This month marks 20 years since I bought my first real Filofax, a black Italian leather Buckingham that I got at TJ Maxx for the shockingly low price of $25. At that time I was a broke graduate student, and I remember standing in the store holding the Filofax that would become my constant companion, wondering, "Will I use this enough to justify spending $25 on it?"
Little did I know the journey that purchase would set me on! My Filofax led me to looking around online where I found Philofaxy, eventually becoming a contributor here. My Filofax collection has grown over the years and I still use Filofax organisers on a daily basis.
I have many fond Filofax memories over the years. (Here is one of my favorites, so far at least!)
My Filofax organisers have led me through various life stages over the past two decades, from grad school to full time work, two babies who are now teenagers, multiple international moves, organising various jobs over the years in addition to my personal life, household, and my busy family.
I've never found a planning system that offers the flexibility that Filofax does. I love that pages can be swapped out easily; some pages can stay in my Filofax forever, while others come and go as I need them. And I especially love the freedom of printing pages and popping them straight into my binder, circumventing the expense and wait time of ordering pages online!
Even though I have used a multitude of different planners over the years, my Filofax has been a constant presence in my life ever since those early days so long ago.
So, thank you to my beloved Buckingham Filofax, you were certainly worth the $25 I paid for you!
(And in case you are wondering, I still have my original Buckingham. It has been through a lot in its long life and has the battle scars to prove it. It is now safely archived in a box on my shelf.)
As always on Fridays, feel free to ask/ discuss anything ring binder organiser related!
What a beautiful tribute, Laurie! No other item in my life has made such an impact as using a planner through the years. One of the systems I have always used was brought to me many years ago by Neil from "flatability". He recently re-released these videos explaining his GTD system-brilliant! Please check out his You-Tube videos under "camera2888". I'm sure you will pick up many good points from his simple, yet very effective system.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laurie for your article. I bought a Buckingham too, for about the same amount of money, a year ago. It was my first branded Filofax. I thought it was high quality because of the Italian leather but now I doubt it. It was in very good condition when I got it. And yet, after a year of daily use, the leather on the strap started to peel, as if it was made of plastic. I know leather can peel, but definitely not the way that strap did... so I googled it and found comments on Philofaxy from a woman who said she had the same planner, took it to 2 leather workers, and both said the "Italian leather" was a kind of plastic coating put on the split leather. Then I found old Filofax catalogues on Philofaxy. If I remember well, the planner was sold for 35$ (or pounds?) in the early 2000s, knowing that other Filofaxes in the same catalogue, made of real leather, had prices between 80 and 200 on average. Therefore, I have big doubts about the quality of this planner. I should also mention that mine was very scratch-prone. I was so disappointed that I bought another Buckingham: a vintage 2MLF, made in England in the 80s, with real leather. I am very glad with it. The quality is awesome. Does anyone else have quality issues with the modern-style Buckingham?
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