05 October 2012

Free For All Friday No. 203

Happy World Teachers' Day!
More information can be found at http://www.5oct.org 

I thought for this FFAF I'd have a little delve into the Philofaxy archives to see what was being posted on or around the 5th October in previous years.


I found it quite interesting looking back as it definitely highlights how many more posts are being written these days, for example 41 posts in October 2011 compared with a mere 8 in October 2006!

I hope you have a great weekend, and please feel free to discuss anything Filofax or ring bound planner related.

26 comments:

  1. That "In the Beginning" post is totally brilliant! I don't think I ever experienced a major digital planner failure, but I certainly know I was never able to make digital systems work well for me. I've tried a few times to do a hybrid system, going as far as to copy ALL of my appointments and recurring events into a google calendar and all of my notes and reference info into Evernote. But I just don't use it properly like I do the filofax. And I really find that needing to carry my tablet AND my filofax a bit much.

    I recently simplified my planner setup somewhat and am very pleased with the result. I had been maintaining a month view with all appointments on it, plus a monthly to do list, and then 2PPD diary, to which I needed to copy everything from the month view on a daily basis. I now just carry a week on two pages with a self-drawn to-do sheet in between. It works really well, and eliminates the need to copy info from one view to another. I just write things once now. Much easier.

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  2. Have any of you used a filofax to plan a wedding? and HOW? I currently can't understand how people do this on anything smaller than A4? And have therefore set up an A4 lever arch file (which is soon to be filled with cream paper and card when I get some...) but what about when i'm at work? I don't think scribbling ideas down on a post it is going to work for me... too many thoughts!

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    1. I think using a Filofax as a wedding planner is an excellent idea. If you look to the left of this page under Labels you will see the word Wedding. Click on that and it should take you to a post where someone talked about using a Filo for wedding planning. You could also Google that topic and it may take you to one of the blogs that a Philofax member has written a post about that topic. I can see your dilemma; if you are using tear sheets from magazines you would have to fold them in half to add to the A5. Also, many of the wedding planning workbooks that you can purchase are often the A4 size, but I have seen some smaller wedding planners. (Or you could always use an Ipad or other such tablet as I'm sure there is some type of app for wedding planning). But if you're like me, even though I have a tablet, I like magazines, I like tear sheets and I like to write stuff on paper. Good luck with your wedding planning and do check out that Wedding topic under Labels on this site. :)

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    2. Perfect timing! I just got married, and my Filofax was my primary planning tool! I also used one of the more traditional wedding planner binders, but in all honesty it barely got used other than to store invoices, receipts, and tear sheets.

      I wrote a post about the set up of my "wedding section" in my Malden here: http://thecrazylifeofj.blogspot.com/2012/05/wedding-planning-malden-strikes-back.html

      I knew I'd have trouble carrying another binder around, so I just made an "essentials" section in my main binder. I had several different tabbed sections, all which are detailed in the post. It worked perfectly for notes, business cards, etc while I was on the go.

      I did have one of the mega planning binders, but found I barely used all of the pre-created sheets in there... most of the checklists, etc were never even filled out. Oh well.

      If I were to do it again, I'd honestly just use my Filo, and then maybe get a blank binder and set up my own tabs for tear sheets, invoices, etc.

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  3. Fancy not coming across the fact that today is World Teachers' Day to put into October's Shining Hour Blog!!! Happy World Teachers' Day to all fellow Philofaxy Educators out there.... and to all their classes.

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  4. Do anyone know what period Filofax produced the Hamilton? My first Filofax that I bought used (really cheap) is a personal Hamilton and I absolutely love the build, quality and layout.
    Just wondered how old it might be?

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  5. Rocking out to Cher Lloyd on the Today show this morning following the 50th anniversary of Love Me Do. We Americans love us some British music sensations. Not sure Ms. Lloyd is a sensation or not but she is a delightful young lady during the interviews. I, myself, am a huge Cold Play fan but I also have little bitty step-granddaughters who love One Direction so of course, I listen to One Direction as well. And Adele. While you may laugh at my musical musings, it is much more entertaining than our recent Presidential debate. :-o

    Yesterday I received the A5 Grey Malden. (Thank you, Leah!) It is sitting next to me and I am admiring it as I type. Not sure how I will set this up as of now. As I also have an A5 Chameleon (Aqua) and A5 Finchley (Chocolate), I do need to assign a purpose for each of these otherwise it will drive me crazy as they sit on a shelf with no purpose. I'm sure one will be for crafts, Bible study, a recipe or food journal and/or maybe just a basic journal Filo.

