Philofaxy

Starting over

2012-01-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

Do you ever start completely over with a new Filofax?

Normally when I move over into a new binder, I transfer long-term inserts, information, addresses, and accessories so that I don't have to re-write things that are still current.

But this time when I start my new Aston Filofax, it will be entirely new inside. My plan is to start using it when we move away from Indonesia (which will hopefully be this summer sometime). It will be my all-new Filofax, a fresh start in planning and in life.

I want to make a clean break from this chapter in my life and move forward fresh and new. So I'll have a new diary insert, rewrite my info and address pages, get new maps and even a new sticky notes accessory rather than just transfer over my old ones.

Especially long-time Filofax users, do you always transfer still-current things over from your old Filofax to your new one? Or do you sometimes make a clean break and start completely over with your new Filofax?

Date for your Filofax - Sunday 5 Febuary 2012

2012-01-29T00:00:00.003-05:00


New York	London	Paris	Jakarta

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype.

I'm sure we are gradually getting to know each other's voices, but I will make a point of going 'around the table' to get everyone to introduce themselves this time.

So...When, Where, What, Who and How?

When? - Sunday 5th February from 10am (US East Coast time), 3pm London time, 4 pm Paris time 9pm Jakarta etc. See the clocks at the top of this post to see roughly what time you should be on line.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype.

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones reduces 'echo' on the call.

Who - All of you... connect up with Philofaxy and we will attempt to get as many of us linked in to the audio conference as possible.

How -

Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
Then 'Start Chat', I will then add you in to the chat room.
Then if you request it, I can add you to the audio conference as well. But if you just want to chat via keyboard that's fine. That way it's slightly less hectic for me!

Come and join in the fun, even if you only pop in to say hello...

As with previous round-tables there will also be a parallel text chat room going at the same time as the voice conference.

If you need any assistance setting up Skype, please pop a comment in this post and I will try and help you get one line. Skype is free for computer to computer calls....

Here is my post on how to improve your Skype audio with headphones or a headset.

Hope to be chatting with you on Sunday 5th February 2012.

Filofax 2012 New Range - Part Two

2012-01-28T14:52:00.002-05:00

Following on from part one. Here are the rest of the significant new additions to the range.

The next new addition is the Pennybridge, now this has been available in other markets before (Germany, Denmark etc) It comes in Pocket, Compact and A5 all are zipped in 'leather look' in black and purple. They range in prices of £29, £35 and £49. The A5 comes with an iPad pocket...

The Breast Cancer Campaign organiser, still in pink is now also available in Personal size as well as pocket.

Moving on to the Finsbury, as usual they have phased out colours and added new ones. This year we gain Blue and Yellow. The Finsbury will also be available in Compact size as well as Mini, Pocket, Personal, A5, A4 although the colour availability varies a little depending on the size of the Finsbury.

The Holborn will no longer be available in Zip format, but will be available in Compact format...and in Wine colour.

The Filofax Classic will be available in two new colours Sage and Lilac in Pocket and Compact sizes

The Osterley becomes available in Orange, bright and different!

And finally... the Purple Malden...

Keep going....

A bit more.....

That's it for today... I will try and pick up on some of the other changes later. Once again thanks to Nina for her detailed report from Paperworld 2012

Filofax 2012 New Range - Part One

2012-01-28T14:13:00.002-05:00

Special agent Nina has been at Frankfurt today going around Paperworld 2012. You can read her full report on her blog... but I thought I would share with you some pictures from her 'concealed camera'

So first up is the 'Petal' it will be in Pocket size only and will retail for about £15.

And those of you who will recall the discussions and posts we had about a Union Jack Filofax a few months ago, will be forgiven when you suggest that the idea has been taken and used by Filofax when you see this one... the 'Jack Vintage'.

It will be available in Pocket and Personal size for £17-20.

This next one is the Domino Mix again in Pocket and Personal sizes only it has textured exterior surface. It will sell for between £21 and 24.

The Swift is the replacement for the Songbird, and it is fabric covered and comes in Pocket and Personal sizes with a price of between £28 and £34

That's the news for today... more coming up tomorrow hopefully....

Web Finds - 28 January 2012

2012-01-28T00:00:00.009-05:00

Another busy week for me, but I still had time to dig out these posts for your enjoyment.

After Kodak, Can Old Brands Survive by Re-inventing Themselves? - More than just a logo << Philofaxy gets a link!
The Malden Sage continues - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
New Filos and plans for them - Bluebonnet reads
Filofax Friday - Siena Setup - Cupcakes and Cadenzas
A Clean Slate - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
Download a perpetual calendar page maker for your Filofax- My Life All in One Place
My funked up Domino - Rapunzel's World
Filofax for the Future - Penfountain Blog
Oh Cavendish - Bluebonnet Reads
Contemplating a new Filofax set up - Bluebonnet Reads
How to make dreams come true - Susannah Conway
Filofax partners with Alice Temperley to launch new collection during LFW - Diary Daily
Organise your projects - Day Timer Blog
The Postman didn't have to ring twice - Filofax Fixation
Filofax Monthly Planner - My Life All in One Place
Paper World 2012 - Chaotic Perfectionist
Filofax Do-over - Strickmuse
Your blog post could appear here next week... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Enjoy

Filofax UK - Free Delivery

2012-01-27T07:34:00.000-05:00

Filofax UK have announced Free Postage and Packing until the end of January. Click on the graphic below.

It's also the last week of their 50% off Sale. Grab them while you can....Pockets in Malden, Finchley and Deco's all at half price.

Free For All Friday - No. 167

2012-01-27T00:00:00.001-05:00

So what changes have you made to your set up that you are finding that are working well for you? One of my success stories is moving my Blog Calendar to A5 size, it's a Google Calendar Month to a Page format printed on to A5 paper and punched.

It works great, it's tucked in to the end of my planner section and I flip to it when I'm planing and dating future posts. It originally started life on A4 size sheets but I downsized it to A5 and it's still working well.

But as it's Friday feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.

Tickler Filofax

2012-01-26T03:26:00.000-05:00

Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of a Tickler File. This is a set of file folders, each labeled with a number 1-31, corresponding to the days of the month. Each day you look in that day's file to see if there are any papers you need that day. So if you have a concert to attend on the 15th, you put the tickets into the file labeled "15" so you know where to find them when you need them.

I, and other people I know, use a similar system in our Filofax diary pages. For example, last February we went to our friends' wedding. I wrote our hotel information, reservation numbers, address and phone number of the hotel, and directions to the hotel on a notes page. I put this notes page on my Filofax rings between the diary pages of the date we would be there to make it easier to find when I needed it, instead of buried behind a tab somewhere.

I have an expat friend who keeps her list of things to buy the next time she's home in the UK on her Filofax rings in the pages of her diary at the date she will be home. That way when she is in that time and place, literally, her list will be there.

Does anyone else use this method of putting reminders and information on the rings in your Filofax diary pages at the date you need it?

Musing for a Wednesday....

2012-01-25T00:00:00.041-05:00

To say I'm short of ideas today would be a little bit of an understatement... ok let me get the excuses out of the way. I've been busy with a few non-Philofaxy projects, some of them payment type projects some pro-bono ones, as usual, more of the later than the former... but that's life!

In terms of Filofax news we are in a little bit of a lull awaiting announcements which will start to appear in the public domain from about the end of the month and then hopefully through February. Filofax are at a trade show in Frankfurt next week, so most of their 2012 range will be on display there I would think.

You will have seen the 'Temperley Teaser' which I've seen reported else where as being priced £379 and £399, there are two sizes and two designs we do know that... and the 'inflated' price is mainly because it's a 'limited edition'

But it got me chuckling when I saw our popular posts list in the side bar. There was my post from last week on Filofax News, sat next to the other post about dividers... You won't be seeing old chocolate box dividers in your Temperley Special Filofax now will you!!! How much am I bid for these colourful chocolate boxes...

I don't wish to comment until I have seen an actual example of these organisers before I make a firm comment on 'are they worth it' However, I've received some 'material samples' for both of the models, and I think they will be quite stylish, but I'm not sure how robust in everyday use they will be. Time will tell.

I would also like to publicly thank you for being such good sports about the part 1 to last weeks News story, I was in stitches of laughter when I saw some of the comments and the barbs throw at me at the time for leaving you all hanging at the end of 'story'. I had given my brief outline to my dear wife Alison to enhance it a bit and suddenly the idea came in to my head of not saying anything about the news! Yes it was cruel... but funny when you think back... and yes I know I won't be able to pull that stunt for a while!

The other thing I'm trying to sort out at the moment is a date for the next meet up in London, this is just a case of finding time in my schedule sometime in the Spring. So look out for announcements soon I hope.

As usual any Guest Posts are welcome... please send them in to philofaxy at gmail dot com Our popular series of posts of Readers Under The Spotlight is also open for new interviewees, email us if you would like to go under the spotlight.

Free For All Tuesday No 51

2012-01-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

It is Tuesday, so fire away with any Filofax related questions you have... and hopefully there will be more answers than questions!

Poll: Business or Social?

2012-01-22T17:36:00.001-05:00

A simple question really... What is the primary use of your Filofax organiser Business or Social?

Please vote in the poll in the side bar.

New to Philofaxy?

2012-01-22T00:00:00.035-05:00

Welcome to Philofaxy.

If you are new to the site or you have been here for a while, this post is a way to show you around so you get the most from the site.

As you might have seen there is a lot of information on here and you might have problems remembering where everything is, so we hope to be able to help you out with how to find things to get the most out of the site.

So looking at the Home page you are on now, below the banner you will see: Home, About, FAQ etc

Home: Takes you back to the start page from where ever you are on the site, clicking on the banner does the same.

About: How to contact us at Philofaxy and some background on the contributors.

FAQ: This is a good place to look for the simple often asked questions. We try to up date it from time to time to reflect the current topical questions.

Files: This the home for all our downloadable template files which you are welcome to customise to your own needs or just print them off as they are.

Links: Links to lots of blogs and other Filofax related sites.

Suppliers: Looking for a Filofax or inserts or accessories, then this page is a good place to start.

Ad Spot: This is our readers advert page, you can place a wanted or for sale advert for your Filofax goods here free of charge. However, we do recommend donating to one of our favourite charities, but it's based on an honesty system, we don't check up on who has made donations and who hasn't. This page is great because you are buying from people that do understand the Filofax range unlike some Ebay sellers...

All Stars: The Philofaxy All Stars... a group of readers who have done guest posts on each others blogs not all Filofax related, but a great read anyway.

Flickr: An overview to the Philofaxy Flickr group where you can share pictures of your Filofax and there is a small discussion group there too.

Searching Philofaxy - With in excess of 1000 posts on Philofaxy spread over six years, finding exactly the information you want could be quite a task... however we do have some tools to help you:

Search - Pop a key word in to the search box in the sidebar and the search tool will find all of the posts with that keyword in it.
Labels - Further down the sidebar you will find the label cloud again this will find all the posts with those labels on the posts. We try to label all posts, although some of the earlier ones are unlabelled... another job still to be done!

Subscribing to Philofaxy

RSS - You can add Philofaxy to your favourite RSS reader such as Google Reader.
Email - If you want to receive each post by email, pop your email in to the subscribe by email box and follow the instructions. This service is provided by Feedburner. They will send you a verification email which you have to click a link in to confirm your email address in the usual way.

Philofaxy on the Web

Facebook - You will find our Facebook page here
Twitter - We are very active on Twitter as @philofaxy and our experimental newsfeed @philofaxynews
Flickr - As mentioned above there is a Flickr group for sharing your Filofax photos and ideas
Linking back to Philofaxy - If you would like to link back to Philofaxy from your website or blog we have a 'badge' with the exact code which you will find at the bottom of the side bar.

Regular Posts on Philofaxy

Free For All Tuesday - Questions and Answers on any Filofax related topic
Free For All Friday - General discussion, open house for anything Filofax related
Webfinds - Each weeks round up of other Filofax related posts on the web

Other Philofaxy Events

Skype Roundtable Voice and Text Chats - once a month we have a Skype voice conference, this is open to anybody to join in. It is an open agenda and we don't only get to talk about Filofax things. People taking part can be spread around the world, so it can be quite educational as well as good fun. Look out for announcements on the blog about when the next one will be. Generally they are the first Sunday of the month, but they can move slightly if this conflicts with public holidays or Steve's travel arrangements!
Meet Ups - We have held several very successful meet ups, they vary in size from as little as two or three people up to twelve people, these have been held in London, New York, France, Holland, with other ones planned for other countries around the world.
Although meeting 'people off the internet' can sometimes seem a little odd, we all have at least one interest in common and everyone I've met at all the different meet ups have been great people to sit and chat with.

That was a bit of a lightening tour around the site and some of our activities. Please do add a comment on to posts, we love to get feedback and we do read all the comments.

If there's something you haven't understood or there's a topic we haven't covered that is Filofax related please get in touch with us and we will do our best to respond to your email within a day or so.

Web Finds 21 January 2012

2012-01-21T00:00:00.011-05:00

So another week passes by, but still a great number of excellent posts for you to read and enjoy. I can't think of a suitable excuse today... so just grab a tea, a coffee, a wine or a beer, put your feet up and enjoy!

A Filofax that isn't an organiser! - Bagsey - Bags, can you ever have enough?
Compact Calendar - David Seah
2011 Archived - Well Planned Life
A Filofax Swing Pad you can make at home - My Life All in One Place
What's in your planner - The Crazy Suburban Mom
A Stationery Love Affair. Moleskine. Filofax - Oh Panda
Filofax Friday - Cupcakes and Cadenzas
On being a notebook polygamist - From down the well
Cheap hole reinforcements - This is My life
insert witty blog post title here - Filofax Fixation
Download a monthly planner for your Filofax - My Life All in One Place
Using my Filofax Flex - Planet Millie
What's in a name - Filomaniac
Pocket Filofax - We're gonna need a bigger boat
A diary system - colourliving
Random Filofax Musings - Filofax Fixation
Tickle Me, Filofax - The Crazy Suburban Mom
How is your 2012 organisation going? - Heather Holistics
Tweaks to the Filofax set up - Paper Pens Ink
Filofacsmile - Filofax Fixation
Your blog post could appear here next week... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Enjoy

Please note: Google have recently made a change to Blogger/Blogspot blogs. They have introduced a new type of comment set up.

