Planner chat and tips

[Harmony]

Thank you everybody, this is very helpful.

I can see that Harriet's Tote & Indiana's Purse both are a couple inches bigger than the purse I'm using. Indiana's straps are a little longer than mine.

Noticed that her pockets are inside her purse. That would work except I like to have one pocket on the outside to keep my cell phone. Easier to get to when it rings. Remember, DH and I are still running our business through all this so there are more than the usual amounts of phone calls.

I looked at organizer purses type things like Nancy suggests, and found them to be lacking in pockets for loose things such as cough drops and tums and a lipstick. I carry the cough drops and tums for DH & I (my acid reflux & his allergies - very necessary). 2 checkbooks is also inconvenient and there are usually only slots for 1 in organizer purses, etc. Hmm, time to get rid of the one account maybe.

Indiana, I saw all of those organizers in Office Depot last week. Covey had one 5&8 size or a little larger that actually came with detachable shoulder strap, though very expensive. Being the middle of the year, that limited what I could find to begin with. I also noticed most of them came in a couple variations, the same inside with more or less expensive covers. Leather was always more than nylon or vinyl.

I ended up with Meade 4x6 monthly calendar, 2-year, and a 5x8 diary which I put the tabs into. That one seems to take up too much space in my purse. It has an elastic strap, 1 pocket in back cover which the calendar is too thick for. So I find having 2 seperate "books" for things inconvenient, flipping to another page would be much easier.

Thinking I need to go back to office supply, get a new organizer, get a bigger tote, smaller wallet, close one bank account. And a few years back either Sunny or DMom gave me a small organizer I used for a while and wish I still had...sheesh!

And by the time I get all this straightened out, DMiL will be settled somewhere and this will all be easier - hopefully - but who knows.

Oh, 1 thing I do that's very helpful to me is I have my keys on a clip type ring and I clip them each time to the outside of my purse, my straps are attached to small metal rings. That keeps them from falling down somewhere into the bottom of the purse. I also carry inside a spare set of house/car keys and a spare set of DH's truck/trailer keys incase of emergency there.

[Indiana]

Harmony my purse does have a small pocket for a cell phone. I have seen the purse for much less.

There are also organizers that have the same features but are less.

[Harmony]

I finally located a tote to use instead of my purse. Similar to the ones I saw on Indiana's link. It's quilted, blue & white with straps long enough to use on my shoulder. 3 Outside pockets, 1 just the right size for my cell phone and 2 other little ones. Inside has three pockets too. Whole thing zips shut.

I'd been looking around all this time, but today found a boat-load of them in an outlet store. I found the ones that were not quilted were flimsy and didn't hold their shape. This one is more sturdy. $19.99 on sale for $10.00, such a deal!

http://www.fashion41.com/lilywaters.html
Mine is similar to the Tara Tote, pockets on the front are a little different configuration (actually they're the same as the picture except bottom pocket is stitched to make 2) and color is blue & white print.

[Indiana]

Harmony that looks perfect.

[Harmony]

Indiana, I can't get over how similar ours look. Mine is working out beautifully. It is just the perfect size, I had no troubles finding things in there and my extra papers from all my recent appointments fit. It's much lighter than my purse was and doesn't seem to weigh my shoulder down. I like that 2 of the inside pockets fit my checkbooks too. Mine is washable, is yours?

[Indiana]

Yes mine is washable. I love the inside pockets and there is still room for my wallet and cosmetic bag. I can put a paperback book in it. My new mug will also fit at the end inside. It is just so handy with the pockets and only 2 things in the middle.

[Nancy]

This year I have a 5"x7" note book for my meds.
blood sugar levels and exercise
I keep a log and take it to my doctor's appointments with me
and he looks it over.

In the past I used the ADA planner I ordered from Dayrunner or one of those companies.
But have adapted a system I'm using that works for me for this now and
it's saves me like $50.

[citychik]

I recently decided to get a good planner, too. I want to carry my schedule and tasks with me, and have the household tasks at home. My Palm Pilot died a couple of years ago, and I'd been using little cheapo calendars to stay on track for school (I'm a college student), but I felt I need more than that. I looked high and low, hoping to find one that was similar to my favorite planner - one I had back in the '80's, which I loved and refilled for probably the whole decade. It got stained with ink and I had to toss it.

Unfortunately, when I went looking this time, I couldn't for the life of me remember what kind of planner it was. I knew it was a "Day Something" but NOT Day Runner... Couldn't find anything but Day Runners in the stores, but I did find a Filofax on sale, so I bought it. It's really nice and smallish ("Pocket" size), because I'm trying to downsize my purses, so it'll fit with my wallet and makeup and nook.

Wouldn't you know, almost immediately after buying it, I came across a site for Filofax "fans" where someone mentioned the type of old planner I had! It was a "Day Timer." Their site: http://www.daytimer.com. The thing I loved about Day Timers was that the refills were spirals that just slipped inside the covers, and they have lots of choices for format (2 pages per day, 2 pages per week, etc.). They make looseleaf types, too, but I preferred the spiral-bound. I can't begin to say how much I really loved the cover - it was so durable, had lots of pockets inside, and closed with a slip-tab. They make covers now that you can put a PDA into as well. With my new Filofax, I now have looseleaf type. But there are lots of ways to use it, so hopefully I'll make it work for me.

There's a site where people can either design their own planner templates or download others' for free: http://www.diyplanner.com/ A variety of planner brands is covered there.

As for purse, I just got a new Ameribag "Healthy Back" bag which has lots of little pockets and distributes weight better when on your shoulder than a regular bag does. It's expensive in leather (also comes in canvas and nylon) but the reviews all said that people got many years of use of it, so the cost seems worth it. You can't find inexpensive bags made out of good leather very often, anyway. This leather is really thick. So far, I like it: it fits my Filofax, nook, wallet, and makeup bag perfectly, with room for my little collapsible umbrella, cellphone, and ID/MetroCard holder. I got it from L.L. Bean.