Monday 1 October 2012

Filofax: Personal vs A5

I've been tempted to get an A5 Filofax for a while now, but one thing that puts me off is a lot of people say, if you carry your Filofax around with you then A5 is probably no good. It's too heavy, not compact enough, you'll have shoulder pains, etc...

For quite a few years I've organised my life in files and folders, notebooks and planners. If I wasn't as organised as I am now, I would be very lost indeed. I think this is why an A5 appeals to me so much, it's a decent size so I can cram loads of stuff in it. I've tried the pocket size Filos and they are just way too small. The personal is quite handy but part of me wants something bigger.

Also, the price puts me off, and the obvious nature of an A5. If someone were to yoink it out of my arms they would know everything about me. That's quite unsettling really.

Hmm... think I'll stick to my personal Finsbury for now!

5 comments:

pattygardner.com said...

I go back and forth, too. I use the Classic (A5) for a while but then get sick of the size and go back to the FC Compact (Personal). I want the space of the Classic but the portability of the Compact. I feel your pain.

MTMTE said...

I use one of two systems depending on my needs: most of the time I use a Personal FF to keep track of everything. Usually it starts to look pretty chubby (naaw!) and it's an absolute delight. But sometimes I'll only want to carry the planner section with me for a few months and so I'll use a compact whilst I keep an A5 at home to track the larger projects. I also use a separate A5 for my writing simply because of the page size.

The biggest problem with A5 can be filling it...without much paper inside the rings can become a hassle to write over, and whilst you might think (as I once had) that if your info fills 23mm rings in a personal it should transfer snugly to a 25mm A5, just remember that the number of pages you'll need will be reduced in an A5 as you can fit more info per page. The best option for me would be a compact A5 but I just can't justify the cost of those styles. As the comment above says, I feel your pain. :)

Lily M said...

Also you can't buy the Paperchase brand inserts for A5 - instant cost rise

Jarfm.com said...

But you can print them out yourself without too much hassle, I especially like this as it means I can choose the colour of my pages and also the thickness of the paper.
I carry an A5 zipped Holborn in wine around with me most of the time, I also use a pocket crimson Malden for my wallet and in that I just have my month on 2 pages for the rest of the year in case someone wants to arrange something without me having my A5 on me. I can then update the A5 when I have it in my hands.
I have found that if I keep only what I NEED in my A5 it is not too heavy. You just need to switch out any old pages once you are done with them (either to recycle or store). I prefer the A5 over personal sized pages, they just seem to be too narrow for my liking.

laura jane said...

Hmm I am tempted... maybe I could sell my personal finsbury to save funds for an A5? It doesn't look that much bigger in comparison really, and I like the thought of being able to easily print inserts. One thing that gets me though is about a month or two ago I spent ages making custom inserts for my personal!