Filofax A5 Holborn - Revisited

The Filofax Holborn has been a long term favourite of mine. 

Mainly because of the unique pocket design and how you can utilise the pocket layout, especially in the inside front cover. 

The last 2-3 weeks I've been using my black Holborn A5 with a clasp closure. 

The main differences between the clasp and the zip versions in A5 are: 

• The clasp closure has 25 mm rings, the zip has 30mm rings;
• The clasp closure only has a single pen loop, where as the zip has two pen loops
• The clasp has more pocket openings than the zip, but the zip does have external pockets. 
• The clasp is slightly smaller in physical size compared to the zip. 

I did a full comparison post between the Holborn models here. 

The internal layout of the clasp model. The cards show where the pocket openings are. 

The smaller ring size wasn't an issue for me, I was able to get all my inserts on to the rings and they are printed on 80gsm paper. 

I added a second pen loop using a Filofax Flex Pen Loop with holes punched in to it. 

This works for me, in normal use the pen loop insert is close to the front of my page stack, so it doesn't get in the way and I have a pencil to hand when I need it. 

Have you ever owned a Filofax Holborn? 
 

Guest Post - Filofax Compact Setup - Sally S

Seeing my old post about my pocket Filofax reappear on FFAF recently I thought I would post an update on my setup. Things have changed!

After using a pocket Filofax for a number of years the page size finally became too small for me. My reading glasses are not always to hand.

I have generally preferred smaller rings so trying personal compact seemed the way to go…so far it is proving to be a success.

This is the setup in my compact Holborn.

The pockets usually just hold sticky notes and tabs.

At the front is a clear flyleaf which I use for sticky notes holding reminders and important items on my to-do list, then a number of list pages such as medium and long term to-dos, shopping lists, items I am waiting for etc. I keep a separate daily to-do list which is thrown away when completed.

The next section (so-called although I have no dividers, just an occasional tab) is my diary. I did consider the week on one page format which will fit on the rings. However, a quick analysis of my diary entries from previous years showed that only about 30% of days contained an entry. Therefore it seemed a waste of ring space to have a bigger diary than absolutely necessary. I am using a month on two pages. There is enough room as the only things I tend to record are birthdays, anniversaries and appointments. I can fit up to three entries per day in the space available. If I need more room I use the top and bottom of the page for notes.

I also have a Philofaxy year planner for a general overview.

The next few pages are contacts…both addresses and mobile numbers.

After this come my Christmas pages which are currently mostly empty, just headings.

Then a few more notes pages…my book list, Filofax wish list (not that I need any more), etc.

I also have a world map and London Underground map, only occasionally referenced. Not really necessary but I just like having them in my planner.

A few sheets of spare paper are kept at the back, then finally a top opening envelope which holds ring reinforcers, Filofax jot pad sheets and scrap paper.

All in all this format is working well, with enough room on the rings to fit in all I need and is so portable.

Thank you Sally for sharing your set up with us.

Silent Sunday

 

Wine Holborn zip

Your Filofax for foreign language learning.

I've lived in France for 11 years, it seems longer. However, you would have thought that by now I would be fluent in French, sadly not. 

Over the years languages have always been a struggle for me, English included. "Yes we had noticed Steve, but we didn't want to say anything" !!!  

I don't mind admitting that it took me two attempts to pass my English 'O' level. Then working as an engineer in a job where I hardly wrote anything other than fault dockets for 10 years, which were very short form writing, didn't exactly help me! 

I did some French classes at school, but I never did get to grasp much of the language then. I didn't visit France until I was in my mid-twenties. I started doing a weekly evening class a couple of years before we moved here in 2010, but it wasn't enough. I would be scared of venturing out on my own at first. Not a problem now. 

Alison is a fluent French and German speaker; she ran her own translation company in UK for a number of years. She is a natural when it comes to languages, but the technical stuff she leaves to me, so we make a good couple I suppose! 

Alison has tried teaching me, it didn't go well! I have also been to classes here as well. Again not enough really. 

Then along came lock down and classes stopped. I did some more daily lessons with Alison. Then I thought I will try a different approach... 

I started learning with Duolingo, it's an app, and website with a very good, structured learning approach. Finally, I seem to be making progress. I do about 30-45 minutes each morning sometimes more. 

Whilst the app is very good, I still like to jot things down to help cement my learning, 

I also remembered some inserts I was given a few years ago. 

