At this time of year my A5 organiser needs to go on a diet. This year more so than other years I've had more and more appointments popping up in the next year as early as June 2024, I was getting appointments for 2025, at first I just used my simple year planner, but as they multiplied I needed something with more detail.
In the end I got to August and started thinking about my inserts for next year. The result of which you will see in an earlier post. Basically my usual inserts with a little bit of a tweak to the design.
Once printed I wanted to get them in to my organiser. I had to archive the first 6 months to get them in. My Van der Spek 35mm Customs have been retrospectively fitted with 30mm Krause rings. This makes them more manageable but obviously it reduces their capacity a little, but makes the full organiser less of a brick to carry!
For the past few years I've been using other A5 organisers to store my past years of inserts. I have them going back to 2017 and before then. I also have some years of personal size inserts when I was using that size as well.
Using an organiser is an obvious but not the cheapest way of storing your inserts and spare inserts. I decided to look for an alternative so that I could get back my organisers for normal use.
It's not difficult to find suitable boxes, a visit to your local stationery store or supermarket with a handful of pages will quickly find a size that will work. I have done this for most sizes. I have some small plastic drawers I use for a lot of my spare pages, blanks etc.
Don't just think of looking in the stationery section, also consider looking in the food storage and household sections of any shop. There will be something that fits the bill.
For my previous years inserts I thought using something that held them in the right order would be a useful solution.
I discovered that Filofax still makes storage binders which are a simple plastic cover with posts to put your pages on. They do these in A5, Personal and Pocket size.
I also discovered some cardboard A5 organisers with a 6 ring mechanism, they did them in packs of 2 for quite a sensible price.
I ordered some and they arrived and despite them only having 20mm rings, I was able to just about squeeze 3 years worth of inserts in to each one!
Now they aren't easy to turn the pages when they are this full I know, but for occasional access they will be fine. I also like that they aren't made of plastic.
I've ordered some more so I have a future supply of them available as well!
How do you store your spare pages and/or previous year's inserts?
What an important question! As for my personal size pages, I don't really keep them. But if I want to reactivate one of my A5s for work, storage will be a key concern. Therefore I cannot provide an answer at the moment, but I will follow the posts here with interest.
ReplyDeleteThey look like the ring binders I use, to achieve my A5 Filofax. I use to use the Filofax binders, but they were no good, if you had to go through the sheets.
ReplyDeleteI use felt binders from Temu - £2.50 for Personal, £2.75 for A5 last time I bought them. The felt might offer some added protection and they come in 3 different colours which helps sorting. Both sizes have 20mm rings.
ReplyDeleteI have a box of A5 dividers, bookmarks, and special pages. Previous years' inserts sit on top of the pile. I cull regularly by noting any special events in a book of days, and then I shred or recycle the pages.
ReplyDeleteI bought an a5 starter kit of paper and dividers. The amazon page did not mention or show a binder but it came with one. A frosted plastic cover with metal rings that seem OK for storage I think the same amazon seller does sell them on their own. I bought the kit for sub tenner so I'd expect your binders to be cheap too.
ReplyDeleteFunny you mention this, because I'm currently developing archive binders for Filofaxes and other ring planners. Archiving and storing inserts has always been a pain point for me, and I think it's high time there's a well-made solution.
ReplyDeleteI've been taking surveys in the community (I actually posted it in the Philofaxy FB group) to gather some data on what folks are looking for, and should have a functional prototype in early 2025. I'll continue to share progress with the FB group!
So happy you have taken this on, Simone! I’m one of your survey respondents eager for an archive solution for my pocket and mini planners. Currently, I use a cheap plastic ring binder for archiving, which is not ideal.
DeleteThese look very useful and not just for storage - thanks.
ReplyDeleteSeeing this late for last week but for my personal size stuff I buy a new one every year in Lidl or Aldi. I take out the upcoming years contents that are usually functional but nasty plastic dividers and bleached paper. Anyway they usually retail around €5 and the binder is pretty good quality in vibrant colours. This way I can see at a glance that 2023 is green 2024 is yellow etc. I use A5 metropole for a work horse normally kicked around in the car boot. and I have a couple of nicer leather ones when I'm trying to impress🙂. My work notes really don't have any archive requirements But if they do I transferred them to a notebook in a refillable A5 leather cover.
ReplyDeleteI also have a very special 1965 binder of Danish origin that is precourser of the filofax. It's a bit dinged but nearly as old as I am and still does the job. I inherited it from a retiring engineer who visited me back in early 80s when Filofaxes were the latest thing.
Hope this helps someone, Declan.