An updated look into my filofax and things I use

So my last Filofax blog was from a while back and since then I've changed a few things and added in some new things. I'll walk you through my set up, and what I use. I own an A5 pink Finsbury which I adore. It's my second Filofax (my first being an A5 black Identity). I've always been into the A5 size, I couldn't handle anything smaller. So when you open it this is what you see:

I use the business cards to hold appointment cards and sticky notes; and behind that is my gym timetable and then all the general Filofax papers and information such as contacts.

In the front zip pocket I keep these in there for easy access.

After all the personal notes starts the calendar. It's at the front because it's the thing I use most and is easily accessible being at the front. I start with a yearly pull-out calendar, then the monthly calendar, and then the daily week on two pages from Paperchase. I will do a separate blog post for the monthly and daily calendars.

This is the start of my calendars. I use the round stickers from the pastel washi masking tape stickers set to mark off each month

I use the horizontal year planner to mark every time I go to the gym or attend a class. I bought these star stickers from eBay in order to make it stand out more, but they're a little too big for the lines.

When I bought this Filofax I also bought the Avery note tabs. I originally wanted the Martha Stewart tabs but they were no longer available practically anywhere :( But regardless, these note tabs are fabulous and very durable. There are 10 of each colour (red, yellow, green, blue - you can also get another pack which have pink and purple).

These are my tabs, in order: Calendar, finance, college, health, food, to do, reading, notes, film, projects.

These are my finance sheets which I made myself. I tried to copy the Filofax finance sheets which I thought weren't available but it seems they are. So I copied this photo from Imy. I just put the date, expense, cash/card, what has gone in or gone out, and the amount remaining. I have recently found the Filofax finance sheets in my local Ryman store, and I was quite shocked at how bad the quality was and decided to keep my own as it works well for me. I just write down everything and highlight my pay days so it's easier to keep track (you can download my version here).

This is my health section which I write down my weekly weigh in's, goals, measurements, and inspirational quotes. I also have a graph of my weight and the first 14lbs to lose, which was inspired by Emma's post on Filo Dieters United Facebook page.

This is my food journal. I got these vertical week on two pages in this Filofax but didn't want to use them for my normal weekly pages, so thought they would work out for jotting down what I eat everyday. It is working so far, however some days I forget to write down everything which kind of defeats the whole purpose. I use different colours for each day in order to make it look prettier and more interesting. I try to make sure I drink enough water everyday, but this layout doesn't help out much with that.

I am quite happy with my Filofax at the moment, I feel more 'close' to it than my first one. It's more brighter and interesting to me, it makes me want to open it up and use it all the time! When I first got into Filofaxes I wasn't interested in colours or makes such as the Chameleon or Finsbury. I had the black Identity for a few weeks before I started to barely use it and lost interest, and looked around for any other Filofaxes I liked. I then found the Finsbury which was the only make I liked, and the pink looked the best in my opinion. I finally bought it from Amazon on May 31st after I had my appendix removed as a little treat to myself.

This was my latest colour coding scheme which again isn't working. I've decided to just stick with colour coding my monthly's with the coloured stickers.

 I've tried different colour coding methods but nothing has seemed to stick. I learned before hand you had to be careful with what pens you use on the Filofax paper as it easily bleeds through. I attempted to use different colours for different things for example, using a blue pen for college and a green pen for pays days and work days. I just couldn't keep up with using all different colours all the time, especially being away from home. It took up a lot of time and I felt that the pages looked messy and un-organised... Defeating the purpose of having a Filofax in my opinion. Since then I've decided to just use a black pen for all my writing, and use coloured Paperchase stickers for the monthly events. I sometimes use a highlighter to mark certain things at the end of the week if I feel it will look better. 

From left to right; pink stabio boss highlighter from eBay, 5 Bic brite liner from eBay, and a pack of Zebra Z-Grip ball point pens from Asda but available from eBay. 

Middle top to bottom; matching pen and mechanical pencil from Warner Leisure Hotels, pastel coloured bulldog clips from eBay, clear 15cm Oxford ruler which was apart of a Geometry set from Asda but is available on eBay, and a Helix eraser again from Asda but available from eBay (they are latex free as I'm allergic).