I don't know who produced them, but they seem to cover 'business French' as well as everyday phrases

They are double width pages printed on thick paper so they will withstand a lot of use. 

I've put them in my Filofax Holborn Slimline along with some ordinary note paper. I keep this organiser in my writing desk where I do my lessons each morning. Away from other distractions and it is also a quiet spot in the house. 

I've scanned in the inserts into a PDF, you can print this and trim the pages down to Personal size if you wish. It's quite a large file so please be patient when downloading it. 

French Inserts PDF

Guest Post - Ashlene - Tracking my Finances with a Filofax.

Thank you to Ashlene for this Guest Post, we often read/hear people say 'I use my Filofax for Tracking Finances' or other things in our every day life, but quite often a brief description doesn't often help us to try out these ideas, so seeing an actual example is great! Thank you Ashlene for sharing this with us and for the great photos too.  

For a while now I have been trying to make a Filofax work for me as a wallet/purse in order to keep a track of my finances. I've tried pocket and mini sizes and even incorporating my cards and cash into my everyday personal Filofax, but nothing works for me. Then a few weeks ago I began to think that I was maybe trying to make the Filofax work too hard for me. I'm very fussy when it comes to wallets/purses and none of my Filofax experiments lived up to my expectations of what a wallet should do. I wanted a Filofax that would hold cash, cards and coins and most Filofaxes just are not designed to do that. So I came up with a happy medium that has been serving me well for the last few weeks and has also been helping me keep track of my finances. This is one of my goals for this year as I am notoriously bad with money and my boyfriend has recently started talking about buying a house together, so it's time to stop spending and start saving.

Meet my compact Holborn in Wine. I picked this up in Easons (an Irish stationery chain) a few weeks ago. When I first laid eyes on it I knew it was going to work perfectly as my new 'Financial' Filofax. It's thin enough to fit in my handbag but had loads of pockets for receipts, bills, pay slips, etc. Let's take a tour

The credit card pockets on the inside cover hold my credit card and store cards. Most of these are paid off but my aim this year is to clear the credit card and Debenham's card. None of these cards get spent on and I keep them here so I can find them easily when I want to make a payment.

Receipts for recent purchases also get kept in this pocket until I have time to record them on my Finance pages which are kept further on into the Filofax.

At the front of the Filofax, I keep a tabbed month on two pages diary for recording when bills and payments need to be made. I highlight each bill so I can see them easily and I put a little tick beside each once it's been paid. I also record each time I fill my car up with fuel and how many miles I got out of the last fill up.

After the diary, I have a few sheets of Filofax Finance pages. I use some of these to track any daily spending on my debit card (although I'm trying to minimise this) and I also have a sheet for my Debenham's card and credit card so I can see at a glance how much I still owe and track my repayments, interest, etc.

I keep all my reward cards in the Holborn in credit card holders. It's easy to find the card I'm looking for and they are also easily accessible.

Now we come to the back of the Holborn (and my favourite part!). Here, I keep 10 top opening envelopes which are used to budget my money each month. This envelope system is quite popular in America and involves breaking your monthly salary into the the main categories you spend in and putting a certain amount of money into envelopes labeled with each category. Once you have spent all the money in a certain envelope, you cannot spend any more money in that category until you get paid again. I have always liked this budgeting method but this is the first time I have really got it to work for me. My 10 categories are:

- Fuel
- Luxuries (getting my nails and hair done, etc)
- Entertainment (cinema, etc)
- Cosmetics (make up, shampoo, moisturiser, etc)
- Savings (the money which needs to go into my savings account)
- Gifts (used for any month when I have to but birthday gifts, etc)

My monthly food budget is then divided roughly across 4 envelopes. One for each week:

- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4

Finally, at the back of the Holborn, I keep my most recent pay slip and my Credit Union book which I need for lodging my savings. The pocket beside the pen loop houses any bills which need to paid which then get filed away once the payment is made.

So that's my set up, but you may be wondering where I keep my loose change. That's kept  in my cute little Kipling wallet along with my debit card, my three most frequently used reward cards (Tescos, Sainsburys and Easons) and my driver's licence. Each week I move my weekly food budget from the Holborn into my Kipling wallet. This means I don't have to carry the Holborn around with me all the time and this stops me impulse buying because all of my cards are in the Holborn. I was never going to be happy carrying loose change in a Filofax and I don't like having a gigantic purse either so this is my happy medium - a tiny wallet of essentials and my compact Holborn for everything else and keeping track of my finances. This set up is working really well for me so far and I hope you have enjoyed this tour around my Financial Filofax .

