Filofax vs. bound notebooks- what I'm going to do next! Part 1

NB: My system has changed since this post, so after you read this, please read this later post

Over the past few weeks I have been VERY annoyed with the quality of new Filofaxes. What with my Purple Malden debacle, and the problems with rings, especially in my brand new Holborn personal!! Quite frankly, I'm scared to use my Filofaxes at the moment, especially out and about when I carry them in my handbag! This is where the problems arise- my purple Malden has become really dented through things resting on it in my handbag (although this hasn't happened with any of my other Filofaxes, so I think the leather of the purple Malden is just too soft!), and I have noticed that the already bad rings of my brand new Holborn (it came to me like that) have got worse after an afternoon in my bag! I don't treat them badly- in fact, when I take my filo in my handbag, it sits inside my handbag organiser, in a special compartment, so it's not anywhere near any sharp things like keys etc! But they just get damaged when I take them out with me. I used to always carry my filo in my hand at uni, but when I'm carrying other bags or it's bad weather, I need to put it in a bag. But I'm scared to do so as they are getting damaged!!

Damage to my Purple Malden after one afternoon in my bag!

Yesterday, to try to get ideas to solve my planner fail, I went to Waterstones, who have some nice diaries at the moment. I saw the Moleskine 2013 daily large diary, and I have to say, when I held it in my hand, I really liked the feel of it, how chunky it was, how all the pages were uniform and 'together'. I didn't like it as an actual diary/planner- I have had a Moleskine pocket DPP before and didn't use it much- but I did like how chunky it was. It didn't feel bitty like a Filofax does. But most of all, I liked the thought that it was simple, and straight forward. This isn't just for Moleskine diaries/notebooks, you can say the same about any bound book.
When I got home, I noticed the rings of my Holborn were getting worse, which REALLY ANNOYED ME!!!, and something else struck me about the Moleskine I had looked at earlier- it wouldn't suffer as much damage as my Filofaxes (although I have read about some binding issues with the Moleskines); and also, I wouldn't really care as much if the cover etc got damaged, because I would replace them more frequently, and wouldn't want to keep it forever like my filos. And not to mention, bound planners cost a LOT less than filofaxes!!

So I'm going to start using a bound notebook for my day-to-day stuff. I am still going to use my Filofaxes, BUT they are going to stay at home, safe, where they can't get damaged!!
The way I am going to use the bound notebook is to hold important reference information and lists I will need while I am out and about (shopping lists etc), as a notebook, and a daily planner. BUT I will still use my filos in the same way I am currently using them- my A5 purple Malden for my hobbies/projects, my A5 ochre Malden for my research project (PhD) planner, with a cheaper A5 to take the insides of my A5 ochre Malden to uni (I don't take my ochre A5 to uni through fear of it getting scratched, so I use a cheaper one to take the insides to uni instead), and of course my personal-sized filos for organisation. I am going to use personal weekly diary inserts (probably WO2P from Europe, with appointment times and room for to-dos) as my normal weekly planner, but I won't be doing daily planning in my filo- instead, I will be doing daily planning in my bound notebook.
But now I am thinking, why use personal-sized filofaxes any more? The reason a lot of people use personal rather than A5 is because A5 filos are too big and bulky to carry around with them every day, but when they stay at home, they are great. Well, my filos are going to be staying at home- so maybe I could use an A5 as my organisation filofax! In that case, I don't need as many personal filofaxes as I have, because I won't be using them all the time. However, I will be using some of them, for hobbies, a journal/log-book, a notebook, and there are definitely some I WON'T be selling, because I love them too much! So I'm going to start thinking about selling some of my personals- keep watching my blog for a list of them!

If anyone wants a specific filofax that I have, email me with an offer at bernasconiray at hotmail dot com, and I'll get back to you!