Recently I was calling around comparing heating oil prices (follow me here, I promise this relates to Filofax) and writing down the prices for each company. I started to write them into the notes section of my planner, but realized this was information that 1) I don't need to carry around with me, and 2) my husband might need access to. So I put it in a file folder instead.
Back when my kids were babies and we traveled often, I kept a lot of information in my Filofax that most people would keep in file folders. But this system majorly broke down when I started switching around Filofaxes and lost track of which binder held things like my magazine subscription lists with due dates. So I started putting this information into file folders instead.
Whether you put information into your Filofax, into file folders or in a household binder, what matters most is to have information that other people might need to access in one central location.
Do you keep household information mainly in your Filofax, in file folders or in a household binder? (Or someplace else like your computer or phone?)
And as always on Fridays, the floor is yours to discuss anything Filofax-related. Happy Friday everyone! :)
I keep most household info in my binder, but that's also because I am a stay at home mom and my A5 is more of a household management tool than anything. I do file bills and other information away, but anything that I'm currently acting on or will be acting on in the future is kept in filed in my binder.
ReplyDeleteI tend to keep mine in my FF.......there isn't anything we really both need to access, and i do most of the related stuff anyway. If I *did* need to share it, I'd probably do it through a shared electronic folder somewhere like Dropbox or Google drive (although I'm not keen on the new-and-improved version)
DeleteI was trying to tell my husband where to look for stuff if something happened to me. He said: "I'll just look in your planner." Good idea.
DeleteDoes anybody know if City Organiser have a discount code for October?
ReplyDeleteDon't believe so at the moment, have your checked their Facebook page? And liked it of course....
DeleteThanks for that Steve - just visited and liked
DeleteYou can ask them on there, too. I asked and they gave me on in September. They are great!
Deletehi Laurie, I've never seen the merit in recording oil prices, because they change so much from one order to the next. I was shocked to find out the other day that heating oil suppliers are *not* regulated by OFGEN, which effectively means they can do what they like as regards both pricing and service levels, and the that's certainly reflected in some of what passes for customer services here in South Wales.
ReplyDeleteWhat might be more use than price info would be to record (the many) instances of bad customer service in order to facilitate the inevitable complaints when they need to be made! I'd definitely use my Filofax for that....
I keep a monthly record of our oil tank level and translate that in to litres so I can monitor how much we have used. But we only need to fill our tank once every 12 months, but our supplier lets us pay on a monthly basis and this includes the servicing of the boiler.
DeleteWe used natural gas in UK so this is the first time we have had oil fired heating.
But the price of oil has more than doubled here in the last 7 years since we bought the house!
Steve
Okay. I was wondering why people were monitoring oil prices. Not something I do in the US,
DeletePatty our house is heated with heating oil, which is actually kerosene, which is stored in a huge tank outside. Prices fluctuate a lot here so when I need to have the tank filled I call around to get the best price. This is the first time we've had this type of a heating system so shopping around and comparing prices for this is new to me!
DeleteInteresting. I can see why you would need to do that.
DeleteI do all 3: a Household Data binder for recording account numbers, passwords; a hanging file system for paper filing; and of course, my Filofax for the day-to-day stuff.
ReplyDeleteAll my household bills and stuff goes into a filing system (when I get around to filing - but that is another story!). I've just revamping, but my FF is just used for diary/planner, tasks and project lists, and anything personal - present lists etc. I've used an A5 home binder on and off over time, but this is more likely to store menu planners, shopping lists, flylady type lists. As I work from home I don't really have a need to carry a lot of stuff around with me as I'm home often enough to access it.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know of any good Filofax shops in Birmingham?
ReplyDeleteI have meeting in Birmingham next week and have a bit of time to kill - great opportunity for a little window shopping!
I don't go to Birmingham much these days, but Rackhams and Selfridges used to stock them - you could try calling ahead? Also there is The Pen Shop (http://www.penshop.co.uk/) in the Great Western Arcade which stocks them. This is behind Rackhams - if you google it, it will give directions.
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ReplyDeleteDarn Google Accounts - I thought I had deleted "just another mummy" eons ago. Second time lucky!
ReplyDeleteI have a house ring binder that has everything in one place. It has a list of all the useful telephone numbers plus all our NI, Passport numbers etc.
Then sections for each month. At the front of each month section is a typed list of things that have to be done that month divided up by birthdays, household and garden. Behind that goes anything that comes in that I need to keep related to that month. Travel tickets, information about school trips etc.
At the moment the house cleaning routine (the deep clean not every day stuff) is in a separate section and I check off each item as I get around to it. I am thinking of getting rid of this and instead putting the jobs on the page at the front of the monthly sections.
(BTW can you only reply to posts using Google Account?)
Then there are sections for Term cards (we have three different schools plus 2 choirs and an orchestra to keep up with) and finally a section for each member of the family. Here go ideas for presents, business cards for things like French Horn repair lists of presents received at Christmas to write the thank you letters etc.
It is used by everybody and would probably be the first thing I grabbed as I fled a burning house!
Gillie - this sounds like a great use of a home binder and you have provided some great ideas that I will probably steal!
DeleteI started usung flylady system and setting up a Control Journal to have household and our family members information ready to use for everybody (mainly for my DH).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I plan to put the most important information on the ftidge because I'm not sure if my DH will check the Control Journal every day. Our Daughter is only five, and her daily routines will be drawn and hang on her wall so she could check every action herself with a marker.
I also plan to write and keep records of food and gas prises to plan my spending( to check if the government is lying on this also ( i am not sure how to write the
verb to lie correctly, forgive me). I don't need this every day, so this will go into the Control Journal.
In my Filofax goes my GTD personal system as " someday, maybe; next action ( to go, to call, to buy etc.); references; waiting for; projects" lists.
In conclusion, our family information stays at home in a binder, my personal goes with me in FF. If i need to share my data with my DH, I forward him this with an email from my iPhone.
P.S. It might be a good idea to have our Control Journal in google Docs or something like that to have it ready anywhere. I'll just scan it!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a family calendar online somewhere so your family has access to it?
I update my google calendar every week. My FILO is my main calendar but I do add my appointments to google just so that my husband has access to it. Once he got the iPhone, he preferred this method. Anything to keep him organized!
DeleteAnything home related goes into the home binder (personal Malden). We have house to do items, a full address book, passwords, home projects, ect. I thought I would use this more than my husband, and while that is true, he uses it fairly often. So it was worth the effort to set it up. It stays at home always so there's no worry about what information might get taken if left somewhere. It's the perfect companion to my every day compact binder!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I should do something like that.
DeleteI have seen some lovely spotty, dotty grid paper on Ray'sblog to download. Would love some in my Filofax.... but has anyone got any innovative ideas of putting this type of notepaper to good use??
ReplyDeleteIsometric drawings... house plans... circuit diagrams.. I've printed some off for my work Filofax...
DeleteAn 'isometric' (same + length) drawing of a house might need quite a large pad...
Delete:-)
Thanks...house plans/ classroom plans seem like a good idea!!
DeleteMy system is designed to work exclusively on lined paper and/or to-do and address pages, specifically so that I can stick to Cotton Cream throughout. However, due to Filofax's unwillingness to produce any decent diary inserts in Cotton Cream, I have to use the hateful week-on-two-pages standard layout, which doesn't suit me at all, *just* to get uniformity. At the moment uniformity is winning......but I don't see why FF can't produce a variety of diary inserts in Cotton Cream.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone advise whether alternative Cotton Cream diary layouts in Personal size are available from overseas (non-UK) sites?