Thank you Ashlene, and of course if you would like to share anything Filofax or ring bound organiser related with us as a guest post please get in touch philofaxy at gmail dot com

This post first appeared on Philofaxy back February 2013

Filofax Holborn Comparisons

The Filofax Holborn is another favourite of mine, the interior design hits all the right spots for me. But there are some interesting differences between the clasp models and the zip models.

So first of all let us look at the Personal size here in brown in Zip and in black for the regular clasp model.

Externally they have used a similar styling. The Zip model has a useful outside slip pocket which you can use to put papers or a smart phone in. Naturally the physical size of the zip model is bigger than the clasp model.

Unzipping the Holborn Zip Personal, it has the same size rings as the clasp model. As you can see in the photo it doesn't quite lay flat. Both only have a single pen loop. Oddly the Zip has 7 card slots, the clasp only 6 card slots. 

Now look at the two photos and note where I have slotted the Philofaxy cards in. On the clasp model you effectively have too additional slip pockets that aren't present on the zip model.

Both have an additional zip pocket on the inside back cover.

Of the two formats I've used the clasp on more than the zip model. However I like them both equally.

Looking now at the A5 Holborn. Again I have the zip in brown and the clasp in black. There are a few more differences in this size.

Once again the zip has a slip pocket on the front cover.

Opening up them both. The A5 Zip does lay flat with no training. The A5 Zip has 30mm rings where as the clasp A5 only has 25mm rings. The Zip gains an extra pen loop on the inside front cover as well. 

Both have 5 credit card slots. Again they have the same pocket arrangement as the personal size with the zip loosing the inside slip pockets again shown by my business cards. 

With the clasp model only having 25mm rings it is quite compact for an A5 and I've found it great to carry around in my bag and use at my desk. With all of those pockets it can hold lots of additional paperwork. I've used the A5 Zip for several trips where the zip closure offers additional security to prevent things falling out of your organiser. 

The Filofax Holborn continues to be available in Pocket, Personal, Personal Compact and A5 sizes and at the time of writing in Black and Brown colours. 

In the past the Holborn was also released in Wine and Grey colours, it appears they have discontinued the Zip models. 

Overall the Holborn is a great organiser, the leather is soft and supple. The clasp models have stiffener between the interior and exterior leather. The Zip models do as well, but it is thinner and less obvious.  

If you can't pick one up new, I'm sure there are plenty around pre-owned. You can of course put in a Wanted advert on our own Ad-spot page. 

You can find other posts about the Holborn range here.

Have you ever owned a Holborn?

Back in red (my wine personal Holborn) - by Anita

Whilst I love my Kensington, I admit that I’ve been craving a bit of colour and didn’t really want to use a black binder during the winter months. In hindsight, I could’ve kept either my crimson Malden or Winchester as I always seem to come back to a red binder at some point. However, both of their prices have gone up quite a bit since I last owned them. So, I did my usual process of joining some of the Facebook selling groups, checking Adspot and eBay to help me figure out what I’d like to get. Thankfully with a bit of luck, time and patience, I always seem to find what I’m looking for at a good price. On purpose, I don’t spend much time on it and I realised soon that the Holborn was a strong contender with its soft leather and a plethora of pockets. After a short wait, I found both the zipped and clasp versions in the lovely wine colour and chose the clasp one.

I admit at first that I was a little disappointed with the colour, but I needed to adjust the saturation in my pictures as it does tend to photograph more red than in real life. I think the best way to explain it would be if you took brown and then added just a little red to lift the colour slightly. It’s a really nice shade and makes me think of autumn leaves and mulled wine. 

So many pockets! I normally use a pencil case in my other binders, but definitely won’t need one in the Holborn.

They layout lends itself well to being used as a wallet, but I think that I’d need to remove the pen when out and about, as it does get in the way of access to the hidden zipped pocket. 

Well, I’ve been using the Holborn as my main planner since the beginning of November and I absolutely love it. Soft leather, contrast stitching, all those pockets, great colour and I also feel comfortable with just chucking it in my bag. I’ve also realised to my surprise that I prefer it to the crimson Malden which is quite a surprise to me. However, the softer leather and pocket layout have won me over completely. 