    Forgive me if I mentioned this before, but I don't think I did. I recently received a Personal Ranger from a very generous person from England. She found me on one of the blogs mentioning that I would like to get my hands on one of those and she contacted me to say she had one she was no longer using. Incredibly it took less than 10 days to arrive to me in Michigan, USA and so I received it last week. I really like it and for not being leather, it is a very soft and pliable material. It is very rugged looking and the extra pockets are great. I wouldn't have minded if Filofax had made this in a leather version; I can imagine it in a nice pebbly leather which would give it a less rugged look yet make a nice wallet/Filo combo. Since I'm currently using a Compact Chameleon for my everyday Filo, I have loaded up the Ranger with all those extra sections and dividers that don't fit in the Compact. Not having everything with me is driving me crazy but I do like the lightness of the Compact and the loaded Ranger (or any Personal for that matter) does get cumbersome.

    Going to have to take a break from Filo buying for awhile. The holidays are coming and it is gift buying season. I have one more Filo on my wish list and then I think I will probably be done for a long while as I don't see anything else in the current offerings that I desperately have to have. But I do want a Personal Malden in Grey (or Crimson if I ever stumble across one and have the extra $$ on hand). All in all, it's been an interesting week. We had a lovely 78 degree sunny fall day yesterday and it will barely reach 50 this weeekend. Have a great weekend everyone.

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  6. I just recently purchased a mini chameleon and I'm hoping to use it as a wallet. What are the best ways to store credit cards that don't fit in the pockets on the inside cover? (I think there are only 3?)I'm not crafty so DIY is a challenge for me. Any suggestions? thanks!

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  7. I think you can get cedit card holders inserts try amazon

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  8. that credit card holders. or try tescos clear pencil cases

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  9. Just came up with an idea:
    A personal-sized notepad attached to a sheet of heavy plastic (like the "today-marker" that can be stuck in front of my Hamilton. This would make up for the fact that I'm allways flicking to my notes-section to make a notation. And it could easily be taken out and placed next to my Filo for easy-access-notetaking...

    Anyone know if this has been made already?

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    1. Hi DanishGTD,
      How about this from The Perpetual Student, but using a top opening envelope instead?
      http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/filofax-hack.html

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    2. Hi Anita, Thanks for pointing me to that post! Great idea by TPS

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  10. Hey everyone! Does anyone know if the slimline Holborns come with the same pocket layout as the personal Holborns? I.e. the same layout for credit card pockets at the front, and a hidden zipped pocket at the back? Thanks!

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  11. If you had a chance to buy a filo you have wanted for ages, for a killer price, but it wasn't in the colour you wanted, would you compromise?

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    1. Ooh - that's a tough one... it would depend if I liked the available colour or not. I'm all for the layout etc, but if it was a colour I just don't actually like at all then there would be no point as it wouldn't get used. In theory I could put stickers and stuff on it if I really didn't like it, but I don't think I could bring myself to do that...

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    2. I would not make the purchase. The color really is just as important as everything else.

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    3. Yes. And keep looking and hoping. It also depends if what I want is available..... A5 crimson Malden not being available I have an A5 purple or a crimson personal, depending on whether size or colour matters more.
      And never mind the quality, feel the width. If the price is right.....

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    4. Hmm, I would have done years ago but have learnt that this generally isn't successful for me. So, nowadays I buy exactly what I want & have found that I actually save money as I don't regret my purchases :)

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  12. Hmmmm, that's a tough one. I just passed up an Ochre Personal at an amazing price on Adspot because I really want a grey one. The difference in price from the gently used one on Adspot and the new one I want is $50 so I'm thinking now that I could have made a compromise but I was trying to be patient and get what I really want (and hope that it goes on sale soon!)

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    1. It will always be 2nd best...unless it's very close 2nd favourite colour no I wouldn't buy it

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  13. I just received in the mail today some inserts from Filofax (extremely fast shipping). One of the items bought was the cheapo plastic hole punch for the A5. It's all I could afford for now. I know there's been alot written on this blog about various hole punches that everyone favors; I was just wondering if all of them have the 'larger' holes like this plastic one? When the Filofax paper comes pre-punched, the holes are noticeably smaller than the holes the hole punch makes. This is bugging me. So do any of the better metal hole punches (not the Filofax one; I'm not spending $70.00!) have the smaller holes? I would be buying one in the US.

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  14. I wonder if anyone can help me with printing out A5 size?? I want to print out A5 month on 2 pages like this (the month to view one)
    http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/free-monthly-2012-diary-sets-to.html
    each time I print it comes out full size on A4.
    Thanks

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