Is it too early to buy next year's diary refill?

Last year I made the mistake of buying the wrong format diary refill for my A5 Filofax. I made too hasty a decision in December, and by the time I realised I had made the wrong choice it was too late to get the format I wanted.

So I noticed that it's possible to buy 2010 refills 6 months before the end of the year... but I'm not going to rush into buying my refill for another couple of months yet.

So which format to go for? Obviously your first decision will be what size to match your binder... OK, that was the easy bit!

If you're just going to stay with the same format as this year, then your task is very easy. Filofax have standardised on the product reference code for their diary pages. This page has all the details. If you're buying from an alternative supplier, you should be able to check the product reference code against the ones shown on the Filofax site.

Looking at the catalogue on the Filofax website, you will notice that there are more different formats for personal or slimline size (95mm x 171mm) than any of the others.

The choice of refill will be a bit of a compromise between writing space and the bulk of number of pages for just your diary section. We all like to have plenty of other pages in other sections, don't we?

There are even choices to be made even for what seems to be the same format. For instance, in 'two pages per week' format, the multi-language version starts the week on a Monday and has reduced space for Saturday and Sunday. Or go for the English-only version, which starts on Sunday and gives each day the same amount of space, with a notes section at the end of the week. There are other variations as well, so take a look at all the options open to you.

Some of the larger formats offer additional planning tools in addition to appointments, as with the A4 Business Diary. This refill is quite expensive, and it's in 'page per day' format. Half of the page is dedicated to appointments, whilst the other half covers To do, Reminders, Phone calls/correspondence, Things to delegate. This would have everything for the serious 'GTD' (Getting Things Done) devotee.

If you find that some days or weeks that you need more space to write notes of a special occasion or a meeting, then you can easily slip in a sheet of ruled or plain paper. I tend to put a to-do list in to my diary in the week I'm going away so I can add things to the list for things to take away with me.

There are also choices on some formats on the colour of the paper; most are white only, but some come in cotton cream (a favourite of Inky's I recall) and also pink (to match the pink breast cancer edition binders, I presume).

I think we now know why Filofax place their diary refills on sale so early! Have fun choosing your next refill.

Welcome Laurie

Philofaxy has another new team member!

Laurie, who has posted some of the most interesting and intelligent comments on this blog, has joined Philofaxy and will be contributing her own posts where they belong -- front and center.

Laurie is an American living overseas. She's been using Filofaxes for over a decade and has been reading and commenting on Philofaxy for almost 3 years now. She travels frequently and relies on her Filofaxes to contain the details of her ever-changing life.

Free for All Friday No. 36

And so it goes...

Filofax on eBay, it pays to be patient

Well it took me a few attempts to get the right bargain for a Filofax Finsbury on eBay, but it was worth the wait. Some were selling for more than you could buy them for on normal mail order from a variety of UK office suppliers. So I limited my maximum bid each time. Wise advice from my son... it's easy to get carried away close to the auction deadline.

So I have added a new Finsbury to my collection, I paid £26 for it, this compares to £44 on the Filofax UK site.

Another bargain I bagged on the way was a Filofax pocket metal punch and pocket storage binder for a total price of £5.19 for the two items. The storage binder on the Filofax site is £8.50, the punch £26, so I was very pleased with those two.

So I now have a nice new black Finsbury with 2009 fill. I will be moving some of my pages from my old Winchester personal across in to the Finsbury, but at the moment I'm just enjoying it's newness!! I don't want to snap the cellophane wrapper on the pages just yet... well not until I've taken some photographs of it tomorrow when my camera will be back from having a sensor and mirror box clean.

So take a look at eBay for Filofax binders and accessories, but don't get carried away.

What bargains have you managed to bag on line?

Welcome Steve

Philofaxy has a new team member!

In the time-honored Philofaxy tradition of admitting one needs help, I've asked longtime reader and Filofax enthusiast extraordinaire Steve Morton to join the team. To my delight, he accepted. Steve's writing is always interesting, and his posts will be appearing on these pages along with mine from now on.

Steve is the owner of the Filofax Yahoo group and maintains his own blog, which focuses on his interest in Filofaxes, photography, and high-tech gadgets.

Steve divides his time between his homes in the UK and France.

You'll be seeing his first post tomorrow!