Downsizing to the NEW Filofax Lockwood Pocket Slim – Part 1 Guest post by Tim Edwards

Thank you Tim for the detailed two part post on his recent downsizing to a Pocket Slim organiser. 

I’ve been a keen paper organiser user for nearly 30 years and have been following a “slimming down” approach for most of that time – trying to find the optimum, portable, yet practical size!  My move into the recently launched Filofax Lockwood Pocket Slim is a radical step – even for me!

Today, I take a look at some of the various ways I’ve tried to slim down over the years.  Next week, in Part 2, I’ll give an overview of my recent purchase – the Lockwood Pocket Slim – and letting you know how I’ve got on!

Background - at heart I’ve always been an A5-man and I still use this size at my desk.  It’s not really a portable option though and as long ago as 1991 when Time Manager (TMI) introduced their Compact, I immediately purchased one for when “out and about”.  It’s still undoubtedly my favourite all-time organiser and was regularly used (I have two) until the Filofax Holborn Slimline came out in 2011. Here’s the TMI Compact (still available) and the Holborn Slimline (now discontinued)

        

I switched because the Holborn Slimline is much lighter (approx. 350g vs 550g with contents), slimmer (13mm oval rings vs 18mm) and smaller (191 x 120 x 25mm compared with 208 x 140 x 30mm).                                

I’ve used my Holborn (USA readers note – it should be pronounced “Ho-bun” after a district in Central London, not “Holl-borne”!) daily but, increasingly, I was leaving it behind – often literally – in shops and stores.  It was just too easy to leave it on the counter whilst I browsed.  This was because, like many men, I no longer regularly wear a jacket or carry a briefcase or bag.  Being tempted to not carry it or leave it at home was no good either!  The number one rule to success in planning is definitely to always have your organiser/ planner with you at all times.  Abandon this for the “I’m sure I’ll remember”/ “I’ll jot it down later” approach at your peril!

So, last year, I looked at other options for an organiser that I could take everywhere and Ideally, something that could double as a wallet – and suitable for work, shopping, hiking, cycling – wherever!  I considered going totally digital and purchased a new iPhone 6S Plus.  This has proved very successful for calendars, tasks and to-do’s, reminders and contacts using Pocket Informant and Evernote – but that’s really outside the scope of this post!

What is important is that, for long-term planning, creative thinking and general note taking, paper is still essential for me.  A smaller, slim but genuinely pocket size (must fit in trouser pocket without looking ridiculous) organiser was what I needed – in short something like a pocket sized version of my Holborn?  Of course, such a model is still made and I tracked down a rare, grey version in Germany.  However, much as I love all the pockets (including the zipped), it certainly isn’t slim!  With the full length back pocket and large clasp, it’s definitely something to carry in a bag or a large jacket pocket.  

Next, I tried a Midori Traveller’s Notebook Passport size.  I love the inserts, but am not a fan of the pocketless, unstitched single piece of leather that forms the cover.  Equally, whilst I know there is now a large market, the growing number of imitations do nothing for me.    

 

So, I purchased a Flex by Filofax Pocket in leather.  In my view, this is much better quality than the Midori, has several pockets and MTN inserts still fit perfectly.  I made a modification by gently gluing the MTN clear plastic insert onto the spine in the centre, to enable me to have a zip pocket for coins and extra pockets for credit/debit cards.  I also made an elasticated closure loop from a Moleskine which fits into the Jot Pad slot on the right.  This has been my main organiser for the past year.  

   

Filofax discontinued the Flex year planners and diaries last year.  However, the Travellers Notebook monthly and weekly products fit perfectly into Flex pocket covers. 

                               

Whilst bound inserts have big advantages – particularly for us left-handers who hate having to write around ring mechanisms – I’ve found I still missed the flexibility a ringed system offers.  I hate having to keep writing in an increasingly tatty notebook because there are still empty pages and having to carry a full year of calendar around, full of events that have long-since taken place.  A ringed organiser enables you to just keep the current pages you need, helping one to focus on what’s important NOW!

So, I was delighted when Steve discovered that Filofax was to reintroduce Extra Slim Pocket models.  These have existed before – both the Executive and Guildford were made and branded as “Pocket Extra Slim” but neither have been available for several years.  This time it’s the Lockwood that has been produced and sold as “Pocket Slim”.

In Part 2 (next week), I’ll give an overview of the new model, various ways of using it and let you know how I’ve got on with it!  In the meantime, full details of the Lockwood Pocket Slim are on the Filofax site in Germany and will appear soon on the Filofax UK site and elsewhere soon.  