You will recognise the new set up if you see 'Reply' below each comment. It's a nice idea... except if someone links to your post, like we do above, for some reason the link takes you straight to the comments and not the top of the post.

If your Blogger/Blogspot blog is behaving like this, go in to the Dashboard, then 'Settings', then click on comments 'Comments' and change 'Comment Form Placement' to 'Full Page' rather than 'Embedded below post' and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Save Settings.

That should cure the problem until Google fix the issue.

Free for All Friday No. 166

2012-01-20T00:01:00.003-05:00

Only connect...what does that mean? The prose and the passion...the future and the past...the sacred and profane?

I've always used my Filofax to schedule and prepare for the future, but I believe that most of a Filofax's value may lie in preserving and honoring the past.

Do you usually write things down before the fact or after?

What's on your mind (or Filofax) this Friday?

Dividers with a difference

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

We have seen some very creative and beautiful section dividers from different blogs and websites in the past. I have to be honest I'm not that sort of creative person really, crafty but not in a craft sense!

So I've been looking around for some alternative things to make dividers out of, that would be different to the plain cream ones, that would make use of items that are no longer used.

One idea I saw on someone else's site was to use old road atlas pages cut to size then laminated to give them a bit more 'stiffness' I might try this with my French road atlas when I replace it soon. I would most probably pick the pages from our surrounding area which will mean the divider serves two purposes, and I like things like that.

So that was one idea. But at Christmas sitting around with the family I started to think there has to be other ideas that we can try... and there it was stirring at me....

A big stack of chocolate, 7 bars in fact, all neatly packed in their own individual boxes. So what do you do after you have eaten all that chocolate? Well you recycle the boxes.... but I had other ideas... Pull the box apart... trim it to size and punch it and you get this:

A perfect, functioning divider. and the folding bit on the right acts as a tab that can fold out of the way, it can be labelled, trimmed to a tab shape or left as it is. Oh and the chocolate was very nice apart from the milk chocolate with lime... I swapped it for some plain instead!

This week I also received in the post a lovely Vogue desk calendar from our friends at City Organiser. Each week is a different picture taken from the magazine. The picture and the calendar part are perforated, so as each week passes you tear off the picture and the calendar bit to reveal a new week.

Here are the first two weeks pictures, which you can send as postcards.

But instead of using them as postcards. I've punched them and they make great personal size dividers.

These are just some of my simple ideas, but once you start looking around your own home it is surprising what there is that you can reuse like this.

Philofaxy by Email...

2012-01-18T12:00:00.005-05:00

If you subscribe by email to Philofaxy, there were problems with the RSS feed early this morning. I ended up having to delete the feed and recreate it. Unfortnately this meant that all the subscriber details were deleted as well.

So please resubscribe to the feed using the box in the side bar. I've tested it out and it appears to be working again.

Filofax 2012 News... Chapter 2

2012-01-18T05:00:00.001-05:00

I laid the pages on my desk in front of me......

Is it safe to come out yet? Yes that was a cruel thing to do this morning wasn't it.....

OK let's get down to business... what will you see this year... not every single detail, but some of the 'headlines' that I'm sure you will be interested in...

So new to the range.... first off... Purple Malden in Mini, Pocket, Personal, A5... no need to read any further is there.... oh you want to know what else was in the envelope...

How about a Raspberry Finsbury in A4 size, should brighten up that end of the range. Some other new Finsbury colours such as yellow and blue in all the popular sizes.

Some brighter sounding colours for the Classic in Sage and Lilac. Osterley brown is replaced by orange.

This year is the year the Compact size expands in to more styles and colours, with compacts being made available at all price points in the range. Overall the new colours sound as if things are brighter and more colourful compared to the 2011 range.

Now we have heard about some of the outgoing colours and models, some quite short lived styles, the Chameleon will be made extinct this year. Also surprisingly the Slimline in Finsbury and Cuban will be going.. replaced by the new Compacts I suppose...

Also good bye Kendal, it has I suppose had a long run... Likewise a lot of the Zipped organisers are set to disappear from the range.

Maldens in Vintage Pink, Black and Grey are also due to bow out this year. Ochre lives on.

Short lived life for the Regency and Enigma.

As usual some Finsbury colours disappear to be replaced by others, like wise the Domino, and Apex...

There are some new models... but my 'insider' wasn't able to grab any digital pictures... so we will have to wait for details of that they look like... he muttered something about sending off his film to Kodak to get it processed.. so 1950's....

As usual as we get any Filofax news we will of course share it with you.....

Finally, I would like to thank my dear wife Alison for polishing up my basic story line and developing it in to that cliff hanging suspense thriller you had to enjoy/endure this morning... but I will take the credit/blame for the way it finished... by not telling you anything!

Thank you for being such great sports...

Oh just one more thing.....

Filofax 2012 News

2012-01-18T00:00:00.035-05:00

A side-street cafe, dusk falling rapidly. A man approached my table. His wide-brimmed felt hat was pulled down hiding his face, his dark trench-coat cinched into his waist. He turned his head left and quickly right, as if fearing somebody, or something, was following him. He hesitated, but with one more glance backwards, slid into the seat opposite me.

'Mr Philofaxy?'

'Yes.'

'I have something for you,' he whispered.

He reached inside his coat and produced a large plain brown envelope. He glanced down at it. His hand was suspended in the air, as if reluctant to take the next step. He placed it on the table, his hand still on the envelope. The tendons on the back of his arched hand cast little shadow valleys in the subdued light. With a jerky movement, he thrust the envelope across the table.

'This envelope contains information vital to the well-being of your community. I cannot over-emphasise how important it is. But you must be careful.'

I pulled the flap open and inserted my fingers into the envelope.

'No!' he hissed at me. 'You can't read it here. You never know who's watching this cafe.' His eyes darted around and settled back to me. 'Take it home to read. But shut the curtains and bolt your door.'

I looked at him, trying to guess at what was behind his dramatic manner. What could be such a secret that it made him so frightened?

Almost to reassure him, I smiled and replied with a simple 'I understand.'

He touched the brim of his hat, looked around once more, stood up and made for the door. I followed him to the entrance, but when I looked up and down the street lit by dull orange lights, I could see nothing.

I looked at the envelope. It could only contain a few sheets of paper. I folded it and thrust it into my pocket. I finished the last of my coffee, dropped some coins in the saucer and got to my feet. I tried to act unconcerned, even throwing a quick smile at the waitress, but my hand trembled. Once out of the door, I hurried around the corner where I'd parked my car in the shadow of a warehouse. As I stood in front of the corrugated steel door, I wanted to rip the envelope open. I looked up and down. The street was deserted. But I remembered what my contact had said. After the risk he'd taken, I had to tamp down my curiosity. If I gave in now, somebody could so easily come along and snatch it out of my hand.

I only drove through one red light. My mind was so full of thoughts chasing each other that I didn't see it. The tyres screeched in protest as I braked hard on my driveway. I ran across the gravel, fumbling with my front door key, dropped it, but managed to open the lock at the second attempt. I slid my coat off and left it lying in a heap in the hallway. In my office, I locked the door, threw myself into the chair and opened the envelope.

I read the pages inside wide eyed..... the details of the new 2012 Filofax range......

Free For All Tuesday No. 50

2012-01-17T00:00:00.003-05:00

So what questions do you have for us this week?

And for our new readers... Firstly Welcome.. and feel at home and feel free to ask any Filofax questions, this is a regular feature every Tuesday.

Fire away.

Poll results: How many weeks of diary pages do you keep in your Filofax?

2012-01-16T20:12:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in this poll! Here are the results:

How many weeks of diary pages do you keep in your Filofax? (252 total votes):

Less than 1 month 11 (4%)

1-3 months 45 (17%)

4-6 months 41 (16%)

7-12 months 130 (51%)

More than 12 months 25 (9%)

I was really surprised that so many people keep 7-12 months' worth of diary pages in their Filofax at one time!

Phone Directory

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

So what do you do when the new telephone directory turns up on your door step or in your mail box?

Most people I expect grab the old one and put it in the recycling..... you do recycle don't you??

Anyway, during my meet up with Nikki last month here in France, she showed me some things she had in her A5 Filofax that had come straight out of the old phone directory.

When I looked at our recently replaced phone directory there was a great map in the back cover of the area which I will salvage. Some of the introduction pages include information from local government agencies, lists of useful phone numbers etc.

Now some of this information was printed on the very thin paper used for phone directories, but I will copy Nikki's idea of laminating those pages with a laminating machine and then punching them to fit my Filofax, this will make sure the pages don't tear when the pages are turned.

UK vs French paper catalogues

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

I realise that the paper catalogues have been out for several months now. But it was only last month during the meet up in Poitiers that I managed to pick up a French edition of the 2011/12 catalogue.

At first I thought they would be the same, just in French, but no they have some slightly different products, which we more or less know from looking on the website. However, in the catalogue although they have used the same photos etc they have ordered them differently. In some cases different colours are available compared to UK, but again this is obvious from the website. The other oddity was that the French catalogue doesn't include prices on the pages, were as the UK one does.

I think the few extra pages in the UK catalogue (78 pages vs 72 pages) can be accounted for by differences in stock that is available in both countries.

In terms of organisers. The UK has the 2012 Olympic range, France still have the Sketch, which I think was discontinued in UK recently. France also has the Luxe and the Dakota. Overall UK carries 5 more designs than France. Although in website terms I suspect there is more of a difference, the Deco doesn't appear in either catalogue! So it must be on it's last year I would think.

Reading both catalogues side by side can be a bit mind boggling! It makes you wonder what we are likely to see next year.

Although the Flex isn't mentioned in the paper catalogue. Looking on the Filofax French website, for 2012 they have introduced a slightly different format Week on Two Page diary insert for the Flex, with appointment times and horizontal lining.! So we are also going to be faced with differences in those product ranges as well as normal Filofax products...

I think I need a rest!

Web Finds 14 January 2012

2012-01-14T00:00:00.026-05:00

Well another week has zipped by. I've been submerged with my head deep in another unpaid project for another organisation all day, so it's been great to finally finish that one and emerge to do some things on Philofaxy that I love and enjoy doing.

So what have we discovered this week. Lots of 2012 set up posts still coming through naturally.

My home binder a5 pink finsbury filofax (think flylady) tabs 1-2 - Loving My Filofax
Bargain Filofax Post-It tabs and a hack to go with them - My Life All in One Place
Another Filofax cover! - Hooked
Filofaxes, clutter and no wonder my cortisol level was through the roof - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Double Memories - Write a novel? I must be mad!!!
Finchley Filofax - The Young Grasshopper
Paper Pens and Ink is one today - Paper Pens and Ink (Happy Birthday!)
Pretty Filofax Dividers - Fantail Designs
My 2012 Filo system finalized! (For sure this time) - The Crazy Life of J
Filo pages anomalies - Filofax Fixation
Filofax Template - Lancashire Cat
My 2012 Set up - Whimsicality
Make your own notebook paper and inserts - This is My Life!
Getting Philofaxy about the Filofax from France - This French Life
2012 Set Up - Well Planned Life
London 2012 Sporting Icons - Filomaniac
My Filofax Family Portrait - Rapunzel's World
The colour purple.... and Mulberry - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Organise Daily Repeat Tasks - Daytimer Blog
Filofax Love/Getting Organised Part 1 - Love Me and My Ego
Filofax 2011 Set Up - Within Dreams We Live
A new resolution in organisation - Never Plain Jane
Introducing Dinky the personal Deco - Rapunzel's World
Printing fold out page for Filofax Personal - My Life All in One Place
The Vintage Pink Malden Debate - Rapunzel's World
Filofax Dividers - Time2Craft
My Filofax - Sunshine Stamping
Your blog post could appear here next week... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 165

2012-01-13T00:07:00.013-05:00

Happy Friday the 13th! I was born on a Friday the 13th so I don't think of them as unlucky, but if you are superstitious, watch out today!

Now that we are a couple of weeks into the year, and you're back to your usual schedule, how is your Filofax setup working for you? Swimmingly? In need of a few tweaks? Total overhaul? Going back to what you used before?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss anything Filofax-related.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Journey Back In Time - Part 2

2012-01-12T00:00:00.004-05:00

So after yesterday's first half of our journey back in time, we continue today with the second half of our journey.

Thank you for all your feed back on yesterday's post, I'm not sure if we have come to a definitive conclusion yet on the date of the catalogue, but for the point of discussion I will use '1937'.

So consider this for a moment, irrespective of the date of the catalogue. Compare the price of an organiser with the price of a punch. The punch is just about the most expensive thing in the catalogue at £2, yet a leather organiser is £1/7/6 or £1.375 for 1 inch rings. Now in today's money the punch from Filofax will cost you £27.75 which would make the organiser in today's money about £19.08

Even my Winchester back in 1985 cost more than £19.00, remember the organisers where sold empty during the period of the catalogue and during the 1980's.

So what has changed... The cost of making a punch back in '1937' must have been considerably higher than today, I suspect the parts although made on a machine where made by a skilled metal worker and assembled by hand. These days and looking at the way the Filofax punch is now made the parts are most probably made using automated machinery. So that might account for some of the changes in price.... there is of course that horrible word 'profit' I suspect the profit margins on today's organisers are higher than they were back in say '1937'

The catalogues in the 1980's were not that different to this one, higher prices of course! But they also listed all the forms and inserts, quite baffling some of them. I will cross check the list against the ones shown in 'Filofax Facts' although that book was published in 1988, it will be interesting to see the differences. But there has definitely been quite a decline in the number of different inserts available.

