Filofax pros and cons: pocket size and smaller

Well, in the first post of this series, I covered the A5 filofaxes I have and was somewhat gratified to realise that I use most of them. In the second post, I covered the personal filofaxes and two Mulberry A6 binders I have. Most of them aren’t in use and I might well sell a couple of them.

In this post, I will cover the pocket filofaxes and smaller.

Here we go:

Type	Pros	Cons	Current use/location	Selling?
Aston in orchid	Pretty colour; 19mm rings; 4 card slots and other useful pockets	Slightly dry feel to the leather; doesn’t quite lie flat	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	Probably. I used it for a while and got on well with it, but if I’m going to use a pocket filofax, I think it would be the Baroque
Black Baroque	19mm rings; 4 card slots plus other pockets; lies flat-as-a-bat	Slightly useless zipped pocket	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	No
Red Classic	Fantastic colour; 4 card slots; other useful pockets; 19mm rings	Does not lie flat; card slots quite stiff	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	Probably (make me an offer!)
Black Cavendish	External pocket (like a wallet); external zipped pocket; four card slots	Does not lie flat; 15mm rings	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	Not sure
Black Portland	Four card slots; zipped, gusseted pocket; lies flat-as-a-bat; gorgeous leather	Black, so not bright enough for me; 15mm rings	Hubby uses it	No
Red Portland	Four card slots; zipped, gusseted pocket; lies flat-as-a-bat; gorgeous leather; fabulous colour	15mm rings	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	No
“Loki” Green patent leather Mulberry	Four card slots; gorgeous leather	15mm rings; card slots a bit stiff; zipped pocket too small	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	Maybe; I do love it (but will probably never use it...)
Pink mini Baroque	Four card slots (in a mini!!); other useful pockets; fabulous colour; gorgeous leather	Small! Zipped pocket not useful	Unused Bottom drawer of my desk	I was about to type Probably, then went and looked at it to check the pockets and now the Probably has become a probably not!

So, that’s another eight binders, many of which I don’t want to sell and none of which are in use at the moment (and of them, only really two are potentially usable by me – the red Portland and the black Baroque). Why do I find it so hard to let them go? With the pockets, I think it is because I wonder if I might go back to a planner plus a wallet – the reason they don’t work for me is because I try to combine the two and they are just too small. If I went to planner plus wallet, the 15mm rings wouldn’t be a problem. But also, I think I am just an inveterate hoarder!

Anyway, as of today, I am the owner of 7x A5 filofax, 2x A5 Mulberry, 7x personal filofax, 2x A6 Mulberry, 6x pocket filofax, 1x pocket Mulberry, 1x mini filofax. Total:26

Gulp.

Stop buying them!

My filofaxes – where are they now? (part 3)

In part 1, I described why I had bought all of the A5 filofaxes I own and what they are being used for now. Almost all of them are in use, I am pleased to say.

The same couldn’t be said about the collection of Personal sized filofaxes I own, which I covered in part 2!

So what about the Pocket-sized filofaxes and the mini that I own?

Pocket sized

Aston in Orchid

Why did I buy it?

I bought it because it had 19mm rings and reasonable pocket format and I wondered if I could down-size to a pocket from a personal. In fact, I did use this for several months, but it proved just too small once summer started. I blogged about it here, here and here. And probably in other places too... (like here).

Where is it now?

In the bottom drawer of the bureau. I’m not sure if I will sell it or not. I did like using it, but it was always pretty stuffed!

Black Portland

Why did I buy it?

I bought it because I wondered about down-sizing and it seemed to have a good layout of pockets and so on. I never used it though. The 15mm ring size was too small.

Where is it now?

My DH uses it! See here.

Black Cavendish

Why did I buy it?

Same reasons as other pockets – I thought about down-sizing into it but then felt it was too small. The back slot for paper money made it a better candidate than others but the 15mm ring size defeated me. I did a compare and contrast of these three pocket-filofaxes here.

Where is it now?

With all the others, in the bottom drawer of the bureau. I may well sell it.

Black Baroque

Why did I buy it?

It was being discontinued and I adore my personal size baroques. Just a shame it was in black. It has a good selection/layout of pockets (apart from the zipped pocket) but doesn’t have the back slot that is useful for paper money. It does however have 19mm rings. I reviewed it here.

Where is it now?

Still in its box, in the bottom drawer. In the same week, I bought the Mulberry agenda and moved into that instead. Of all the pockets, this is the one most likely to be used.

Mini Baroque in Pink

Why did I buy it?

