Reader Under The Spotlight - Lucy

Today I would like to introduce you to another of our readers... Lucy. 

Hello fellow Filofax nerds!  I'm Lucy (aka LucyLastic) and I run the blog All Things Stationery.  I live in West Yorkshire (UK), I'm 35, have been happily married to Phil for 13 years and we have a six year old daughter called Phoebe.  I work part time in HR and I also do a bit of freelance proofreading here and there.  I play the flute in a concert band and I'm also the secretary for my husband's cricket club.  I've always been a bit of a stationery fan and spent far too much of my youth browsing round WH Smith instead of toy shops...

1. When did you buy your first Filofax and what was it?
I actually had my first Filofax bought for me as a present from my Mum when I was about 19.  I have no idea what model it was but I'm fairly sure it was a personal and was navy blue around the edges with a kind of pinky/browny swirly pattern in cloth fabric around the centre.  Unfortunately, it was just too big for me at the time (I'd only just started work) so I don't remember using it that much.  I've no idea what happened to it!  If anyone has any idea about what model it could have been, please let me know!

The first Filofax I bought for myself was a Microfile black leather mini that I used to death for a number of years (from the mid to late nineties to about 2008) and it was absolutely stuffed to the gills.  There's a picture of it (still stuffed) on my blog under the post called 'Mini Longing'.  I certainly got my money's worth out of that!  I've a feeling it was about £18 at the time, although I might be wrong.

2. What other brands have you used or considered using?
I used a Letts slimline diary for a while in early 2011 as well as a Letts Festival Academic diary but it wasn't long before I moved back into my third Filofax that I bought in 2008, an aqua pocket Domino.  I also bought (and considered using) a CiAK Duo weekly agenda, a Mum's Office School Year (grid) diary and an Organised Mum Pocket Life Book but whilst they were all great in their own ways, they just simply didn't measure up to my Filofax so they never got used.  Basically nothing else measures up and I've used a Filofax for the vast majority of my adult life.

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)?
I am now fully in the 'slimline' camp and I currently use a Damson Slimline Adelphi which is my favourite - it was second hand (mint condition) and the leather is soft and supple, so it lays flat very nicely and because it has no clasp, it opens up at the flick of a wrist.  Slimlines are the perfect combination of enough room to write and fit in what I need but small enough to slip into a small handbag (or jacket pocket if you're a bloke I suppose).  I am on a mission to persuade Filofax to produce a bigger selection of more feminine-coloured slimlines.  They are completely overlooked in my opinion because they're a brilliant size for ladies' handbags, and if your circumstances change and your life becomes a bit busier, you can simply put your existing inserts into a compact or personal and add more of what you need, without having to rewrite everything to a different sized diary insert.  Or, you can use a compact/personal during the week at work and then just remove the necessary pages and put them into your slimline for the weekend.  Perfection!

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?
I currently own twelve *gasps*, although I'm selling two of them:

• Mini leather Microfile (black)
• Mini Domino (Lavender)
• Mini Finsbury (Aqua)
• Pocket Domino (Aqua)
• Pocket Domino (Ultra Violet)
• Pocket Finsbury (Aqua)
• Pocket Chameleon (Raspberry)
• Slimline Adelphi (Damson)
• Slimline Adelphi (Magenta)
• Compact Finsbury (Raspberry)
• Compact Chameleon (Raspberry)
• Personal Domino (Ultra Violet).

Oh - and I also recently bought my daughter a mini pink zipped Finsbury for doodles and colouring etc, so she can 'be like Mum'.  So I guess that's . . . twelve and a half???

5. What do you use your Filofax for?
I use it as my diary/planner to organise my life and co-ordinate it with that of my family's life - appointments, reminders, to dos are noted in it and I also have a record of my financial spends so I can rein myself in when required.  As well as a 'week on one page with notes' diary, I have a few templates for extra bits of information, such as card/jewellery sales for my Mum (I sell her stuff at work and make a note of how much I owe her), work holidays (I take mine in hours because I'm part time so I like to keep a running total), sat nav postcodes (instead of a full list of addresses), important telephone numbers (in case my phone dies), petrol usage, payments made (ie: for my daughter's activities/school), passwords (I have the memory of a goldfish) and overtime.  I also use my Filofax to store any receipts I may need as well as stamps, business cards, money-off coupons, my library cards and driving licence.

6. What was the feature about Filofax you like most?
I love the fact that I can add my own bespoke personal pages to suit me, and that I can remove past pages that I don't need any more to help keep the whole thing compact and lightweight to carry around with me.  The fact that I can have a 'week to view with notes' diary as well as a few days from a 'day per page' diary is something that you simply don't get in a bog-standard diary such as the Letts ones that I've used a couple of times before.

7. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature?
Wow - that's a difficult question because I'm so happy with my current binder.  In a practical sense, I think I would just like a purple A4 Chameleon that has the two 'standard size/width' rings, just like an ordinary ring binder.  This way, I could have the benefit of a beautiful binder but not spend much money on inserts as I could use ordinary A4 refill pads, print my own templates off on A4 paper and punch them with an ordinary hole punch.  If I was going to go really wild though, it would have to be a peacock feather design!  I adore the colour of peacock feathers!

Whatever I'd choose though, it would definitely come in a dust bag to protect it from scratches.  I don't understand why leather Filofaxes don't come with a simple dust bag or pouch - handbags do!

8. How do you carry your Filofax?
It lives in my handbag at all times, except when I'm at work and then it sits in front of my phone and next to my pc.

9. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it?
Well I really liked the look of the compact Luxe in blackcurrent but that's disappeared into thin air so it looks like that's not going to happen any time soon!  I was determined to win it in the City Organiser competition... oh well.  I'd quite like a slimline Amazona in red (or even black) for work but they're generally too expensive to buy and they don't come up very often any more.  I also thought about buying a personal raspberry Chameleon (just because I don't have a leather personal Filofax) and an A5 raspberry Chameleon simply as I'd probably decide I need an A5 one day in the future and this is the one that I would choose, but I dithered for too long and now there aren't any half price ones left!  *sulks*

Talking of Chameleons, why on EARTH are they discontinuing such a beautiful binder???  Huh???

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?
£47.80 for my (new) Slimline Magenta Adelphi.  Slimlines in my favourite colours are so hard to find that I'll pay a bit extra if one of them pops up for sale.  I might have twelve Filofaxes but I think I've only paid full price for one of them, and I don't yet own any A5s which are obviously the more expensive binders.

11. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most?
I like discovering new tips that make my Filofax more functional and useful to me.  I also like the fact that I feel very normal when joining in conversations with so many like-minded people.  I would never discuss Filofaxes like I do here with anybody else.  They'd put me in a straight jacket, chuck me in a padded cell and throw away the key!

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?
The fact that it makes me spend money that I probably wouldn't be spending if I hadn't found Philofaxy...

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?
Oh gosh - there have been so many recently.  I can't remember the last one but I've recently acquired Caro Emerald, Olly Murs, Evanescence, Paloma Faith and Train.  My favourite band is The Feeling though - I've seen them live twice and they were awesome.  I have a very eclectic taste in music!


Thank you Lucy for going under our spotlight.