If more information comes to light about the history and date of the catalogue I will be sure to let you know.

Filofax France and Italy 50% off sale

2012-01-11T14:45:00.004-05:00

I hate to start an enabling frenzy, but Filofax France is having a 50% off sale. Don't say I didn't warn ya:

Click here to go to the sale items

And Filofax Italy as well
Click here to go to the sale items

A Journey Back In Time - Part 1

2012-01-11T00:00:00.010-05:00

So today I would like you to join me in a journey back in time, to a time a long, long time ago, before I was born and maybe before some of your parents were born even. Gosh, that is a long time ago!

But before we can go on this journey together back through time, we need to understand how money worked in UK before 1971. After 1971, UK money was decimalised so now we have 100 pence make one £1. Before 1971 UK used pounds shillings and pence. There was 240 pennies in each pound but more commonly it was thought of as twelve pennies equals one shilling, twenty shillings equals one pound. So when we go back in time together and you see £.s.d., it stands for pounds shillings and pence

How amounts were written in the past is also different. So if you see 20/- that means 20 shillings, which equals £1 (one pound) 1/6 is one shilling and six pence or 7.5 new pence (£0.075).

As a young 12 year-old the changeover to decimal coinage was quite a change. You can read more about it here. But in actual fact, as you will all know, the decimal system is a lot easier to use as long as you forget about the pre-decimal system and stop converting back in to it.

So how are we going to travel in to the past, Steve? And what has all this got to do with Filofax... Have you been drinking too much of that French wine again.... ???..... Just stand by, I'm getting there. OK? But I needed to prepare you all for this shock... I could have just taken you back in time and said, 'Right here we are' and you wouldn't have known when we were!

Now, to get back in time we aren't going to need a time machine made from a modified DeLorean DMC-12, the vehicle's time displacement being powered by plutonium, which supplies 1.21 gigawatts of energy to a device they call the "flux capacitor". No, we can do it with a simple desk top document scanner!

So now I need to introduce you to my able assistant... Mrs M or 'The Hand of Philofaxy' to some people, without whose help we wouldn't be on this journey back in time. You see, Mrs M was sorting through an archive box of hers the other day and in it she discovered something that I last saw in the late 1980's - a catalogue for Filofax dating back some considerable time. I thought this had been lost completely so I was very pleased to see it again. How old the catalogue is we aren't quite sure.

So what you are about to see are scanned in images for the pages from the catalogue. Just click on the pictures to see a larger version of each one.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see Part 2 of this journey back in time!

Free For All Tuesday No. 49

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

With the posts about punches and hole spacings in the last week or so I suspect you are either more puzzled or now up to date on that topic for a while! But what ever your Filofax question is, this is the best place to ask it...

Fire away.

New poll: how many weeks of diary pages do you keep in your Filofax?

2012-01-09T07:53:00.000-05:00

Please vote in the new poll at the left!

Seems to me that most people keep only a few weeks or months of diary pages in their Filofax, and rotate out used pages regularly. Especially people who use daily pages need to keep their binder at a reasonable thickness and can't keep too many weeks in there, especially if they have a lot of other pages and tabs.

Whenever I use a Filofax as my diary/ planner, I like to have as many months in as possible, usually 4-6 months past and at least 6 months future. One of the things I've always liked about using a Filofax as a planner is this ability to constantly see back and forward no matter what time of the year it is.

So what about you? Do you keep only the immediate future diary pages in your Filofax? Or like me do you like to have many months' worth of planning pages in at once?

Please vote to tell us how many weeks of your main diary pages (weekly or daily) you like to have in your Filofax at a time!

The Great Organiser Hole Spacing Conspiracy

2012-01-09T00:00:00.106-05:00

A dramatic title to this post I know... but when you read on you will begin to wonder!

The focus of this post will of course be Filofax organisers and what hole spacing they use. As well as hole spacing I will include notes on paper size, so you will at least have the information for Filofax if you come across another brand of insert and you can ask them the right questions with regards to size and hole spacing.

Before we get in to this too deeply, here is an explanation of what I mean by 'hole spacing' and a picture might save a few words!

This is the dimensions for a European 'Two Ring' binder, in this case the hole spacing is 80mm the drawing also shows the tolerance of ±0.5 mm on that dimension allowed for in the ISO standard for hole punches.... yes such a thing exists!

Filofax Mini

The Mini size uses 5 rings each spaced by 19mm or ¾ inch. The paper size is 67 mm x 105 mm.

Filofax Pocket

The Pocket size uses 6 rings each each spaced by 19mm or ¾ inch. The paper size is 81mm x 120 mm. A number of other brands use this size and spacing.

Filofax Personal

Filofax Personal size is a very common size, it uses 6 rings split in to two groups of 3 rings. The two groups are spaced by 50 mm or 2 inches with the three rings having the common 19 mm or ¾ inch spacing between them. The paper size is 95mm by 171 mm.

Whilst the hole spacing is a common feature of other brands, be aware that some brands use paper wider than 95mm, this can cause problems especially in the compact and slimline Filofax organisers, which with their smaller ring sizes have narrower covers. Try before you buy... is the best advice... or if you are buying on line, establish the exact size of the paper or the tabs and make a mock up of your chosen size.

Filofax A5
Filofax A5 uses paper that is 148 mm by 210 mm, exactly the size of European ISO standard A5 paper. However the company chose for what ever reason to use 6 rings, again like the personal size split in to two groups of three rings. The two groups are spaced by 70 mm or 2¾ inch with the three rings having the common 19 mm or ¾ inch spacing between them.

Now looking at other brands, it all gets very different to Filofax, so much so that re-punching some of these other sizes can turn your diary insert in to something resembling a Swiss cheese.

Quo Vadis Timer 21 is A5 paper size with six holes, but they use the same hole spacing as Filofax Personal size! Yes it took me a while to realise that! So QV Timer 21 pages need to be re-punched but the Filofax holes fall neatly between the original QV holes.

Time Manager International TMI like Quo Vadis use Filofax Personal hole spacing in their A5 products, but only 4 rings not six, they miss out the middle ring of each 3 ring group. So they have 38mm and 50mm spacing Again re-punching their inserts results in having 12 evenly spaced holes.

Franklin Covey and Day Timer in the USA use a page size of 140mm x 216 mm (5.5 x 8.5 inches) which is close to A5 in size (slightly narrower, but slightly taller), but the hole spacing is very different to Filofax. Firstly they use a 7 ring binder, but ignore the middle ring! If you then think of their insert as being 6 holes split into two groups of three. The two groups are spaced by 38mm or 1.5 inches with the three rings being space by 1 inch (25mm)

Punching one of these to fit a Filofax A5 will result in pages that look something like this:

As you might be able to see, the top and bottom holes of the row of 7 holes are very close to the top and bottom holes of A5 Filofax, in fact when punched those holes become oval in shape.

Mulberry for reasons best known to them, use A5 paper, but their 6 rings are spaced in to two groups of 3 rings. The two groups are spaced by 45 mm or 1¾ inch with the three rings having the common 12 mm or ½ inch spacing between them. As we have previously mentioned Mulberry sizes on all of their binders are different to Filofax, a previous Philofaxy post gives all of the details for this brand.

Filofax A4
As previously discussed the A4 size is 297 mm by 210 mm a standard European ISO paper size, the four holes are each spaced by 80 mm, again which is an extension to the ISO standard spacing (ISO 838) Nearly all binders in Europe that use A4 paper use this four hole spacing so finding alternatives shouldn't be an issue.

In the USA, Day Timer sell a 'Folio' size which is 216mm x 280mm (11 inches by 8.5 inches) which is a fraction wider than A4 but shorter. This also uses 7 rings, again if you ignore the middle hole. You then get two groups of three rings. The two groups are spaced by 5.5 inches with each ring spaced by 1 inch. None of these 7 holes aligns with the Filofax 4 holes.

Putting all of the hole spacings together in to one detailed picture I came across this graphic below. US 7 rings is the Day Timer/Franklin Covey 'standard'

I hope things are a little clearer now... if not... please ask questions in the comments and I will try and respond.

Filofax Future Products

2012-01-08T00:00:00.018-05:00

We have often shared our thoughts on what we would like to see in the the Filofax product range in the past. Filofax will soon be announcing their 2012 range, although I have no idea yet what will be in that range, we have had a few clues as to what won't be in the range.

But what would you like to see in 2013 and beyond?

Personally I wouldn't concentrate my suggestions on organisers too much, apart from may be some colour suggestions, and may be some additional ring size requests (A true A5 slimline.... and may be a 30mm Personal Malden).

My requests would mainly be on inserts, better quality paper, better availability of diary inserts from abroad, or some new designs of diary inserts, may be a some more specialist inserts that are aimed at GTD.

So what are your suggestions?

Drop them in to the comments in to this post, or if you want email them to philofaxy[at]gmail[dot]com or if you are on the Skype chat today, I will take your suggestions verbally and I will compile our 'wish list' and make sure it gets to Filofax UK, I can't say how much notice they will take of our suggestions... but if we don't try then we will never find out.

Web Finds 7 January 2012

2012-01-07T00:00:00.046-05:00

So here are some I found this week in between finishing off the mince pies and Christmas Cake and taking down the Christmas Tree.

My 2012 set-up - Paper Pens Ink
2012 Filofax Set up - Shazza's Blog
Filofax perfect pens! - This is My life
2012 Overkill - Filofax Fixation
2012 looking forward to - Paper Lovestory
Introducing the Filofax - Lancashire Cat
Reflect and look back - A Daisy Chain Dream
My December Malden set up with Day-timer diary - Rapunzel's World
The Filofax personal Domino review - Rapunzel's World
Filo Dashboard...and ink and stickies - Filofax fixation
Happy New Year and Share your Filofax memories- Daximillian - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
My Filofax keeping me organised - Vintage Giraffe
Return of the Filofax shopping list - My Life All in One Place Philofaxy version here
Rolled over to 2012 - Filofax Fixation
Download your free page-per-day 2012 A4 or A5 Filofax diary - My Life All in One Place
Filofaxes and Pens, you can point and laugh if you want... The Crazy Suburban Mom
The Filofax Personal Deco in Ebony - Rapunzel's World
2012 Set up and new dividers - Blue Bonnet Reads
Filofax pt 2 - Lancashire Cat
Domino Love - LJ's Blog of Stuff
Filofax for 2012 - Re-Psych
My Planning System - Paper Pens Ink
Share your Filofax memories - Han - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
End of Year Stock Check 2011 done... - LJ's Blog of Stuff
Little sisters Filofax hello kitty dividers - Loving My Filofax
Filofax Friday: New Year New Start - Typecast
Filofax Friday - The Start of a New Year - Cupcakes and Cadenzas
2012 Filofax Setup - Life...considered, planned, organised
Your blog post could appear here next week... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Also:

Yearbooks
Philofaxy posts in electronic book format for you to download, print out, put on your portable device and carry around or on your eReader for late night reading. Just send the pdf files to your Kindle email address and you will always have something to read!

2011 PDF Format

2011 Q1 7.2 MB
2011 Q2 6.6 MB
2011 Q3 8.6 MB
2011 Q4 7.7 MB

ePub Format

2011 Q1 4.9 MB
2011 Q2 4.5 MB
2011 Q3 6.6 MB
2011 Q4 5.8 MB

As you can see some of the files are still quite big, so please be patient downloading them. All previous years are also available in the Files area.

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No 164

2012-01-06T00:00:00.011-05:00

So the end of the first week of 2012, I hope you have recovered from the holidays and festivities.. Taking down the decorations and the tree tonight this being '12th night' So that is Christmas done for another year..... But it's the start of another exciting Philofaxy year.

Have you made any changes to your Filofax set up this year? Tell us about it or volunteer to write a guest post for us....

But as this is Friday please feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.

A5 Flex Diary > A5 Filofax

2012-01-05T00:00:00.012-05:00

Could a Flex A5 Diary be adapted to fit an A5 Filofax?

I have seen this idea mentioned a couple of times in the comments on previous diary posts. So I thought I would give it a try.

I have a Flex A5 July 2011-July 2012 diary from when I did the review earlier this year. The nice thing about the Flex diaries is that they use cotton cream paper, which of course isn't available in Filofax A5 size.

A Flex of course is a bound book so getting this in to a Filofax was I going to be brutal/destructive with no way back....if you are in any way squeamish you had better look away now....

So first of all I had to take the Flex Diary taken apart.

First of all I removed the cover, by using a craft knife at the join between the cover and the contents.

As you can see the book nature of the Flex is retained even though the cover has partially been removed.

It then splits down in to five 'booklets' which are stitched, but the threads are easy to pull out and then the pages are then in loose leaf form.

Measuring the pages they are exactly A5 size (210 x 148 mm) so there's not additional margin in the middle. I then used my trimmer to cut the A4 pages in to two to form the A5 pages.

Punching the pages with an A5 punch you can see in the above scan that the punched holes do go through some of the content on some of the pages such as this year planner. Although this isn't too bad I suppose.

On diary pages the punched holes don't cause any problems, so if you only wanted the diary pages from the Flex in the A5 Filofax then this would work fine.

If you are going to carry out similar surgery on a Flex diary can I please ask that you do it carefully, sharp craft knives are dangerous things in in-experienced hands, and don't leave them around where children can get to them.

Cuban Zip Review

2012-01-04T00:00:00.010-05:00

Firstly, thank you to Filofax UK for supplying me with the Cuban Zip for review.

The zipped range of organisers from Filofax are not high in numbers. In a recent post I asked for peoples thoughts on zip or clasp closures. As you will see from the comments some people like the extra security that a zip organiser gives them whilst others prefer the 'speed' of being able to open and access their information.

The point of this review is to look at the Cuban Zip in detail and pick out the differences and the features contained in this particular model/design.

The Cuban Zip is of all leather construction, although the many pockets are lined with a textile material. The leather is smooth Italian leather and the one in the pictures is the saddle brown model with cream stitching. It is also available in chilli red.

