Bargain Filofaxes & Filofax diaries - what a savvy shopper!

Hello all!

 

Well I had a most pleasant experience in Staples this morning.

 

Last night, I spent the evening frowning at the fact that my handbag is quite heavy, due to my Finsbury compact.  I blogged about my setup here.  I really really love it; the diary is a great size for me to put all my appointments, reminders and to dos in and I can see it all a week at a time.  It’s not even stuffed to the gills really . . . although it is reasonably full.  But it’s just . . . heavy.  So whilst I definitely don’t have planner fail, I am thinking that I am approaching Filofax Fail!  I’m really gutted.  It’s a shame they don’t make Dominos in a compact size because they are very light.  That would probably solve my problem!  I have seriously considered getting a slimline which could potentially work, but they are all either too expensive or too dull!  There’s no way on this earth I would use a black or brown Filofax.  My only options would be a red Amazona or a damson/magenta Adelphi.  And they’re as rare as hens’ teeth, at a reasonable price anyway!

 

Regardless, I digress.  All this ‘heaviness’ got me thinking about reverting to one of my pocket Filofaxes - not something that I really wanted to do.  I totally loved my aqua Finsbury but it’s a bit battered and faded now, and it's not the lightest one I have.  I also have a violet Domino and a raspberry Chameleon.  The Chameleon is quite light and has smaller rings (15cm I think) so I thought about slimming down my inserts and putting just what I need in there.  I thought what I’d try was using six months’ worth of ‘week per page’ inserts (for appointments and time-specific reminders) together with a month’s worth of dailies as well for my ‘to dos’ and more detailed information.  And I’d also use my pocket templates without dividers – just put them all behind one divider.

 

My next task – to have a good rummage through all my Filofax paraphernalia and find a 2012 ‘week per page’ pocket diary.  FAIL.  Oh dear.  So, after some surfing on t’interweb, I found one here at Staples.  For 42p!!!  Yes, you did read that right.  So in my basket it went, only to discover to my horror that the total price including VAT and delivery came to £5.70!!!  Well stuff that for a game of soldiers.

 

Then I remembered.  A while ago (January I think), I decided to buy a label maker.  It was about £12 (ish) on the Staples website but I didn’t want to pay for delivery when I have a Staples just down the road from me.  So I went to the store only to find the exact same make was over £30!  Needless to say, I queried this and they checked out their website to confirm what I was saying.  I ended up paying the price quoted online and I went home with a very large smile on my face!

 

So, this morning, my cogs were whirring.  I wanted to try a new setup but didn’t want to shell out much money in case I didn’t like it and it didn’t work for me.  I was going to have that diary for 42p, come hell or high water!  Off I trekked to Staples and found the diary in question.  At £3.75!  Blimey they are cheeky.

 

I found a very nice man who could help me and explained my dilemma.  After lots of searching on their website (he clearly didn’t have as much experience as me when it came to searching for Filofax products on the net . ..), he found the product in question at the grand total of 50p.  (Their prices obviously included VAT.)  He looked rather horrified at the low price but checked it out with his manager and said I could have it for 50p!  (I wasn’t going to argue for the sake of 8p . . .)

 

So, I handed my 50p over to the lovely lady at Staples and left with, yet again, a very large smile on my face.

 

The moral of the story?  If you don’t ask, you don’t get.  Or, it pays to ask.  Next time you want to buy something from Staples, check the product out online first and take a printout of it with you when you visit the shop.  You could save yourself some decent wonga!

 

P.S. – While I’m on the subject of Staples, they currently have the London Olympics Filofaxes at rock-bottom prices, starting from a fabulous £5.63!!!  Wow!  Check them out here.

 

If you want one at the price online, take a printout of the item with you in case it’s more expensive in the shop.  I believe that they have to sell it to you at the price quoted online.  It certainly worked for me!






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My new Filofax setup with DIY templates

Hello all!


It seems there's quite a bit of interest in the 'new' (or not) compact sized Filofaxes that have come out in the 2012 range.  You'll know that I posted some pics of mine recently because I unfortunately received a faulty one.  Well . . . I got my replacement the very next day, so I thought I'd take some more pictures of it to show you now that it's in full-time use.


