Years back I owned the most beautiful Mini Filofax, a red Balmoral.  I’d wanted it for a long time but couldn’t afford to buy it, and then by chance I happened to buy a job lot on eBay (all sight unseen – I had an eBay shop at the time) and a red Balmoral was inside the bag – I couldn’t believe my luck!  It became my personal/social planner, which I used alongside my A5 Balmoral for many years until the rings broke away from the binder (you can see it’s sorry state on Flickr here).

I sent it to Filofax and they couldn’t fix it, suggesting I buy an Amazona to replace it.  I mentally put this on my wish list but moved onto other (cheaper) things.  I’ve missed using it very much and one day hoped I could find the Amazona at a good price.  I even bought a slimline Amazona, but that didn’t fulfil the yearning!  Then I found a pocket Balmoral, and that nearly did the trick, but not quite.

Don’t feel too sorry for me though, because after searching through a huge pile of Filofax boxes in TKMaxx before Christmas, I finally found my prize!  Here’s my gorgeous new Mini Amazona Filofax all set up:

I’ve sectioned it out with tabs for diary, to buy, to do, notes and money.  The cute stickers are from Accessorize and the post-it is Cath Kidston.

I wish I could remember where I got these shopping list pages from ‘cos they’re great!

I haven’t been able to find to-do inserts, but I picked up these fab to-do post-its in Muji.  I’ve been sticking them in the diary section so  I can track each week’s tasks.

In the back I’ve used a card insert to keep my stamps and a piccy of hubby and I on the reverse.

I’m using a Filofax Mini Barley Pen which I’ve had for years – it’s got a finer nib than I’d like but it fits beautifully in the pen loop!

In terms of the size, it’s not as comfortable to write in as say a Personal, or even a Pocket, but in terms of weight and portability, it’s a dream!  The leather is lovely quality and I’m hoping it will soften enough to lie flat on its own (can anyone confirm this?).  It’s smooth leather inside, which is different to the Balmoral and it has two card slots instead of three in the front inside cover, but other than that it’s a very good replacement – love it!

Do you use a Mini Filofax?  How do you get on with it?

Find a bargain Mini Filofax on Amazon here