The personal size Cuban Zip is slightly bigger in overall size compared to say a Malden Personal. It's also thicker, but it does have 30mm (internal diameter) rings rather than the 23mm rings in the Malden.

On the outside front there is a vertical pocket, this has a small flush magnetic closure on it. This pocket would be useful for tickets and papers you need speedy access to whilst travelling. It would save you those vital seconds to unzip the organiser. I'm surprised other organisers don't have this feature.

Opening the organiser after unzipping it on all three sides. My first thoughts where how small the pages looked inside the organiser! A combination of the slightly larger size and of course the large rings I suppose.

One of the first things you will want to know is 'Does it lay flat?' No not out of the box is doesn't. But I know with time and a little 'training' and some leather treatment it will improve, although I might need to borrow some dumb bells if I am going to follow Terri's example!

The inside left hand cover has seven credit card slots, although using the very top slot is a little fiddly next to the zip... not that I have that many anyway. There is also a business card slot at the bottom of the inside front. There are two individual lined vertical slot pockets and also a deep vertical zipped pocket.

On the inside right hand cover there is another vertical pocket, this will hold a personal size notepad if you require it.

There are two pen loops, one each side on the inside of the zip, so you shouldn't lose your pens. Both pen loops are leather with a short elasticated section included in them. These hold most pens I've tried nice and snugly.

The larger size rings certainly gives you more capacity. As a comparison I removed the standard page fill supplied with the Cuban and then replaced it with the pages I currently have in my Malden. The Malden I would say is about at capacity in terms of being comfortable to be able to turn the pages and to be able to close it easily. Although I have seen pictures of people with a lot more pages than I have in similar personal size Maldens!! But the Cuban just swallowed the contents of my Malden as if it was just a snack and it laughed back at me 'So where is the rest then? Plenty of room in here!'

I have tried my two diary insert set up in the Cuban and it fits easily. In the Malden this same set up is a bit of a squeeze and I have to be selective as to what pages I include. Oh for a Malden Personal with 30mm rings!

Another advantage possibly to using the Cuban I discovered is because the organiser is wider than the clasp closing type it has the extra space required to be able to use Franklin Covey Tabbed pages without them sticking out the edge of the organiser.

To be honest I'm still undecided on my preference if I had to decide between the Malden or the Cuban Zip, both have their advantages and disadvantages for me. I will alternate between both to try them for more than just a few days, to see if there is one that I like more than the other.

Other zipped organiser posts:

Migrating to the Cuban Zip - Filofax Fixation
Never ask a lady her weight - Filofax Fixation
Filofax Cuban Zip Personal - The Life of the Perpetual Student
My Filofax My Love - Rori Rants

Once again thank you to the people at Filofax for supplying me with this review sample.

Free For All Tuesday No 48

2012-01-03T00:00:00.009-05:00

So today or yesterday was the first day back at work for most people. But let us help you answer any Filofax questions you might have.

Fire away with your Filofax questions.

Reader Question - Which Punch?

2012-01-02T00:00:00.035-05:00

Over Christmas I had a couple of emails from folks asking me about paper punches 'Which is the best punch to buy?'

Now if you own more than one size of Filofax... and frankly who doesn't...<cough> ! Then buying individual punches for each size from Filofax works out quite expensive. Filofax Germany do sell a 'Multi-fit' punch, but it is also quite expensive at just under €70 plus shipping. The multi fit does Mini, Pocket, Personal and A5

As I've said before I do not recommend the Filofax plastic portable 6 hole punch sold by Filofax, they only punch a single sheet at a time and after using one for a few months the holes in the paper aren't that clean a cut. You would be better off putting the money towards a proper metal paper punch.

So here are a selection of alternatives with links and references to reviews for different sizes.

So if you have a Mini, Pocket or Personal size Filofax I recommend the Rapseco Diary Punch 66P which I reviewed back August 2009. It is still available from Amazon and I know lots of people have bought this punch. It has moving punch blocks that allows you to set it for Personal and Pocket size and it also works for Mini size too. I have one I bought myself and I use it quite frequently for punching pages I've printed off myself.

For A5 punches there is the Filofax A5 punch. This only punches A5 size. This one is available through Amazon slightly cheaper than Filofax, although shipping might alter the total price.

There is also an A5 adjustable punch available from Amazon made by Rexel. This comes with 4 punch dies but it can be fitted with 6, and then it would punch A4, A5, Personal, Pocket and Mini sizes, but you would have to adjust the hole spacing on the punch to match the size you were punching for. One other advantage of this particular punch is if you are using a Quo Vadis, Franklin Covey, Day Timer, Mulberry organiser you would be able to set the hole spacing to match those of the organiser as these are all different to Filofax A5 size.

KW Trio-9170 6 hole adjustable punch this punch will do A5, Personal and Pocket sizes Also available here, this punch is very reasonably priced for it's specification. However, the cost of shipping it outside of Holland can increase the price considerably. Try to source it locally if you can.

If you have an A4 Filofax, then any standard 4 hole punch will suit, I picked one up at my local supermarket for under €15, they come in quite a range of prices according to how many sheets you want to punch at the same time. I just bought a standard desk top one that punch up to 15 sheets at a time. More than adequate for most peoples needs.

If you have any other 'punch' questions, please pop them in to the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

And if you have a 'reader question' then please email us at philofaxy at gmail dot com we are always happy to answer them directly or via a post like this.

Date for your Filofax - 8 January 2012

2012-01-01T09:30:00.000-05:00


New York	London	Paris	Jakarta

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype.

I'm sure we are gradually getting to know each other's voices, but I will make a point of going 'around the table' to get everyone to introduce themselves this time.

So...When, Where, What, Who and How?

When? - Sunday 8th January from 10am (US East Coast time), 3pm London time, 4 pm Paris time 9pm Jakarta etc. See the clocks at the top of this post to see roughly what time you should be on line.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype.

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones reduces 'echo' on the call.

Who - All of you... connect up with Philofaxy and we will attempt to get as many of us linked in to the audio conference as possible.

How -

Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
Then 'Start Chat', I will then add you in to the chat room.
Then if you request it, I can add you to the audio conference as well. But if you just want to chat via keyboard that's fine. That way it's slightly less hectic for me!

2011 Some Numbers and Popular Posts

2012-01-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all our readers.

Philofaxy is brought to you by.....

Nan

Laurie

Steve

2011 was a very successful year on a number of fronts for Philofaxy

7 years... Philofaxy is in to it's seventh year, which I suppose is a long time in the life of a blog
10 Philofaxy meet ups in different parts of the world in 2011, after the first one in 2010, 2011 became the year of the Meet-up, let's look forward to more in 2012
£500 the total of our charity donations, raised through your donations and earned through the commission earned from sales through the site
530 the number of posts in 2011 on Philofaxy, err yes we got a little carried away!
1450 the number of pages in the Philofaxy year books of 2011, the latest quarter is now available for download
273,500 visits to Philofaxy in 2011, it was 112,000 in 2010
793,500 page views on Philofaxy in 2011, it was 280,000 in 2010

The Top 10 Posts of 2011 (based on page views in 2011)

Filofax Templates - This post dates back to 2009, but it gets the most visits each month! I occasionally up date it with the full list of or growing list of templates we now have available. Most visitors to the post come direct from Google searching for 'Filofax Templates' 100% match I guess.
Guest Post Task and Time Management with Filofax - Jotje - This has also proved to be a long standing favourite, this is the set up of Jotje's personal Malden, great post, I learnt a lot from this post, not only the content, but also how popular posts like this are.
Filofax Buyers Guide - I created this over the Christmas/New Year holiday in 2010.
Alternative refills for your Filofax - My discovery of QV Timer inserts lead to a lot of other similar posts this year including the almost never ending series of posts on diaries for 2012
Diary Inserts for 2012 Part 1 - I thought I was never going to get to the end of this series of posts, the more I looked on the web, the more I found! But I hope you have a better idea now of what is available out there.
A Pocket Full of Life - Jotje The follow up to Jotje's earlier post this time she tackled the Pocket size and again it proved to be very popular.
Time Management with Filofax Diary - A popular topic on Philofaxy, I predict that David's recent guest post on this topic will be up here next year, it's just outside of the Top 10 at the moment...already!
Printing your own Filofax Personal Pages With thanks to 'Nellie' for this one, I've since been expanding the number of Personal size pages available and printing them off successfully.
Filofax Flex Review - Quite a memorable series of posts for me as most of them were written whilst I was in a hotel in UK, the package arrived the morning I was departing for UK.
Filofax Germany The list wouldn't be complete without this post... when the €9 sale was announced, the whole Twitterverse went crazy! OK Filofax UK where is our £9 sale... hint! Thank you to Iris of Filomaniac for the tip off!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2012

January Sales

2011-12-31T17:37:00.000-05:00

The sales have started at City Organiser:

Terms & Conditions:
This SALE ends on Monday January 16th, 2012 both online and in our shop.

The online code is newyear (all one word and all in lowercase)..

All our SALE prices are matched in our shop at 40 Bow Lane, London, EC4M 9DT - if you'd like to use the extra discount code in the shop then please tell us at the counter before you make your purchase.

If you'd like to speak to us then please call 0207 236 4166 - Monday to Friday, 0900 to 1800

City Organiser, 40 Bow Lane, London, EC4M 9DT, UK | sales@cityorg.co.uk

Web Finds 31 December 2011

2011-12-31T00:00:00.014-05:00

The final web finds of 2011. What a year it's been. Thank you for all the blog posts you have posted and we have found... I hope we have brought you more readers to your blogs and you are building your readership and following. Let us look forward to some more great posts in 2012.

So here are some I found this week in between eating mince pies, Christmas cake and far too much chocolate....

2011 'can't live withouts' - Paper Love Story
Share your Filofax memories - Sandra - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
It's a dream, but a lovely one! My hypothetical stationary shop! - The Life of The Perpetual Student
Print your own media wish list - My Life All in One Place
Renovating the Cavendish - Paper Pens Ink
Top 10 Pen Reviews - The Pen Addict
Filo friendly pen? - Filofax Fixation
Little Blue Beauty: Filofax Adoration & Organization Post! - Mermaid Eyes
How do you structure your diary? Featuring my favourite A4 Filofax - Rockalily Lipsticks
Stylish Organisation - A Little Bird Fashion
On Filofax - Life...Considered, Planned..Organised
Year End Stock Check - A Work in Progress - LJ's Blog of Stuff
One Life, One Filofax...Really? - LJ's Blog of Stuff
Share your Filofax memories - Nellie - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Reggie on Location: Christmas Day 2011 - Well Planned Life
Gadgets got your schedule scattered? Maybe it’s time to go back to paper - The Washington Post
Ms. Finch and I take umbrage to the word chunky - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Share your Filofax memories - Unchecked Other - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Filofax Holburn Zip Review - simple notes to me
Your blog post could appear here... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Enjoy

Filofax 2012 - Changes to the range

2011-12-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Some interesting news this morning about the changes in the range...

"There's a few shocks in the list of Filofax 2012 organiser retirements; Osterley Brown & Songbird stand out to me but it's also going to be goodbye from the Chameleon, Regency, Enigma (nobody got that one in any sense of the word) and some colour retirements in Malden, Domino & Apex.
Some exciting new lines arriving in March and, as the legendary singer James Taylor says, every time you make a new friend you need to say goodbye to an old one - or else you get friend build-up..."
Source: City Organiser

This is all as yet unconfirmed from Filofax UK... but it looks accurate if you take in to account what has been on sale at low prices...

Free for All Friday No. 163

2011-12-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

Since it's our last FFAF of the year, it's a good time to talk about our New Year celebrations. In my case, a walking tour of my town's concerts and other festivities, dinner at a favorite restaurant, and then some champagne at home.

And since it is Friday, all other topics are also welcome!

I have loved and valued my Filofax this year, and will continue to do in the next year.

Malden Mini - Wallet/Filofax

2011-12-29T00:00:00.047-05:00

Yes it was inevitable that I would buy a Malden Mini to go with the rest of my Malden Family! A mini came up for sale and I made a rapid decision to buy it, like you do...

So the Mini is a grey one, so it nicely matches my A5 Malden's. In the picture above it is shown next to my black pocket Malden to give you some idea of the size.

Comparing the two, you will see that the Pocket has a notepad slot in the right hand inside cover, were as the Mini has two more card slots.

In the left hand side of the Pocket there is a zip pocket, with a slot behind it, a further slot pocket and another behind that. The last one being quite deep. In the Mini there is again a zip pocket with a pocket behind that and an additional slot pocket.

If you are going to use either of these sizes as a wallet/Filofax/notebook/shopping list type organiser then in some ways the Mini I think might work slightly better because of those slots in the right hand inside cover.

Both have full width outside cover pockets, ideal for bank notes and receipts.

In the pictures above is a Finchley Mini and the Malden Mini. The Finchley has two slots in the left hand side and a large zip pocket in the right hand side. I use the zip pockets on any of these for a small amount of coins, but they can make the organiser quite heavy if you carry too many coins.

I have been trying out the Malden Mini as a wallet for the last couple of weeks, it works quite well. The only thing I've had to do compared to using the pocket size is to relocate my passport to my car documents wallet, which wasn't a big deal really. I also trimmed a health document I carry which stuck out the top a little, once trimmed down it slips in to the back pocket of the Mini just fine.

I don't have that many pages in it, just a WO2P diary insert with some 2011 pages added, some lined paper and some to-do lists. I have bank cards in the front and medical ones in the back.

So I think the Mini is a great addition. It also fits in to my pockets easily if I don't have my 'Man Bag' with me!

Our dear friend Thomas has a Malden Mini which he has been successfully using as a wallet since the London Meet Up in March, he's made some top tab dividers for it too.

My GTD Set Up - David Popely - Guest Post

2011-12-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, the passing comments on Philofaxy about GTD setups seem to have generated a great deal of interest, so I asked Steve if he would like me to come forward with some detail of my own....so here it is.