I have to say, if you can think of all my previous Filofaxes as one-night-stands, this is the one I'm going to marry!!  Read on . . .


As you can see, the colour of the Raspberry Finsbury is really beautiful and vivid.

The first area of my Filofax is my 'welcome mat', so to speak.  Not very welcoming I know!  Maybe I ought to do something about that.  Anyway, here is where I keep my library cards, driving licence card, a few of my business cards to give out and also the form I have to fill in if I get a call to my work phone when I'm on call.  In the top-opening plastic envelope, I keep receipts that I'm likely to need again soon: for example, receipts for my daughter's clothing that I may need to return due to size issues; proof of postage/recorded delivery receipts etc.  I also keep vouchers that I'm likely to use in here.  Since I took this photograph, I've started using some rather cool sticky notes that I got from TK Maxx and I now have one of them stuck to the front of this plastic envelope.  I use this to make notes of any shopping I need to buy (apart from things I would buy on my big weekly grocery shop).  So if I'm out and about, I can have a quick look here and be reminded of anything I said to myself that I needed to buy.  They are really useful - about 10.5cm by 7.5cm and lined.  But that's another post . . .


You will see that I use a purple Frixion pen.  I use the barrel of a 0.5 pen with a 0.7 refill in it.  I love to use Frixion pens because I like to keep my diary neat.  I hate having to cross things out and waste space!

In the 'Dairy' section, I have my 2012 year planner.  On here, I mark birthdays, important deadlines (ie: car tax/insurance etc), when I'm on call for work and my daughter's school holidays.

Next is a sample page of my diary.  It's a Cotton Cream week on two pages and I currently have March to December in my Filofax.  I use the first box ('this week') for any to dos that need completing some time during that week, or to remind me of somebody's birthday or a deadline coming up the following week.


I have marked a pencil line half way down each page (excluding the 'this week' box).  On the top left, I put 'to gos' with the time in a circle.  If I don't have a specific time, I would put AM, AFT, EVE or DAY in a circle, followed by what's happening.  When I'm working, I put a 'w' in a circle and then the time to and from.  I put my daughter's and husband's commitments in this way as well because if my daughter's out, I'll be taking/picking her up and if my husband's out, I need to be at home for my daughter.  If I have any meetings at work, I jot them down here (but I use a separate A6 ppd diary for work to dos which I leave at work), as well as noting down any freelance commitments so I can schedule around them.  Using this system is great because I can see at a very quick glance where I need to be and when.


I use the bottom left for reminders where I don't actually have to do anything.  I just put a small dash and then the reminder.  For example, my pay day would be marked here as well as somebody's birthday.  I wouldn't need to do anything about the birthday at this stage as I would have already sorted a card and present out by now.


I use the bottom right column for 'to dos'.  Here, I draw a small box and then write the 'to do' next to it.  When I've completed the item, I tick the box.

You will see at the top of both pages, it says SH.  This is where I write a note to remind me that it's my daughter's school holiday (hence SH) and I also mark when I'm on call here.

I love using this system because everything is so organised and I can see at a glance what needs to be done and where I need to be.  This was the problem I had with my old pocket Filofaxes - everything was all muddled together and messy and I didn't like it.  I have more room with the personal inserts to arrange everything neatly.

Next comes my 'Notes' section, which simply contains a selection of plain and lined note paper, for general jotting when required.  Then my 'Projects' section which contains my lists of 'to dos' such as decorating jobs, general long-term to dos, DIY jobs and ideas for blog posts.  I haven't bothered taking photos of these two sections because I'm sure you know what note paper and to do sheets look like!

In my 'Information' section, I have a template for important telephone numbers, in case I lose/forget my phone or the battery dies.

Next I have my 'Financial' section, which contains two financial pages: one for my spends (to make me feel guilty for putting too many things on it!) and the other for expenses (I'm Secretary for my husband's cricket club and have to claim any expenses back in that regard).  Again, not bothered with pictures of these.

Also in my Financial section I have another template I made myself for Petrol Usage.  This is just so I can make a note of when I buy petrol, how much it costs and how many miles I did.

Next in the 'Financial' section is another template, this time for Overtime.  It's quite self explanatory when you look at the photo.