It was on sale and I didn’t know better.

I used it (briefly) as a wallet and for that, it was okay, but not great. Worse than carrying a proper wallet and a notebook. I blogged about it here.

Where is it now?

Oh, you can surely guess! Where are most of them???

I am contemplating selling it. I honestly can’t imagine using it again – the layout was all a bit odd for me and it seems daft to keep it just because it matches the personal sized baroque!

So, there you have it! The whole, shameful story in three parts. Am I a lost cause? Are there others out there just like me? Is there any hope for us???

The mini-baroque filo-purse

Time to put my new purchases to work! I bought the pink baroque mini to use as a purse (wallet), with the idea that it would also have notepaper and the diary in it, in case I needed them.

The mini out of its box

When it arrived (thankfully DH was out so I could drool in peace) I moved essential cards from my purse into the four slots in the left-hand cover of the mini, tucked coupons into the first pocket behind them, put my coins in the zipped pocket behind that and then notes (money) in the pocket behind that.

The right-hand cover has a notepad slot, but a) you can’t buy the lined notepads in the UK and I didn’t want plain, and b) it’s far more useful to tuck some other odds and ends in – things I don’t need every day but wouldn’t want to be out without – roadside assistance membership card etc. My supermarket loyalty card is one of the ones designed to go on a key-ring so I’ve just hooked that onto the rings of the filofax instead of carrying it in a card slot (and when I went shopping last night and opened the filofax to have the card scanned I got a really approving look from the cashier!!).

I used the mini as a purse for the rest of the week and it’s working pretty well. In the end I decided I didn’t need to carry the diary – since I am usually carrying my Paperblanks book (which I won from Plannerisms) which has loads more space in it (and looks divine).

The only thing that didn’t quite work was the zipped pocket. Once my cards were in the pockets, it was really difficult to get the coins out! The mini’s big sister, the personal baroque, has the zipped pocket outside the card slots – which is probably a much better design.

So, I’ve now made a brilliant (to my mind!) hack. Years ago, in one of the Clinique bonus events, something came in a tiny, zipped purse. I mean, tiny. I have never used it. But… I have an eyelet tool and so I marked up where the holes would need to be and have punched 5 eyelets into the purse and hooked it onto the rings.

Ta da!!

up close and 'purse'onal

So, now I have stamps in the zipped pocket and coins in the Clinique hack and it all works like a dream! The Clinique purse is small enough to fit in the mini and big enough to carry all the coins I need.

in use

in use (2)

Still closes!!

So, the mini is my new “purse-plus” (filo-purse?) – it carries cards, money and coupons and has space for notes, built in. And it’s gorgeous! And the whole things is no bigger than the purse I used to carry around (though in fairness, my other loyalty cards etc have been relegated to an old card holder, to be carried only when I need them…)

Success!!

Oh. How did that happen?

Yesterday I had two filofaxes. An A5 domino at work and an A5 Finchley at home. Both red.

Today I have five filofaxes. The two A5 red ones I just mentioned, plus, an A5 jade Finchley, a pink Baroque personal size and a pink Baroque mini. (Um, actually, I have some old ones too, not made by filofax… maybe another three personals and a pocket; only one of which is used – one of the personals as an address book)

Hmmm.

I'm someone who didn’t really use a filofax six months ago.

And someone who delights in an A5 because she just can’t work with a personal because it’s too small.

So, the jade A5 is kind of understandable… (see earlier blogs relating to All Change!), but if I can’t get on with a personal – why did I buy one? And why did I buy a mini?

Because they were there, they were lovely, they were in the sale and because you just never know…

The mini is actually destined to become my purse-o-fax (wallet-o-fax for non-UK?). It has some credit-card slots in the front left cover and a zip-pocket and two other pockets for receipts and coupons etc, and there will be an eeny-meeny diary in it just in case I have to make an on the spot appointment (which would then get relayed to the work and home diaries). The A-Z will be dispensed with and the rings will have just notepaper in with the diary.

The personal… well, I have always yearned to be able to live out of a personal and if any of them was going to convert me it would be the Baroque – beautiful embossed leather on the inside, a zipped pocket, other little pockets, a full-length pocket (all on the inside left) and a note-block holder in the back right. (Incidentally, the mini has a note-block holder in its back right, but you can’t buy mini note-blocks in the UK…).

Both of the Baroques are soft and squidgy with smooth, smooth leather on the outside and embossed leather hiding away inside.

Once I get them all set up I will post pictures of them!