Please be aware, though, that this is only ‘my’ setup – and, in fact, is only my setup at the moment – I can and do change setups quite regularly, as those who know me and/or follow my comments on the site will know!

If anyone is interested in starting with the ‘received version’ of how to set up a paper planner for GTD, there is a very good white paper available from David Allen himself via his website. It’s a free download, although you have to register to get it, but that’s not likely to be a problem to anyone who has more than a passing interest in implementing GTD.

And so, to my own set-up, which is really a modified form of GTD, both in setup and in underlying principle. I’ve made these changes because they suit me temperamentally, and I think we tend to underestimate the role of temperament in what will work best for us. You, dear reader, may like a lot of structure (as I do), or you may prefer a freewheeling system which just captures everything you need to do and then leaves it to you to regularly review those tasks and make choices out of the whole range of available to-dos. That doesn’t work for me – I’m an accountant (CPA if you’re in the US) and time management consultant and have anything up to 120 ‘live’ deadlines for filing stuff with various Government agencies (or just delivering to the client) at any given moment, and each of those deadlines has sanctions, usually fines and penalties, attached, so it’s important that I keep on top of all of them, all the time.

Firstly, my go-to binder. As regular readers will know, my first choice is a Personal Malden in Ochre. I love this binder, for the combination of weight, style and accessibility. I’ve tried using my A5 Finsbury, but it weighs enough to make it undesirable as a travelling companion, most especially when I’m in London on business, as I am quite often. I have enough papers, files and overnight stuff to carry without 6-8 pounds’ weight of organiser to add to the load. One of my underlying principles is, ‘One life, one organiser’, so I don’t split my stuff between binders, or use different binders for different aspects of my life. I want it ALL together in ONE place – which also happens to be one of the underlying principles of GTD. I know that when I pick up that binder I’m going to have everything I need, all together, in one place.

Firstly, inside the front cover I have my most used plastic cards (the rest live in card-holder inserts at the back of the binder, plus my own business cards, plus postage stamps, train tickets if I’m travelling to/from London, etc. What I really like about the Malden (apart from everything else about it!) is the way the pockets are arranged here. This setup means that I can flip the binder open in the supermarket, at the cash machine, etc, and have all the plastic cards I need, right there. There is a larger pocket behind the card slots, and I use that to capture the receipts I’m picking up through the day as I move around. Because I’m self employed, I just capture everything, and then decide later, on a daily basis, what needs to be kept and what can be thrown. The ones I’m keeping them get entered into my accounting software and ‘cold filed’ away, again on a daily basis. If anyone who is self employed wants to know more about this they can get in touch and I’ll elaborate.

Now into the main Filofax areas. As you will see from the accompanying photos, at the moment I’m using a basic 1-6 divider set, but I’ve added the diary tab from a standard set of dividers at the front. I’ve cribbed this idea from Gerard (many thanks), and it works really well for me. This is my first real departure from the ‘received wisdom’ of GTD, which has the notes/capture section in first place – however, as I say, this work for me.

Diary-wise, my current plan for 2012 is to use a Day on 2 Pages diary/to do list setup, which I’ve bought from the French Filofax website, backed with a standard 2012 year planner. I can only get 3 months’ worth of daily sheets in the binder, but it’s a compromise I’m prepared to make. The year planner will give me perspective on the rest of the year (as well as on the 3 months I’ve got in as daily inserts), and pretty soon I plan to have a 2013 year planner as well, behind that, for anything truly long-term which needs noting. Generally the year planner only tells me geographically where I’m going to be at any given point – there isn’t much room for detail, but the place reminder is usually enough to prompt me.

After the diary section, I’ve currently got a makeshift index page to the other six sections. I plan to replace this with a printed sheet pretty soon, once the whole thing has bedded in for 2012.

Section 1 is my notes/capture section. This is my one concession to colour (once the index sheet has been replaced)....I’m currently using yellow lined here, it gives me the ‘feel’ of a yellow legal pad, which is what I used before I decided to unify everything into the Filofax. These notes are sorted daily, and the resulting next actions, projects, etc are transferred to the relevant sections. This is really the most important section I use daily.....the GTD ‘system’ of capturing everything in one place and sorting it later enables me to keep a clear head and to stay focused in a way which would be impossible otherwise.

Section 2 is my Next Actions, divided into home, work, personal. If the ‘work’ list in particular starts to get out of hand I create separate lists for London (when I’m there, so this is in part an ‘errands’ list), phone, email, etc. I also have my ‘waiting for’ list in here, so that i can always be ahead of the game when it comes to keeping tabs on slow-responding clients.

Section 3 is my Agendas section. I don’t use this a great deal (I no longer have that many face to face meetings, and I don’t have staff), but what do use it for is notes for my client meetings with those whom I see on a regular basis when I’m in London. That way I don’t forget anything I mean to raise when I’m in the meeting.

Section 4 is my Project Lists. These are divided into work, home and personal. These, together with the Next Actions lists, form the core of my weekly review, which I try to carry out on a Friday afternoon, last thing, so that I can start the weekend knowing I have everything ‘nailed down’ for the coming week. I don’t like using my weekend time for this, even though some of it is personal stuff. As an adjunct to this, I also confirm any appointments for the following week, by email.

Section 5 is my Project Plans section. I try to have a plan for everything which is in the Project List. Also in here are my 2012 goals, and a summary list of my Areas of Focus – again, all concepts taken from Getting Things Done and Making It All Work (which deals more with perspective than with just getting control). These also get reviewed in with the weekly review.

I reckon I can do the weekly review adequately in around an hour....not much time invested, given the payoff.

Finally, section 6 is my information section. In here I have various bits and pieces of often-accessed information. If I find I’m not accessing something on at least a monthly basis, it gets thrown, provided I have the information electronically somewhere, or I know how to find it easily.

I don’t have a contacts section. All my contacts live on my mobile phone, and are far easier to access that way. Also, I have an Outlook-based address file as backup (which in turn gets backed up in my thrice-weekly overall data backup).

I used to keep notes of my expenses in the ‘Financial’ tab of the standard dividers when I was using them, but since I dropped them (and the note-taking with it) I find that capturing the receipts and processing them into my accounting system (where they would end up anyway) is good enough.

So that’s my system. You’ll see that I mostly use plain white ruled paper (or plain for printing) and I really don’t need a lot of different forms. Presently I’m using ‘To Do’ forms for Next Actions, but these could equally well be kept on plain white. I just happen to have them lying around so I’m using them. I think this entire system can be run using shop-bought plain white ruled paper, with some unlined for printing the odd sheet.

Good luck with your planning for 2012, and have fun!

David

Thank you David for an excellent article and insight on your GTD set up.
Steve

Budget Planner Template

2011-12-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

So you spent too much money on presents and booze for Christmas? Time to start planning your budget for 2012? OK here is a template that will help you..

Budget Planner - .docx .pdf

This template is designed for Personal size, but in a 'Z fold' configuration. To use this template you will need to cut a piece of paper to size (263 mm x 171 mm), then print one side, then the other on your printer. I used the manual feed on our laser printer and it worked just fine.

Once you have printed both sides it just needs punching and then folding, at 95mm and then back again to the outer edge.

Thank you to Gerard for sending me the original sample of this 'Vintage' Filofax page.

Free For All Tuesday No 47

2011-12-27T00:00:00.003-05:00

Well I hope you had a lovely Christmas and I guess you might have a few questions to ask... 'where can I buy... who stocks.... etc'

Well this is the place to ask all your Filofax related questions....

Reader Question: Filofax paper, which pen?

2011-12-26T00:00:00.006-05:00

We have frequently seen comments about the (poor) quality of Filofax white paper, particularly how it doesn't like fountain pen ink. The Filofax cotton cream paper seems a lot better and higher quality.

So a reader asked me this week. 'Which gel pens or rollerball pens work with ordinary Filofax paper? I can't use cotton cream paper as they don't sell A5 diary inserts in A5 size'

The later point is true, they don't do cotton cream in A5, shame really. So which gel pens and roller ball pens work with ordinary Filofax paper? And I suppose which ones fit the pen loop should also be taken in to consideration.

As a supplementary question I was wondering what paper people use if they print their own inserts?

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:00:00.015-05:00

The Nan, Laurie and Steve would like to wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas.

Thank you for all your kind support and participation in 2011, it has been quite a year for us all.

And we now look forward to 2012....

Web Finds - 24 December 2011

2011-12-24T00:00:00.020-05:00

Christmas Eve has arrived, the children are getting excited, so may be you need to hide away and have a quiet hour with a coffee and some web finds to read!! Leave a comment and mention you found the link to the post on Philofaxy... just in case they don't know about Philofaxy!

New Clients bringing Christmas cheer to Leapfrogg - Frogblogg Let's cause a nice spike in their website stats... Let's show them who knows lots about On-line buying from Filofax....
aw man, what a week! - Filofax Fixation
Filofax.. the first - Yearbook 2011
Bristol mini Philofaxy Meet-up - The Life of The Perpetual Student
Filofax Meet Up Brizzle - Imysworld
Expenses Envelopes for Filofax Personal - My Life All in One Place
Dragging out my Filofax - The Crazy Suburban Mom
The End is Near... - Filomaniac
Get Organized in style with Letts of London and Filofax - The Knack
My Filofax Life - beyondblueeyes
My Filofax Love Story - Whimsicality
The Trick of Syncing Your Paper Planner and Smartphone - Day Timer Blog
Filofax Compact Osterley - SNARLing Post
Out with the old in with the new - Filofax Fixation
Finally the one that replaced the Malden - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Making Filofax Expenses Envelopes - A5 version - All My Life in One Place
Filofax Storage vs Sleeping Beauties - Vanjilla
The search for the perfect zipped Filofax - Rapunzel's World
Introducing the new member of my Filofax Family. The Balmoral M2 - Rapunzel's World
Personalised Photo Diary - Filomaniac
Vintage Winchester Filofax - The Life of The Perpetual Student
Last Few Days Update !!!! - The Life of The Perpetual Student
The Great Mini - Vanjilla
Filofax clasps (size DOES matter) - Paper Pens Ink
What is it with Wednesdays - Filofax Fixation
Stuck on my Filofax - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Filofax Yay! - Smiles and Miles
Setting up my Filofax for 2012 - Stickymuse
Filofax Personal vs Pocket Setups Pics & Final Decision - Loving My Filofax
Your blog post could appear here... Please email us if we missed you this week.

Enjoy... and I'm off to help Santa and his helpers... ho ho ho... Merry Christmas

Free For All Friday No. 162

2011-12-23T00:32:00.003-05:00

It's nearly Christmas! Is Santa bringing you any Filofax goodies? Or is it coal in your stocking for you? ;D

As always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax-related.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Blog-o-Fax

2011-12-22T00:00:00.007-05:00

This is nothing new, people have set up Filofaxes for keeping notes about their blog before... but I thought I would tell you about mine...

So in the run up to Christmas I have been writing lots of posts to try and get over the Christmas period, so you still had stuff to read and, I could sit back and relax and enjoy Christmas with the family... I'm a bit selfish like that you know! Well I don't see my son that often other than on the other end of a Skype call, so to see him face to face is a bit rare these days, ok enough of the excuses Steve...

All the routine posts on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are easy to do in advance, it's thinking through the ones on the other days of the week that needed thinking through a bit.

So I was going a bit stir crazy with dates and posts and trying to slot them all in. During a break to wander around the supermarket to get bread and the usual stuff I thought... Blog-o-Fax, yes need one.

Now I could have just done this with a wall calendar and some marker pens... but where is the fun in that? I 'needed' something that would show me several weeks in advance but would still give me plenty of space to write in the boxes. So a month on one page may be...

Naturally I wanted to avoid buying anything new.. so I thought yes... my A4 Classic, it is sat in the cupboard just waiting to be used. A4 would be easy to print a calendar off for and also it would give me plenty of space to write in the boxes, nice and clear and I will be able to see at a glance where I needed to write posts for. Yes I know the Classic is a bit of an overkill at £150... but I didn't pay that much for it when I bought it last year, and I have it sat in the cupboard.

So I popped on to the computer and put in the dates of FFAT, FFAF (Tuesdays and Fridays) and then worked out a suitable layout and size etc. Printed off the calendar in colour as well!

I took out some of the other pages in the A4 that I would no longer need, put them to one side and then concentrated on what I would need apart from a calendar. Some notepaper, and a couple of To Do list pages, can't do anything without a To Do list!

I've been using this for the last two or three weeks and it really has made a difference with my blog post planing. I can now easily see where the gaps are in the schedule, what is coming up, what I can shuffle when more time important posts come along. So the schedule does change and get updated quite often in a week.

Once this next few weeks is out of the way, I might try transferring the idea in to my A5 desk Filofax, but it's been a useful exercise to try it out in a separate one first to see what I actually need over a few weeks before I make any changes to my main set up.

Guest Review - Glenroyal Organiser -Gerard

2011-12-21T00:00:00.021-05:00

It is always nice to receive emails from our readers, especially ones offering to provide Guest Posts! Gerard contacted me a few weeks ago to tell me about his 'latest find' and then a couple of weeks later he sent me some pictures of his latest purchase, I was even more interested in the story behind his new organiser. And here it is.......

The Discovery

A few weeks ago an on-line search turned up an organiser brand that was entirely new to me.

Glenroyal are a small producer of bridle leather goods, all handmade in Scotland. In common with some other traditional firms, their website is not set up for on-line ordering, so at first I was a bit stumped. Anyway, this worked out well, since – instead of the usual impersonal on-screen checkout – I was able to exchange emails with a very friendly and knowledgeable lady, and quickly finalised an order for an organiser and a briefcase.

As a small producer, they seemingly don’t carry stock, and the idea that my items were about to be made to order added another traditional dimension to things.

A short while later I was notified of the tracking number, and the order was courier delivered to Dublin at a very reasonable cost. Each item was packed in its own green baize bag and wrapped in bubble wrap, all contained in a sturdy cardboard box.

