On Christmas Eve I was excited to receive in the post my Organised Mum Pick and Mix personal Diary Insert 2013. This is on sale now for £7.50 and is a new style that fits in the Personal size Filofax.
Organised Mum very kindly sent it to me to post a review on.
When I opened the package I was very pleased to find it didn't come in plastic wrapping, just wrapped in card.
I like this idea as there is less waste and it can easily be recycled.
On opening the package you see the Personal Information page.
This has the main contact details, but has space on the bottom half of the page should you need to add anything extra.
Next is a page of useful numbers, which again has space at the bottom for other numbers you may wish to add. I like at the bottom of this page the moon phases that are used in the diary. You then get an overview of 2013 and 2014.
We then go straight into the weekly diary. It is a week to view (or week on two pages, depending on your preference) which is set out in grid style. This consists of five rows for five family members or other topics. Across the top there are smaller boxes so you can write in the names or title for that row. On the right hand page across the top there is the small month calendar. Down the right hand side you can see it is split into Things to do and Next week.
I like the way this is set out. The boxes aren't too small, and the vertical lines aren't too dark, so if you didn't want to use the boxes you can write over them.
After the weekly diary there is a Dates to remember section. The first page has titles in already, such as house insurance and passport renewal. The second and third pages are blank so you can fill these in as you need to.
Next we go onto the monthly pages.
January starts on the right hand page, with a page for Things to do in January the page after, as shown below.
Ideally I would have like to have seen the months and their appropriate Things to do on the same page to view, not Things to do in January and February at a glance. However, it is still workable.
There is a special page after the August at a glance. A Back to school checklist.
A lot of Parents will appreciate this. I know I will. There is nothing more traumatic in the summer holidays than buying school uniform for the new school year. I usually make a page in my Filofax dedicated to this so I know what I have to buy and tag etc. This will be very handy.
Below is a close up of the page.
After the monthly pages there is a Vehicle Information section. There is room for four cars on this and you can fill in all the important details such as car insurance, MOT, make/ model etc.
Now comes the fun part
As not many people have seen the Pick & Mix inserts I decided to do a pen test to see how the paper faired. I used the following pens for this:
Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 0.4mm
Sharpie pen 0.5mm
Muji Erasable 0.5mm
Frixion Multi pen 0.5mm
Parker Cartridge pen normal nib.
I wrote on a blank section of the front page with each pen.
Then I looked at the reverse side of the page to see if there was any bleed through or show through. I was very impressed or show through. I was very impressed with the results.
Then I erased where I had written 'Test' next to the erasable pens.
Once again, very impressive.
Conclusion
I am very impressed with the quality of the paper for writing on as its smooth, and also the lack of bleed through and show through. I love the grid layout. There is plenty of room to write in the boxes and the To do section is a good addition, and handy. I also love the Back to school checklist. This will be a godsend come the summer holidays.
It is also very well priced as you get the weekly diary and the monthly pages too.
I would definitely recommend this diary to anyone with a personal Filofax. The quality and content are amazing.
Other filofax compatible inserts available from Organised Mum include Personal Shopping and Menu Planning, Personal Finance and Budget, and Personal Family Schedules, Events and Occasions.
I would like to thank Organised Mum for sending me the Pick & Mix 2013 Diary to review. You can find out more information at www.organised-mum.co.uk