Thank you Tim. 

Readers Favourite Organiser - Susan

Thank you to Susan for sharing with us her favourite organiser. 

1. What is your favourite organiser (Make/model/size)?

My favorite is the Filofax personal gray Holborn.  I loved it the moment I laid eyes on its’ picture (thanks to some Philofaxy enablers).   I already owned the other 3 colors- black, wine and brown, so I knew what a perfect binder the Holborn is.

2. How long have you owned it?

Almost 3 years.

3. What is it that you like about it so much?

The Holborn is a really sleek and elegant Filofax, with soft, smooth, flexible leather; the color is a beautiful soft gray.   That wonderful leather smell is present even after 2 years and I still love to sniff it.   Inside and out, the Holborn is a great binder with a lot of pockets, as you can see from the pictures.

4. Do you use it all the time?

Yes.  Although I’m having an affair with the Originals right now, I  always come back to my gray.  It functions as wallet and holder of  calendar (diary), lists, brain dump, medical information and journal, financial information, exercise log, grocery and shopping lists, credit cards,  books and movies I want, authors to watch for, passwords, and last but not least, the A-Z index for miscellaneous stuff. The only place where I don’t use it is the bathtub, otherwise it is wherever I am.

5. Do you think the design could be improved in any way? How?

I don’t think it needs any improvement or change at all, except maybe more colors as elegant as the gray (if that is possible).

And here are some photographs of my favourite organiser

Thank you Susan

If you would like to share with us the details of your favourite organiser, please contact steve @ philofaxy dot com 

Guest Post - My Summer 2014 Vacation Setup - Alan

My wife and I spent nearly 4 weeks in Greece this summer, and as you might guess, Filofax was there with me.

First, there was the wallet.  I always use a Slimline Personal as a wallet, but so far, I have used only 11mm-ringed models.  I had never used my Slimline Holborn due to the fact that the 13mm rings made it somewhat thicker, such that it did not slip comfortably in a jacket pocket.  However, I knew that whilst traveling, the pockets and layout of the Holborn would probably come in handy and, as I would not be wearing jacket in the heat, the extra slimness was not a factor.  I thought about what the Holborn might look like after nearly 4 weeks in my front trouser pocket, and decided that if it got ruined, so be it!

The other factor was that I knew that the Holborn would nicely take my passport and International Driver Permit:

Of all my slimlines, the Holborn has the deepest back pocket for paper money:

Receipts that I would need for reimbursement had their own pocket:

The last two pictures also showed the fantastic Lamy Multi Pen that came as an add-in with some Filofax I bought a year ago.  It was a great pen, giving me Red, Black, and Blue.  (There is Green as well, but I need to replace the green ink cartridge!)  It was great to have this versatility in such a slim pen!

Other than that, my wallet was loaded with lined and quad ruled paper for notes, to double as a capture device.  I mentioned above being concerned about the wear the Holborn would get.  Frankly the leather seemed to improve as I (ab)used it!

The other consideration was that we had some family matters to deal with that would involve paperwork, and I knew that the papers would be A4,  Therefore, I reasoned that having an A5 binder with me might be useful, as I would be able to fold the A4 papers in half and slip them in a full-length pocket.  I was unsure of the abuse that this would take, so I chose my Finsbury, which already had signs of wear:

The Finsbury has a good full-length pocket in the front for the legal documents we had to bring back:

I set up a daily diary/itinerary/log section – but never used it!

I had a section with printouts of airline and hotel reservations, as well has the travel insurance information.  I also printed on maps from the Michelin website.  (Note for next time:  Get a good map of Athens!  It is easy to get lost driving there!)

I also had an envelope designed for North American letter page, one-fold, that I punched for the A5, but because it was slightly narrower than A5, meant that I could hide it behind the notepad in the back cover, if I wanted to delude myself that I had hidden anything.

The nature of the things in the A5 meant that we didn’t carry it around with us, and it was usually in our room or in the car.  Next time, I might also print out some materials about some of the places we would visit.

Greek Highways are often lined with Oleander.  Note my Holborn on the dash board!

Overall, it was a wonderful vacation.  Greece is a beautiful place and the people are wonderful.  Part of my soul is still there!

Thank you Alan for a great guest post, stunning photographs too, they reminded me a lot of Cyprus.