The entire process from order to delivery took just two weeks.

The Organiser

So – what about the organiser itself? As I’m about to give it a rave review, I should declare up-front that I have no affiliation with the company, and that I paid full price for all of the items. I also didn’t know at the time that Steve would come looking for a review.

The binder is a standard six-ring arrangement in 23mm diameter and is compatible with Personal size paper. It came with a generic A – Z index tab set, but realistically I think anyone at this end of the market will have very specific refills in mind and the lack of any included fill won’t bother most readers. Incidentally, Glenroyal don’t manufacture any refills themselves.

Currently, Glenroyal produce a single binder design, in standard Personal size. This is the antithesis of the Filofax approach, but – interestingly – it’s precisely the route that Mulberry have taken.

The materials and workmanship are absolutely first class. The binder is made from thick bridle leather; the finish is impeccable and the stitching is 100% perfect to my eye. Being bridle leather, it comes with a generous application of dubbin to keep it soft and supple during transit and storage, and a thorough polishing with a soft cloth brought it up to a nice sheen.

I opted for the “Dark London” colour, which is a classic rich chestnut tan colour. The edges have a neatly applied semi-matt finish which closely matches the main colour.

The closure strap has a simple “Sam Brown” brass stud which works well and looks like it should last as long as any pop fastener. Similarly, the ring mechanism seems quite sturdy, with a good positive action and perfectly aligned rings. The binder has a single pen loop which is not elasticated, but is big enough to take reasonably thick pens.

There’s a single curved full-length pocket back and front, which I find suits my usage very well, as I’ve always carried smaller cards in a punched holder and don’t use my organiser as a wallet.

Overall, it’s a very understated design and the only sign of branding is a small logo and “Handmade in Scotland” text discretely embossed inside the front cover.

The Conclusion

I’m delighted with the quality of the Glenroyal organiser – as I say the materials and workmanship are both first class. The cost of the organiser was less than the top-range Filofax binders, and it has a simple, timeless authenticity. I’ve focussed here on the organiser, but I should mention that the briefcase is also a very fine piece of work.

The buying experience was a pleasure, and I found the customer service and delivery arrangements excellent.

This organiser is perfect for my needs, and my only quibble has been the need to scale down from a large-capacity Winchester. Like most readers here, I’m certain to rotate between organisers over time, but I have a feeling that the Glenroyal will be at the heart of my collection for a very long time.

Thank you Gerard for the review and all of the photographs, this organiser I think everyone will agree is a thing of beauty. Gerard in conjunction with Glenroyal has produced a leaflet giving the full details of the Glenroyal Personal Organiser, you might also like to look at their full range of leather products on their website.

Free For All Tueday No 46

2011-12-20T00:00:00.003-05:00

Christmas Filofax Questions? This is the place to ask them, or any other Filofax related questions.

Fire away.

Reader Under The Spotlight - David Popely

2011-12-19T00:00:00.033-05:00

This week it is a great pleasure to introduce you to David.

Hi, I’m David, and I’m an accountant in the UK. I’ve recently moved to beautiful South Wales, with my even-more-beautiful wife Emma, our three chickens and two lazy cats, Brue and Bramble (aka GrumpyCat). I was born and lived the first 50+ years of my life in London and only came to country living in the last six years or so. I love it!

I’ve been interested in anything relating to time management for well over 30 years now, so it’s been a real joy to discover so many people with similar interests through the Philofaxy site, and I hope my profile will inspire one or two more to start using their organisers as a time and task *management* tool, and not *just* as a fashion accessory (although they are great-looking as well)!

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?

Probably around 1981. It was a very old duplex (two rings) version, but I have no idea of the model name. Maybe you can help! I used that duplex binder with a day-per-page diary on one side and all my to-do lists etc on the other, until I discovered and adopted the Time Manager system around 1982.

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

I’ve always been an on-off Time Manager user, because I find the structure of the system suits me – it’s pretty rigid, and I like that. In between frequent bouts of TM usage, I’ve only ever been a Filofax user, and I’ve never *ever* been without a system of some kind since adopting that first Filofax back in the early 80s.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

Definitely my Personal Malden in ochre when I’m in Filofax mode, and my one and only black either Time Manager binder when I’m in TM mode. I love the lines and the ‘fee’ of the Malden, it has all the pockets I need, in all the right places, and it looks great all the time. It’s now starting to take on a ‘weathered’ look (I suppose I give it a fairly hard time) and it *still* looks great! The TM binder is in smooth black leather, and just seems to always look good-as-new (and I probably bought it 8-10 years ago). The Malden fits beautifully in the hand as well (I don’t often carry a man-bag so I’m usually carrying it), the TM less so....

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

Apart from my TM binder, three – a black leather A5 Finsbury (rarely used, although I *do* have the inserts for it), a brown oiled leather Hampstead which is now defunct in everyday terms (or maybe awaiting a new purpose) which I bought around 1998, and my personal Malden, which is my go-to organiser all the time I’m in Filofax mode.

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

I use it for everything! It’s my diary, my task manager, my list-keeper, I keep my plastic cards in there, postage stamps, travel tickets when I’m away on business....there really isn’t anything I *don’t* use it for. At the moment I’m using the standard Filofax dividers (more on this below), although I do change to other sets, and back, quite often, so I have my diary in the front, my project and task lists under projects, my carry-around information under notes (which I also use as a quick-capture for anything incoming, using yellow paper to make it stand out from the white of the rest of the organiser), my petty cash records under financial (I’m self employed so I need to capture everything), and a few current contacts under contacts. I don’t fully utilise the contacts section, because I find my BlackBerry to be a far more efficient way of accessing and using contacts – if I’m away on business it’s usually to call or email, and I don’t need to look people up twice and manually enter the information.

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

Definitely the flexibility. I reconfigure my system *often*, and now that I’ve had some practice, I can usually re-jig the whole system in 30 minutes or so if I have a clear idea of where I’m going.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?

Binder-wise, I’m very happy with my Malden and I can’t really see how that could be improved, except by the addition of a second pen loop. I like to keep my diary in pencil (things change a lot and need adjusting), but I like a pen for other purposes. I’m still trying out the Frixion erasable pen, but my old-fashioned alter-ego would really much prefer pen and pencil separately. Insert-wise, I have some *serious* issues with Filofax. The FF paper is poor quality and for a fountain pen user that’s bad news in a major way. The bleed-through is terrible. If I were the designer, I’d take my Malden (with second pen loop) and fill it with good quality paper, a wider range of inserts, and a better choice of divider set-ups for different systems such as GTD. Frankly, though, I don’t think Filofax are invested at all in their inserts, and I think that’s a very bad business decision in the long term, as well as being really irritating to me in the short term.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

Almost always in my hand – I rarely carry a bag. If I’m away on business it lives int he front pocket of my briefcase, for which it could almost have been custom-designed. Otherwise, it’s in my hand whenever I’m out of the house, or on my desk (or the arm of my chair) when I’m at home.

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?

I like the Malden a *lot*, and I already own one, so I’m not about to go Filofax shopping. I’ve just bought some day on two pages diary inserts from the French website, so that’s enough shopping for me!

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

Probably the Malden at £65 (I think) from Conduit Street. My Time Manager binder was around £200 though, and that was a few years ago. For design and functionality it was worth every penny.

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?

I love the community, and feel as if I have so many friends of a common mind here. I know that whatever my question, I can find someone who’s been there before and has ‘an’ (if not ‘the’) answer. Now I’m following some of the other blogs I’ve discovered through Philofaxy, that sense of a community of like-minded people is even greater.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Really – there isn’t anything at all. My only dislike is that I sometimes can’t follow every comment to every post purely because of the volume of material.

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

Probably Own The Night by Lady Antebellum. I have very wide-ranging tastes in music, so I generally use Spotify in my office, which is a great way to listen to music for a monthly subscription. CD-wise, I really can’t remember (probably Jazz, Blues and Moore by the Dudley Moore Trio), but as we’ve just bought a rather nice hi-spec CD player, I guess I’ll be back in the market soon!

Reader Question - Filofax Storage?

2011-12-18T00:00:00.035-05:00

How do you store your unused pages or inserts? As the end of the year is approaching, how do you archive your past years diary/journals from your Filofax.

Does anyone have any different way of storing their 'spare' Filofax organisers?

Share your ideas in the comments.

Web Finds - 17 December 2011

2011-12-17T00:00:00.027-05:00

I know some of you will be dashing around the last full weekend before Christmas, but give yourself some 'me time' and take an hour out of your hectic schedule of shopping, partying, present wrapping to have a read of some of these great blog posts that have been sent in or I've found in this last week.

Introducing Reggie! - Well Planned Life
Using envelopes to track tickets with your Filofax - My Life All in One Place
Moving on from my Malden.... - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Filofax, the little black dress of office supplies - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Philofaxy Meet Up 19th Nov 11 - Shazza's Blog
Dividers - Shopping for materials - LJ's Blog of Stuff
Wo2P and Mo2P Tabbed - Filofax Fixation
Free London underground map for your Filofax - My Life All in One Place
Guest post: Staying happy over winter (Kyla) - Planet Millie - All Stars
Filofax dilemma, personal or pocket size? - Loving My Filofax
Cavendish filofaxes are like buses...! - Paper Pens Ink
Filofax Meet Up Group - Filomaniac
Unknown Filofax - help needed - Haukef
Paper Love - a Filofax Story - Joshua Buffum Laporte
Filofax Osterley Compact - The SNARLing Post
Mini Finchley review - My Little Rabbit
Fiddling with the Finchley - Bluebonnet Reads
In the meantime - The SNARLing Post
Get a Filofax and tighten up your loose ends - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Your blog post could appear here... Please email us if we missed you this week.

And a new video too...

And before you disappear... there are some great bargains on our Readers Ad spot page... keep a check on it.

One other request... please make sure you have voted in our poll in the side bar about which charity should get our donation money in the New Year. Details about each organisation is here

Enjoy

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 16 Dec 2011

2011-12-16T05:01:00.003-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is a the launch of 50% off sale on selected items. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Filofax Germany are also having a sale at the moment, check out the details here.

Whilst Filofax USA are doing free Fedex shipping on orders over $80

Free For All Friday No. 161

2011-12-16T00:00:00.005-05:00

Just over a week to go to Christmas. I've found it quite hard this year to think of ideas for Christmas presents, fortunately we don't exchange presents with many people these days.

I think next year I will make a point of having a list in my Filofax to make a note of presents for Christmas and Birthdays throughout the year. Do you do anything similar?

However, as it's Friday you are free to discuss anything Filofax related... have a great weekend.

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 15 Dec 2011

2011-12-15T05:01:00.001-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is a 20% off Domino organisers (excluding gift set). This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Philofaxy Mini-Meet Up - Poitiers - 13 Dec 2011

2011-12-15T00:00:00.092-05:00

So it was a wet and windy on Tuesday morning, when headed down to Poitiers, which takes us about an hour on a good day. But with gusting wind and sweeping rain it took a little longer.

All the effort was worth it. The sun did shine a few times during the day, and Nikki had a big smile on her face when she recognised 'Philofaxy Steve'!!! We had managed to arrange a mini meet up on a date when Nikki was going to be in Poitiers on business, so it all worked out very well.

We met in Pub Le Gambetta, a small bar/cafe in Rue Gambetta. We had a long chat, poured over Filofaxes, had some food. Just like any other Philofaxy meet up, even if there was only three of us... Nikki, Alison (The hand of Philofaxy!) and Steve.

For those of you interested (of course you are!) Nikki is showing me her Hampstead A5, which she uses as her main Filofax and she has some very nicely designed section dividers and loads of self printed information pages. Nikki also uses the Filofax Address Book Software, which is how the idea of a meet up came about! I was interested so see how she is using the software in her A5, I might copy a few of her ideas... Nikki had also made her own 'Today' markers, she is very creative. Nikki is using an A5 DodoPad in her Filofax, nice and colourful. I will have to twist her arm, I mean gently ask her to do a guest post on her full set up once Christmas and New Year is out of the way......

I had taken along my A5 Malden with my 2012 set up in it, the current crimson Personal Malden, with a sneak peak at another 2012 set up, which you saw yesterday... My Chameleon Pocket was with me as well of course and as you can see the Filofax Facts book also found it's way in to my small messenger bag (My man bag got left at home!)

Once we had finished our traditional long French lunch, Nikki took us on a mini tour of the two Filofax stockists in the same road, the first opposite the cafe... All those people that have attended London meet ups will be at this point booing me, because of the long walk we take from Tate Modern to Neal Street... but I digress....

This is just the stationary part of Gibert Joseph, that small entrance opens out in to an Aladdin's cave of stationary, Filofax, and planners and diaries of every size and make you can think of! We kept finding more and more Filofax stuff tucked away on shelves in different parts of the shop! Their stock of inserts was very good. The range of organisers was a little limited but plentiful in numbers... no Apex's, oh how disappointed were we.. We both picked up Filofax France catalogues too... good bedtime reading! I will compare it to the UK one soon and do a post if I find any astounding differences.

We then took a short walk up the road to Poitiers Stylos this is more of a pen shop than a stationary store, but they did have a very nice range of Filofax organisers on display behind glass, and in the window. With a stock of inserts just inside the door.

Again not an Apex to be seen, we were shocked and disappointed!

Sadly time had marched on quicker than we thought and we had to say our good byes and we went off to return home. It was great to meet up with another reader of the blog and one that is 'local' to me here in France...

Thank you Nikki, it was great meeting up with you and hopefully we can have another meet up when the sun is shining in Spring/Summer and may be we will discover some more readers within reach of Poitiers.

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 14 Dec 2011

2011-12-14T05:01:00.000-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is a Free UK delivery on everything for 24 hours. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

My Set Up for 2012 - Part Deux

2011-12-14T00:00:00.001-05:00

You might recall last month I described to you my A5 Malden set up for 2012. Now I know a few of you don't like the size and bulk of the A5, especially if you need to carry your Filofax around with you each and every day.

