the day on one page to add.  It has helped, but sometimes I still run out of space to write.  I have begun adding a blank sheet of notepaper in between the daily pages to help with any overflow.  This is working really well for me right now, but I still wonder if the A5 size mightn't have been better?? The grass is always greener, no?

Week on two pages (wotp)
Then next are my day on one page inserts.  Also notice that on the weekly pages I inserted a frosted ruler, and between the daily pages I have a clear ruler. I like these SO much better than the black ones! Not only can you see through them, but they are way more substantial, especially the clear one which is actually hard to move without opening the rings.

Daily pages (dpp)
Covering some personal information is one of those jot pad sheets. These are SPECTACULAR! You can take a quick note, then stick it anywhere in your Filofax. SO handy!

After the diary inserts, I have a Notes tab, and I keep just plain lined paper here, nothing specific.  Then is the Projects tab, which I haven't decided what to do with yet. Maybe affirmations or something.  I'll label it "Project Rori Improvement" or something else fun.  Then is the Information tab, and behind this I keep all my internet program passwords to my blog, FB, Twitter, my web host, my domain registrar, Penzu, email, etc.

After that is the Financial tab, which I should be using, but I'm irresponsible enough to not be. *sheepish grin*

Address sheets
Then is the Address tab. Behind here I keep frequently called numbers, and my new pen pal addresses.  I use the Telephone Numbers inserts here as well as a couple of the regular address ones that come with the Filofax when you buy it.

At the very back, I have a zipper envelope. Since I'm using my Filo as my wallet right now, I have my insurance cards and other wallet essentials in here. In the very back, I have a couple of magazine pictures and articles that I want to keep.

And that's it! Whew! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoy seeing how others use theirs!

13 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I like the matryoshka doll stickies on the dividers and the washi tags, too. I think a Cuban A5 would be very heavy to lug around. My classic sure is!

    Thank you for sharing your set up...sharing some of mine on Flickr is on my summer project list within my household classic A5.

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  2. I love seeing how you use your Filofax!! Awesome tabs, those look great!

    I too struggle with small day spaces in the personal size, but I think you've gone the right direction with the Personal--that A5 size is just too big to carry around everywhere! Personal wins for portability. And the zip is great for keeping it all together! My first Filofax-like binder was a zip-around, and I loved the security.

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  3. Love all your colorful tabs and dividers! And that Cuban is gorgeous!

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  4. @Sandra Thanks! Glad you liked it. Do you carry your Classic with you? Or do you use something else?
    @Laurie I'm so honored you read my blog! Thanks!!
    @thezeitgeistofzoe Thank you! Welcome!!

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  5. Hi Rori, love your blog and YouTube vids. The not enough room per day seems to be a common problem. While at the London meet up a look into Jess' filo showed she used these as her daily diary which are not dated but give two pages per day. Not too pricey either, always a good thing, leaving money for new filo's, he, he. In fact my brother (who I converted to Filofax) had the same complaint so I sent these to him, am still awaiting his feedback though.

    http://www.filofaxusa.com/store/paperessentialsdetails.asp?productId=140

    Thought I might try myself. Hope this helps.

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  6. @Saffy Welcome! Glad to have you here!!
    It does indeed help! Thank you. Problem with those is that I would be too lazy to date all of them, and to buy them for all year would be cost prohibitive for me. BUT, Zoe is using the FC 2ppd in her Personal Malden, I think I might try it and see how it works! Here's her post about it:
    http://thezeitgeistofzoe.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/once-you-go-malden-your-planner-is-scaldin/

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  7. Thanks for sharing your filo! I'm struggling with the page size of the personal as well, and am considering switching to A5. That would mean a new bag to lug around the larger size, but hopefully I could use it as a wallet, so that would be less in the bag... so many options!

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  8. Thanks Rori, will check it out. My work Filo is an A5 with FC inserts in it which I love, almost too much space for me. I just noticed the US ff site has 2ppd, and looks great, strangely not available in U.K. but I would buy if it was.

    http://www.filofaxusa.com/store/diaryrefillsdetails.asp?productId=2416

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  9. Oh! Thanks for sharing how you use your cuban zip! I love your divider stickers - how cute are they???

    Personally, I am devoted to the personal size filofax (other than a couple of minis I bought for the cuteness factor). I go from 1PPD to 2PPD to fill my daily diary needs. However, I need 2PPM tabbed. So this year, I am using the daytimer flavia portable size (portable equals personal) refills. Next year, I am vested in the dayrunner pro Monthly tabbed and 2PagesPerDay- somehow, the filofax diary leaves don't work well for me however much I adore the filofax organizers per se.

    I just came back from a trip to Canada on vacation and used a zipped Hamilton personal size in black. I found that a bit bulky and heavy to carry around though I wanted the zipped binder for safety's sake while traveling out of the country. Oh, I guess the small guide book zipped in there didn't help the weight issue, either....

    It's always so much fun to hear/see how others are using their filofaxes! Thanks for posting!

    P.S. I enjoyed your video posts (on youtube), too!

    ~AspireToBe

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  10. Welcome! Thanks for being here!!

    I saw those Flavia inserts yesterday! They are so pretty! I do miss having pretty dailies (I used to use FC).

    I hear you about the zipper adding security. A couple of days ago I moved back to my Domino to see if it was really the not lying flat that bothered me about my Cuban, or if I just wanted a new Filofax for funsies. It lasted exactly one day because it freaked me out being so open! :O)

    Did you see Zoe's post about using the FC inserts in her Malden?
    http://thezeitgeistofzoe.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/once-you-go-malden-your-planner-is-scaldin/

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  11. I love your updates. I'm inspired by the day on one page and may switch to a personal from an A5. I also was inspired to take pictures of the inside of my filofax. http://mystateofgrace.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/myfilofax/

    I look forward to more updates.

    Grace

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  12. Hi Rori :)
    I know this is an older post but I can't seem to see any of the pictures in it, just broken image icon, and clicking on them takes me to a totally different website.. Just thought I'd mention it.. :)

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  13. Thanks for sharing the Cute Tape link - I made a purchase right away! You mentioned the squished weekends on Filofax - I have a suggestion. One thing that saves writing space is that I write my monthly bills on small colored-but-clear Post-it tapes, for example "Visa 18th." Then I stick in on the 16th of the month (give myself a few days' buffer) and I can still see any writing under it on the page. Once the bill is paid, I move the Post-it to the 16th of the next month. It gets my attention with the color, but I can see through it so it frees up room on the page, and plus I don't have to write in all those bills every month. And I've never forgotten a payment yet! Hope that helps.

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