Next I have my Sat Nav postcodes template.  Here I have a list of friends/family/shops/hospitals etc that I would visit and their house numbers and postcodes.  So if I'm ever out and about and need to visit them, I use this.  Or if I'm at work and need to post a birthday card, I can just go onto Royal Mail's website and look up the full postal address using this basic information.

 

Next in this section I have another template, this time for Holidays.  I take my work holidays in hours because I work part time, so here I keep a record of holiday I've booked, how many hours it cost me and when I've booked it for, as well as a running total.

 

My next template is simply a record of what handmade cards or jewellery I've sold for my Mum at work, so I know how much money I owe her.  I tick the final column of the row when I've paid her for that item.

My final template is for my Passwords.  Obviously I'm showing you a blank one here for security purposes, but I do write them all down in code so that nobody would be able to use them if I (GOD FORBID) lost my Filofax.  I do shorthand too so some of them are written down in shorthand, which hardly anybody understands these days!

The last thing in my Filofax is another top-opening plastic envelope.  This contains coloured dots for marking 'non-routine' items, as well as repeat prescriptions and other bits of paper that I need to keep with me.

Then in the zipped pocket at the back, I have my stamps, a couple of business cards I need to keep with me and an Ikea tape measure.  Often comes in handy!

And here's how fat it all is.  Not too bad really!

Well I hope you enjoyed my post about my Compact Filofax and how I use it.  I can't imaging using a different size now, it's perfect for me.  I actually don't find it any bigger than the pocket Filofax.  Yes, it's a different (taller) size but the pocket is quite stumpy and fat.  This is slim and . . . well . . . compact!  It fits better in my bag because of this.

I've got my eye on the Compact Luxe in Blackcurrent but that will have to wait for quite some time, unless I win the Lotto of course!  Otherwise, I think I've found my mate for life.



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Click here for my recent post about bargain Filofaxes & diaries!

My new gorgeous Filofax! But . . .

(Click here to view my new setup with DIY templates . . . )


The moment I'd been waiting for for a long time arrived today . . . my new Filofax arrived!!!  It's a COMPACT Finsbury in raspberry and it's absolutely GORGEOUS!

Here come the pictures:

It's certainly a beautiful colour and the perfect size.

It also has a fully-elasticated pen loop (which fits a 4-coloured Bic pen in just fine).

You will see it's quite a bit slimmer than my personal Domino (which I think is fairly slim anyway).

So, I gave it a quick stroke, put it away and got on with some domestic duties that took priority over setting up my new beauty.  I would have the pleasure of doing that tonight.

However, just as I was about to collect my daughter from school, I thought I'd have one last peak before I left.  And . . . to my horror . . . I realised it was faulty!!!  Can you believe that one of the rings is actually RUSTY?!  I am totally shocked.  This is a brand new Filofax from their brand new range, so how on earth has it had time to get rusty???

Gutted is not the word!  So back to the shop she goes.  It's farewell to my little beauty as I wave her 'goodbye' for now.  (Her 'better-looking' twin sister is already on the way in the post apparently.)  See you again soon my love!  I cannot wait!  :-(




UPDATE: My replacement has arrived today and it appears to be rather perfect!  Many thanks to City Organiser for their fabulous service as ever.






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Welcome!

Hello everyone!  Or should I say . . . is there anybody out there?!?

Welcome to my new blog.  I've never done on of these before but I thought I should give it a go.

My name's Lucy and I love stationery and Filofaxes.  So I'm going to dedicate my blog to 'All Things Stationery'.  And Filofaxes!

I felt I had to discuss my excitement at the new range of Filofaxes.  Whilst it could be more comprehensive, I've got my eye on one that's due to come out any time.  The COMPACT raspberry Finsbury.

I love the size of the personal inserts but find the actual Filofax too . . . bulky.  So I'm hoping that the compact will solve my problem.  I did consider getting a compact raspberry Metropol but I gather it's a bit padded (ie: bulky) and my Mum's got a pocket one which I find a bit 'plasticy'.  If that's even a word.  So I've decided to wait and get the Finsbury.

I emailed Filofax on 5 March and they said it would 'a couple of weeks' before it comes out.  So . . . only a week or so to go!

What Filofax are you going to buy from the new range?