You will recall my set up in the A5 has two diary inserts in it... one for planning (present and future) and one for journal (essentially the past). Another feature of the planning insert was the integration of the to-do lists in to the weekly view.

So I did some catalogue studying and some web browsing to see if I could come up with a similar dual set up but in personal size.

After looking around I came up with this solution. For journalling I would use the Week on Two Pages in English only, this one is in cotton cream paper.

Then the options for planning was slightly more restricted, but I hit on this idea, using a week per page with to do sheets interleaved between each page, which looks like this:

It retains the ideal situation of being able to view the days next to the tasks in the to do list. The next week the to do list swaps to the other side, but I don't think that's a major issue in terms of layout for me.

As an alternative there is the Week on One page with notes insert, whilst this maintains the same layout for each week, days on the left, notes on the right, it has the disadvantage of being multi language and the day spaces are already small enough as it is!

The rest of my set up is pretty much as the set up I've been using this year in my Malden with addresses, information (maps), projects, notes etc. But slimmed down a little by removing spare pages so that the Malden can just about take the two diary inserts as well as the other pages.

The best part of this set up is I can carry it anywhere, and at a push it could be my only Filofax, if I chose to go that route... as always though time will tell. I find I have to try out a different set up for a few weeks to know if it will work for me or not.

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 13 Dec 2011

2011-12-13T05:01:00.000-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is a free pen with an organiser over £40. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Free For All Tuesday No. 45

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Are you panicking about what diary insert fits any particular size Filofax? Ask the questions and any other Filofax related questions here..... But don't panic... we have the answers!

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 12 Dec 2011

2011-12-12T05:01:00.003-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is a £5 organiser gift voucher. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Reader Under The Spotlight - Lorraine

2011-12-12T00:00:00.045-05:00

This week let me introduce to you Lorraine, who is better known as MsPencil in the comments on Philofaxy.

I am a Stay At Home Mom. I have twin boys age 10. I am married to a retired military man. We have lived in several areas of the United States such as Oklahoma, Kansas and New York and we lived in Europe for 3 years.

I taught school for almost 15 years until I moved from North Carolina. I volunteer with CONTACT Health Services and The American Red Cross. I am crazy about stationery, pens and leather. I have so many handbags my friends call me The Bag Lady.

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?

I purchased my first filofax sometime in 1995 or 1996 after I had gotten one for my sister. There was a Filofax store in the Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, New York. Unfortunately it is not there any more. My sister was dying for a personal size leather Filofax to start her new career after graduating from St. Josephs University in Philadelphia. She said she must have a personal size leather Filofax for her graduation present. It was about 95.00 US at the time and I thought Wow what an expensive calendar! To make her happy I got it and back then they engraved your initials on the front for free. Anyway, I loved all the colors of the smaller binders and the fact that there was a place to keep your pen I thought that was really cute. I kept going back and forth in the store for several months before I got the money and gumption to buy a red pocket size Kewick from that point on I was hooked. Later, I bought one for my mother.

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

I had used many generic brands before. The ones you pick up in clothing stores and drugs stores. One I hand write all the days, weeks and months in it. I messed up one of the days and had to go back and fix them. A big mess!

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

Right now the size I have been using is the mini imperial purple Finchley. I really like the way the leather feels. It is always in my purse. I use the A-5 for Family Stuff, The Personal will be my Diary. Does anyone have any idea how I can use my pocket?

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

I currently own 7 Filofaxes new and old. The latest are the A-5 Family Finsbury. I really like it better than I thought I would. It is a pretty cherry red color and the leather is quite nice.

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

I usually use my mine to make lists, write my To Do list for the day, record appointments etc.

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

I like that it is has a pen holder, notes, and finances can all be held in one place.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?
If I could design a filofax all would have 2 pen holders and inside pockets for credit cards.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

I always carry my mini in my purse. I never leave home with out it.

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?

In the current range of Filofaxes I like the look of the Osterly. It is very fashionable. No, I am not going to buy anymore Filofaxes for awhile.

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

The most I have spent on a Filofax was probably 120.00 for the A-5 Finsbury Family.

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?

I like the Spotlights. Also I liked the one when I asked all the Philofaxy members what kind of pen do the use with there Filofax it got 53 comments. I felt so connected. It was fun.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

What is not to like about Philofaxy? I do not like that I did not get the chance to meet all of you at the London Meet Up. One day!

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

Corrinne Bailey Rae, The Sea!

Thank you Lorraine for agreeing to go under the spot

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 11 Dec 2011

2011-12-11T05:01:00.001-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is 50% off Savile Large Briefcase. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

A-Z tabs

2011-12-11T00:00:00.007-05:00

The humble A-Z tabs... we have come to think of them as just for sorting our names and addresses or our contacts. In a recent FFAF people freely admitted that they don't keep their contacts in their Filofax.

I was surprised by this, but I can see some people's reasoning for relying more and more on their phone which hopefully they have backed up on their PC or in the 'Cloud'

So some other ideas on how you could use the A-Z tabs which I'm sure you have still.

I use my 'Internet Site Info' sheets for recording Site, Username, Password details on and these are stored within my A-Z tabs based on the Site name.

I don't record the full password. As I use several similar passwords I might only record things like O.......79 the number of dots does not however match the number of letters. So anyone finding my Filofax would not have access to any of my passwords.

I tend to use similar letter patterns but just change the upper and lower case elements, so another site using the same phrase as above might be recorded as o.....U79, it just serves as a reminder to me.

When I was learning to use the command line version of the Linux Operating System. I had a series of note pages within my A-Z tabs to record the details of various commands and how I specifically needed to use them on my computer.

In my old job I was always being tripped up by abbreviations, military people have an annoying habit (to me that is!) of reusing abbreviations in common use, but for something completely different. Reading their reports was becoming a total headache trying to find what they met by NEC or TCM etc So I started another A-Z index of abbreviations to be able to look them up faster.

Our Philofaxy community has grown considerably in the past year or so, I'm thinking of using the A-Z tabs to create a 'User Index' so I can cross reference Comment Names vs Twitter Names vs Real Life Names... my poor grey matter tends to be a little forgetful at times when it comes to names!

If you use a Filofax to store recipes you could use the tabs to divide up the recipes by name or type.

Or if you keep your own personal reviews of books then may be use the A-Z to separate our your reviews by Author name.

I'm sure you can think of some more uses besides the ones I've outlined.

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 10 Dec 2011

2011-12-10T05:01:00.000-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is 50% off Finchley purple. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Web Finds - 10 December 2011

2011-12-10T00:00:00.013-05:00

Christmas shopping, cars to wash, house work to do?

Try leaving a comment on each blog you visit, bring a smile to the blog writers face.

We love reading comments about things we have written. It encourages us to write more... and you know what means... more web finds... yippeeeeee

To Do: use To Do sheets - Filofax Fixation
My Filofax has a Muffin Top - The Crazy Suburban Mom
What else can you use a Filofax for? - Bluebonnet Reads
Oh dear .... I went to London and the Filofax Shop.. - We're gonna need a bigger boat
How I'm using my Filofax - All Things Pretty... Awesome
Mr Malden gets a sex change - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Sticker Problem Solved - The Crazy Life of J
First impressions of the Finchley - Bluebonnet Reads
Adding a USB memory stick to your Filofax - Saraccino
Filo fans are great people! - Filofax Fixation
Finchley and my 2012 set up - Bluebonnet Reads
I’m just an old fashioned girl with an old fashioned mind - The Hale Kitchen and Restaurant Bar
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Phone: A Case For Writing Things Out - Fast Company
Filofax - Bournemouth Digital Hub Presentation
Day-timer week to view 2012 diary inserts - Rapunzel's World
Filopedia!! - Paper Pens Ink
Filofax Overload!!!!! I think I have too many to use!!!! - Loving My Filofax
Filofax 2012 diary inserts for sale - Loving My Filofax
Quoi mettre dans son filofax? - haukefischer
Your blog post could appear here next week. If we missed you out, please email us the details.

Enjoy

Filofax Sales

2011-12-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

We seem to be in the full sales season at the moment. So here is a summary of what we have found and what has been reported to us. Thank you for sending in the details.

Filofax Italy has a large sale on at the moment. Details on their page here.

Meanwhile of in the USA, Filofax USA have a three day offer on Filofax Classics, any size, any colour by using the promo code D447

Terms and conditions of this deal are: Promo Code D447 must be used at payment/Checkout screen. 25% discount applies only to Classic organizers and does not apply to any other organizer or Filofax product. Offer can not be combined with other offers or promo codes. D447 Offer valid 12/9/11 through 12/12/11 Order must include a Classic organizer for discount to apply. This promotion can not be applied to previously placed orders.

There is also free shipping on orders over $35 at the moment.

And meanwhile in UK we are in the middle of Finsbury Friday, with 20% off all Finsbury products. I also noticed that all purple Finchley's are currently 50% off on the Filofax website. This brings the prices down considerably. Mini £32, Pocket £36 Personal £41.50, A5 £62.50

Go and grab a bargain where ever you are...

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 9 Dec 2011

2011-12-09T05:01:00.001-05:00

Today is Finsbury Friday....

On offer today at Filofax UK is 20% off all Finsbury products. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Free for All Friday No. 160

2011-12-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Years ago, contacts were one of my Filofax's (or Day-Timer's) main functions. I had pages and pages filled with the home/work/vacation addresses and the various phone numbers of my friends and work contacts. Although many people used a Rolodex at work, I liked being able to carry that information with me, especially when I was juggling several part-time, freelance, and volunteer jobs. Nothing beats a ring-bound organizer for that kind of record keeping.

Now I find that just one set of Slimline A-Z tabs is enough. Truly, if I were better about maintaining the contact apps on my computer and cellphone, I wouldn't even need those. But I like having just the essential phone numbers on paper in case my cellphone runs out of battery power or crashes and I really need to order my favorite pizza!

How big a part do contacts play in your Filofax?

Today being Friday, all topics are welcome, as well.

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 8 Dec 2011

2011-12-08T05:05:00.005-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is Multi-buy Paper & Essentials 3 for 2. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Death by Deco - Guest Post - Helen

2011-12-08T01:04:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Helen for this guest post, take a read and then please take part in her poll in the side bar..

I seem to have a little bit of a Deco problem which I thought you could help me with. My lovely husband bought me a ruby Deco for Christmas last year, and I use it as a Book-o-fax. I do read a lot of books, about 40 a year, and after each one I write my reviews for my blog and keep them in my Ruby Deco to look back on.

Earlier this year when I saw the Ebony Deco on sale at half price lovely hubby encouraged me to buy it as Book-o-fax Volume 2. I then had a bad day at work and discovered that Conduit Street had the Ivory Deco on sale... an email and phone call later and it was winging its way to me as Volume 3. It doesn’t stop there, I’m ashamed to say.

Lovely Hubby took me for a day out in London for my birthday couple of weeks ago and we visited Conduit Street where the Amethyst Deco was on sale... I now have Volume 4. It’s a good job they only made four colours.

I have been giving some thought about how to best use these beautiful Filofaxes. I am reading all of Agatha Christie’s books in order of publication in my GreatAgatha Christie Challenge.

I have decided that one of my Decos should become my Agatha-Christie-o-fax, just for recording my challenge. It may morph into a Golden-Age-Of-English-Crime-Writing-o-Fax (natty title!) as I am also reading a lot of other crime fiction from that era.

So, this is where I need the help of the great Philofaxy community, which colour should be my Agatha-Christie-o-fax?

The Ruby – Deep red, reminiscent of the pool of blood left on the vicar’s desk after Colonel Prothero was shot in the vicarage study (Read The Murder at the Vicarage).
The Ebony – Deep black, reminiscent of the darker side of the Human soul which leads to murder, and of the shadow of darkness used to cover the bungled shooting of Leticia Blacklock (Read A Murder Is Announced).
The Ivory – Truly deco in colour, and reminiscent of the famous missing pearl necklace clue in Death on the Nile.
The Amethyst – Poisonous purple, reminiscent of the poisons used by subtle and patient perpetrators of that most awful of crimes, and used against Mrs Inglethorpe of Styles (Read The Mysterious Affair at Styles).

So, dear Philofaxers, which of the Decos is up to the job of recording over 80 novels and short stories containing crimes of passion, jealousy and greed?

Helen

12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-07T05:41:00.002-05:00

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Chameleon in a Personal size.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
8 Classic A4's
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
11 Finchley Minis
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
12 Domino Personals
11 Finchley Minis
10 Cuban Zips
9 Holborn Pockets
8 Classic A4's
7 Deco Pockets
6 Osterley Personals
5 Malden A5s
4 Songbird pockets
3 Finsbury slimlines
2 Topaz pockets
And a Chameleon in a Personal size..
And no Apex's of any size.

And that's how you can get 78 Filofax Organisers.... total cost approx £6300 !

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 7 Dec 2011

2011-12-07T05:05:00.012-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is 50% off Graphic folders. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Aston Filofax in Orchid

2011-12-07T00:00:00.028-05:00

I've had a lot of people asking me about my personal Aston in Orchid, what the color is like, how is the leather, etc. Here is my full report!

The Aston, like other luxury Filofaxes, comes in a nice Filofax box.

The stitching is beautiful.

I've had a lot of people ask me about the color, which is pretty well represented here (on my computer at least). It is a pinky purple. I would call it a dark mauve. The stitching is lighter, more pink.

The inside layout has card slots and a full-length pocket in the front:

and a full length zip pocket in the back:

The leather is so incredibly flexible that the cover bends completely back easily (and there you can see my street in the background).

The Aston lays flat right out of the box. It comes loaded with the Cotton Cream diary, tabs and pages throughout.

The back of the binder has more of the beautiful stitching:

Another view of the front:

A good image of the color:

This shot with the flash shows the texture of the leather. It's not pebbly like the Finchley.

Many thanks to my dad who very generously gave me my Aston as a birthday present!!! Thanks Dad!

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 6 Dec 2011

2011-12-06T05:05:00.019-05:00

On offer today at Filofax UK is 25% off personalised diaries. This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Free For All Tuesday No. 44

2011-12-06T00:00:00.003-05:00

Questions questions questions... have you got one? Never be afraid to ask a Filofax related question...

Filofax UK Today's Special Offer - 5 Dec 2011

2011-12-05T05:05:00.017-05:00

The Filofax "12 days of Christmas" has started. Filofax will be bringing you an exclusive 24 hour offer every day for the next 12 days. Be sure to check the Philofaxy website again tomorrow!

On offer today at Filofax UK is 20% off all Flex Covers This offer is only for 24 hours until 10am tomorrow morning.

Click on the Filofax Logo to the right to be taken to the site, all purchases via this link will earn commission which will be added to our charity donation total.

Thank you for your help and support.

Reader Under The Spotlight - Pati

2011-12-05T00:00:00.124-05:00

Yes we are returning to our series of posts focusing on you the readers. And today I have the pleasure of introducing to you, the delightful Patrycja (Pati).

Pati is an aspiring photographer, please visit her website . In addition, she is mum and a full time carer to her husband, who is disabled and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Pati also helps military charities in aim of PTSD awareness.

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?

I was first introduced to “Filofax” type organizers at the age of 10 by mum, mum (the “organization freak “). I loved so much that I decided to save money for the real thing.

Around 2003 I finally managed to get my hands on real A5 Filofax ( I think it was Hampstead) that my auntie bought abroad and I have loved it ever since .... that happiness didn’t last long as 2 years later my dog ate it!

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?

I have used Moleskine and Mum’s Family desk planner – both of them didn’t work for me

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?

I have my favourites: My A5 Cuban ( waiting for and upgrade to a zip model ) – that’s my main House /medical filofax that holds all the stuff I need with loads of tabs so my DH can find what he is looking for and personal Ruby Deco (my DH was saving for it for over a year and in the end he got it for £80- bargain)

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

I don’t tend to keep filofaxes that are not in use ( I donate them to my friends and family) I have 4 filofaxes (but waiting patiently for Alice Temperley for filofax )

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

A5 Cuban my house fax, A5 – Finchley my photography Fax, personal Deco – my handbag fax, and pocket Breast Cancer Campaign – currently retired (my first Filofax I bought when I moved to UK)

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?

I love the Flexibility that allow me to personalize it according to my needs , that change so often . I also love the fact that Filofax gives you so many different options to chose from – from luxurious leather to quirky patterns. Also there are plenty of different inserts and accessories to chose from - You are in complete control in what you put in it , personalize it - that what makes it unique , and makes it “yours”.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?

I would love to have a leopard print one! When it comes to inserts I would love to see(what I use now) monthly overview page that include space for birthdays, events, bills, doctors appointments , and important dates with space for notes .

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

In my handbag. For my Deco I made pouch to stop it from getting scratched (as I tend to dump all kinds of things in my handbag)

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?

Honestly? The only one I like is Osterley - but my budget wont stretch that much ..:(

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

It would be Deco £80

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?

I love the fact that there are people that share my love and passion for a Filofax, there are many interesting topics especially I like web finds – and thanks to them I have find so many interesting blogs like: Musings of a Caribbean Princess, Plannerisms, Imysworld that I check daily.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Nothing!

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

Rihanna “Talk that talk”

Thank you Pati for your great contribution to Philofaxy.

Charity Donation

2011-12-04T07:25:00.006-05:00

Last year we donated £120 to the Breast Cancer Campaign using the commission earned on sales of Filofax goods. I think this was an excellent result.

In July this year I pledged to donate all of the commission earned in the last 6 months of the year to a charity on sales through the adverts on Philofaxy for Filofax UK, WH Smiths, Ryman etc. I apologise now for making the bottom of this post very advert heavy!

So far that total has grown to just under £150 with a four 'buying' sorry 'donating' weeks still to go. Any purchase no matter how small earns a small amount of commission. So everyone clicking via the links on the site and then purchasing something have added to the total and we are all very grateful for your help and support.

When I announced this in July a few suggestions were put forward as to which charity we should donate to. I've run back through the comments and picked them out. I've had to exclude none UK charities because the commission is earned in UK £ and to transfer the money to another currency will incur transfer fees etc.

I have set up a poll in the side bar for you to vote for which charity we make the donation to early in 2012 once the final total is known and the total has been verified. So please vote, you have until 30/12/2011 to decide.

Here are some links to the charities if you need help in making up your mind:

Thank you for your continued help and support.

Filofax Day?

2011-12-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

How does your Filofax fit in to your day? Have you ever recorded a time line about how often you refer to your Filofax in a typical day.

How essential is a Filofax is to your everyday life, not just a 'nicety' to have, but a genuine reason why Filofax is preferred in this modern, techno world.

Web Finds - 3 December 2011

2011-12-03T00:00:00.016-05:00

OK you know how this works... no excuses or feeble reasons just sit down and enjoy an hour or two of Filofax love... go for it!

Philofaxy meet up London November 2011 - The Life of a Perpetual Student
Bouche and the organiser - Bouche in the City
Migrating to the Cuban Zip - Filofax Fixation
Dividers - Designed by Marcus - LJ's Blog of Stuff
Filofax Karma - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Many thanks to Philofaxy - Chimwemwe
Another month, another 80s Filofax, another set up - Cats Corner
Stickers! (Part 2) - Well Planned Life
Filofaxes, Apples and Ski Boots - The Crazy Suburban Mom
Still no Finchley in purple - Paper Pens Ink
Make your own diary - Source files - My Life All in One Place
Never ask a lady her weight - Filofax Fixation
The move in to Lyndy the Lyndhurst Part 1 - Rapunzel's World
Filofax Travel Journal - Filomaniac
Filofax eMarketing & Online Sales Manager - Filofax UK
Filofax organiser Day planner inspiration - Imagine
My new dividers - Rapunzel's World
A5 business set up and tabs - My Life All in One Place
Rest in Pages: Where Do To Do's Go To (Michael) - Well Planned Life (All Stars)
My Own New Pink Treasure - Inspiration To Live Well
My Current Love Filofax: Malden Pocket in Vintage Pink - Jana Book Look
Filofax Taunts Me... - LJ's Blog of Stuff
The Cuban Zip dilemma - Rapunzel's World
Filofax Update - The Gentlewoman Blog

This caught my attention too...

Enjoy

Sliding Tabs

2011-12-02T17:00:00.001-05:00

This idea came to me in one of those flashes of inspiration, a sort of why didn't I think of that before...

So the problem... Franklin Covey tabbed pages are much wider than Filofax ones... so much wider that they stick out of the side of a Filofax organiser.. See Zoe's blog post that shows this problem better than I can describe it....

So the FC Tab picture is just that a standard dimension FC tab with the holes where they are when you buy them.... and yes they stick out.

I then put a Filofax Tab on top of it and located the holes where they would be on the page. Used a single hole punch on the FF holes and then with a craft knife cut out the card between each hole to form the slots.

In the binder pulled out you can see the tab.... pushed in it disappears flush with the excess in the space inside the rings. I've tried it on my Malden and it seems to work....

Just a slight variation with the mark 2 version. Just a simply single cut between the two rows of holes. You can still move them in or out with a little effort. But these might be easier to make and you don't lose too much of the space on the tab.

I will admit my mock up tabs aren't exactly beautifully made, but I just wanted to show you the idea...

Now the only problem I can see is if there is anything printed on the tab divider? It might look a bit messy/odd with the oval slots in?

Filofax UK 20% Discount Weekend

2011-12-02T04:00:00.013-05:00

Filofax have announced this morning a 20% off organisers not currently under other special offers. But you need to get in there with this promo code before midnight on Sunday night.

Christmas is nearly upon us and this weekend we're offering 20% off every Filofax organiser*! Just enter code: WKND20 at the checkout to claim your discount. Hurry, offer ends midnight, Sunday 4th December 2011.

All purchases made via Philofaxy will of course add to our Charity Donation Total.

Free For All Friday No. 159

2011-12-02T00:44:00.001-05:00

It's the first weekend in December, and holiday plans are really gearing up. Are you planning parties, school events, travel? Are you making your lists and checking them twice? How is your Filofax helping you during this very busy time?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax related.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Advent Calendar?

2011-12-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

It is 1st December, the count down to Christmas starts here I suppose... so what would a Filofax Advent Calendar look like?

Please put your ideas in to the comments....

Productivity Tips?

2011-11-30T00:00:00.001-05:00

At the suggestion of one of our readers (Alison) I am going to try an experiment today. Alison asked the following question:

Anything on Time Management, Organisation.... Filofax related if possible. Do you have any links to productivity stuff you have found useful, a You Tube video on organising your desk, links to makers of complimentary products and so on.

I thought, after all our Filofax Organisers are only one of our tools to help us with our day to day organisation. So how does your Filofax link in to these themes and do you have any links to more specific Time Management/Organisation sites.

Add any links or tips in to the comments. We might run this as a regular feature depending on the reaction to this first post.

Thank you Alison for your suggestion.

To get you started here's a few posts I've come across recently:

Being organised V.2 - My Little Rabbit

Free For All Tuesday No. 43

2011-11-29T00:00:00.009-05:00

We are closing in on December... but as it's Tuesday, you are of course very welcome to pose any Filofax related questions for us to try answering...

Filopedia - Flickr Project

2011-11-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

At the suggestion of Katka I have created a new group on Flickr to create a catalogue of every Filofax organiser ever made. Now it will need as many people as possible to contribute photos to this group to make it work.

So please take a look at the group on Flickr and contribute any photos you have along with model names and approximate year that the Filofax was for sale. Interior shots would be useful to help people identify unknown Filofax organisers.

Reader Question - Emergency Filofax?

2011-11-28T00:00:00.004-05:00

One of our readers wrote in and asked 'How has Filofax helped you in an emergency?'

I know some people that keep detailed medical records and diet information in their Filofax, but what do you record for emergencies in your Filofax?

I have a follow up question to this, what forms would you find useful for recording this information?

Date for your Filofax - 4 December 2011

2011-11-27T00:00:00.004-05:00


New York	London	Paris	Jakarta

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype.

I'm sure we are gradually getting to know each other's voices, but I will make a point of going 'around the table' to get everyone to introduce themselves this time.

So...When, Where, What, Who and How?

When? - Sunday 4th December from 10am (US East Coast time), 3pm London time, 4 pm Paris time 9pm Jakarta etc. See the clocks at the top of this post to see roughly what time you should be on line.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype.

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones reduces 'echo' on the call.

Who - All of you... connect up with Philofaxy and we will attempt to get as many of us linked in to the audio conference as possible.

How -

Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
Then 'Start Chat', I will then add you in to the chat room.
Then if you request it, I can add you to the audio conference as well. But if you just want to chat via keyboard that's fine. That way it's slightly less hectic for me!

Filofax 50% off selected lines

2011-11-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

I realise a lot of you have already reacted to this, but it was announced during my 36 hours of limited internet connectivity on my trip back to France! Poor excuse I know...

Anyway, take a look at what is on offer, and don't hang about if there really is something you want to buy. Hurry, sale ends 4pm, Thursday 1st December 2011.

Use this link and you will be adding to the Philofaxy Charity Donation...

Web Finds - 26 November 2011

2011-11-26T00:00:00.022-05:00

Go on, ignore that you should really be doing something else, grab a tea or a coffee and sit and enjoy some great web finds this week.

But keep an eye on the time I don't want to get the blame for you missing an important appointment, in fact you should schedule some time each week for web finds!

Stickers - Well Planned Life
Filofax Smoothness Comparison - Imysworld
A glimpse of heaven - Filofax Fixation
The Philofaxy Meet Up 19/11/2011 - Rapunzel's World
Thoughts of Tracy. The Filofax Personal Apex - Rapunzel's World
Crafty Filofax Superpowers - Julie Gibbons
Philofaxy meet up 19 November - Anita
Philofaxy meet up - November 2011 - Imysworld
Filofax Goodness - Angeliki
What's in the bag? - Rapunzel's World
My perfect A4/A5 diary layout - My Life All in One Place
Filofax's facial - Vanjilla
Mini Finchley - My Little Rabbit
My Lyndhurst eBay bargain - Rapunzel's World
It's here! It's here!!!! - Filofax Fixation
Download and Print your own A4/A5 pages - My Life All in One Place
27 Dresses, Filofax Spotting - Imysworld
Falling Out of Love - Musings of a Caribbean Princess
Trying to keep organised - Planet Millie
Filofax Apex Review - Bluebonnet Reads
Look what I have - All Things Pretty....Awesome
The Dominoes - Vanjilla

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 158

2011-11-25T00:00:00.002-05:00

So today I will start my journey back to France, we are travelling over night tonight. But as usual my Filofax will never be far from me for jotting down notes and ideas.

Sometimes my notes are a little too short and cryptic and I look at them the following day and think, what does that mean...!!!

As it's Friday feel free to discuss anything Filofax related...

Philofaxy Meet Up - Other Posts

2011-11-24T17:48:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the other posts about the meet up on Saturday:

The Philofaxy Meet Up 19/11/2011 - Rapunzel's World
Philofaxy meet up 19 November - Anita
Philofaxy meet up - November 2011 - Imy
Philofaxy meet up London November 2011 - The Life of a Perpetual Student
Filofax Meet up Bristol UK - Imy << Future UK Meet Up

Guest Posts and Ideas for Posts

2011-11-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

Do you ever sit reading the posts on Philofaxy or posts we have linked to and think, I wish they would write about x or y?

We would love to hear from you with some ideas for future posts even if it is something we have covered before but you would like us to go over a particular topic again and may be explore it from a different angle or to update a previous topic.

Or if you would like to write a guest post and have it featured on Philofaxy, whether you have a blog of your own or not, we would welcome your contribution and it would be great to see your ideas on the blog.

Do contact us with your ideas or contributions: philofaxy at gmail dot com