Bill Index

I have a lot of index cards of different sizes and color coded too. Some times I don’t know what I’ll use them for. But this year, I’ve been tracking my monthly bills on the 4 x 6 horizontal cards. My goal is to reduce the bill into the 3 x 5 size.  Something like the above photo would do.  Both, the Myndology and RealSimple, have horizontal lines and comes in a 3×5 size.  The horizontal or landscape orientation is good because it has a longer line to note the date, amount and confirmation numbers.  Although the Real Simple has the 4×6 size also.  I put the month and year on the top line. Then I alphabetized the bill names. I write down one line for each bill. One can skip a line for clarity. I usually put the date paid or due and the amount and any confirmations numbers to keep track. At the bottom, I add all of the items up and I can see the total spent for the month and anticipate my budget for next month.

That’s your tip of the Week!

CircaRolla Manila Folder Recycle Project

Cira Manila Folder 2

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.
I do like to use the thick Moleskine blank sketch notebooks. I’ve already filled up about half of one. I was thinking of getting another one but I decided to save some money and make my own! The thing about the Moleskine is that I can’t re-arrange the pages. Often the good sketches need to be gather into a sensible organized order. I’ve toy with the idea of cutting pages from the Moleskine and then punch them with the Circa/Rolla paper puncher to accommodate the discs. This project accomplished both objectives nicely. I’m always hesitant to draw on the more expensive Moleskine sketch books. With these home-made pages, I am more likely to draw on them.

There were a lot of discarded Manila folders in my office which I was starting to hoard until one day there wasn’t room in the drawers any more. So I decided to recycle them into a notebook! The legal size is cut down with the paper guillotine, and the corners rounded. I bought a corner rounder at a scrap booking store or they even have it at Target’s scrapbook section. To minimize the waste, I first clip the tab edge as these can get damaged in the file shuffle. I line up to the seven inch mark and chop the tab edge. Then I measure eight inches and chop the folder again. You can use what ever dimensions you want.

The corner rounder is from EK Success.

The paper puncher and discs are from Rollabind.com and Levenger.com

This is your tip of the week! Enjoy!

Featured in notebookism.com/2007/08/31 circarolla-mani

ducly.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/simple-mynd-hack

ducly.wordpress.com/2007/04/05/light-blue-hpda-cover

ducly.wordpress.com/tag/tow

If you like this hack please digg it/design/CircaRolla_Manila_Folder_2 

tags: Rolla, Circa, CircaRolla, notebook, paper, hack, moleskine, disc-bound,

Simple Mynd Hack

Simple Mynd Hack

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.

flickr photos

Previously on ToW

Ah…it’s been a while since I worked on a hack. Back a few centuries ago…I mean months, I had a hankering for a note book in orange color. (So much for ‘fast-prototyping’. Remember, it isn’t fast if one doesn’t implement it.) My wife and I had been watching a lot of ‘Ugly Betty’. The Mode office color scheme is White with most of the office products in orange. I found a Real Simple index card set with an orange cover. Then I was given a Myndology index card set bound with the Atoma disc in several colors. This happens to be orange and it’s a perfect match made in heaven. Here is an example of combining several products together. The disc is from Myndology. The Cover is from Real Simple. And the third is from plastic box from White Barn scented air freshener. I forgot to mention that I used the Portable Rollabind Puncher which the Atoma disc accommodated amazingly well. I plan to order some book binding tape from Highsmith.com. Maybe they have some orange tape?!?

And that’s your Tip of the Week (ToW).

Other ToW related projects:

• ducly.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/real-simple

• ducly.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/circa-manila-folder-3

tags: Real Simple, Myndology, hack, hpda, disc-bound, notebook, paper

Mo 2007 pocket daily planner

Mo 2007 pocket daily planner

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.
Tip of the Week (TOW)

For a while I had been using the accounting program call Quicken. (For tips on Quicken I direct you to Jennifer’s post: quicken.) Now I keep track of the spendings in this Moleskine pocket size notebook. It costs about $14 but worth it because it well preserve your sanity. My receipts are scattered all over the place. When ever I find one, I try to log it into the book. I’m proud to have just limit it to one card which makes it easy to keep track of. I write the amount, store name, and cash(CA) or credit(CRD). I try to use the bottom section of the page and leave the time sensitive section for appointments or important event of the day.

tags: Moleskine, Diary, Pocket book, Moleskine Pocket Diary,

TOW – Start a Lending Library

Earlier, I wanted to start a library at work. I stumble upon this little suggestion in RealSimple magazine.

Previous Tip of the Week (TOW):

TOW Half Pint

You know how you save certain box or pick things from the trash which somehow appeal to you? Well, I’ve been saving the box that the invisible tapes came in from Corporate Express. I image that Scotch tape has a certain box of similar size. So one day I started to play with the half-size index cards 3x 2.5 inches or 7.6 x 6.3 cm. They fit perfectly into such a box!! The half size fit into my wallet as well. Mead makes a nice color coded version: blue, pink, yellow, green, and orange.

So that’s your Thursday Tip of the Week (TOW)

Happy trash hunting!

Company Library (TOW)

I used to work at 30 person architectural firm and it had a library as a resource. That’s where you get your inspirations from. I just got back from a quarterly meeting and I made that suggestion to our marketing person. We’ll see how it flies. I think it’s a great idea because:

1. You have a lot of resources and if you pool together and exchange books within your company.
2. I used to go to a few of the High Performer Motivational Speaking seminars where they hand out reading materials. Well now they have even DVD high quality presentations of the talk. If we have a library to share that, it would be a great resource.
3. Also, a library can keep track of past accomplishments, i.e. quarterly earnings, etc.

I’m taking a page out of ‘Art of Innovation’ to see if I can make small changes in the work place that benefits all. So that’s your ‘Thursday Tip of the Week‘ (TOW)

I would like to elicit ideas and comments if you have work in a company with a library, or ideas of what that could be…DVD, Movies, etc. What works, what doesn’t, and how are companies receptive to that idea. What does it take to maintain one? Why aren’t there more libraries in company…even in small volumes.

start-a-lending-library

Real Simple Circa Rolla Atoma

Here’s the Thurdsay Tip/project of the Week (TTOTW). Back two weeks ago when I mention the Real Simple 3×5 deck TTOTW. I like the elastic band idea. It reminds me of the Moleskine. The cover has a nice thickness to it bound in cloth. Not bad at all. The only problem was how do you punch it for the Circa Rolla Disc? Well, I made a series of drawings, okay just one, on an idea of how to make a good notebook. This was drawn in the morning after waking up when I can’t make a straight line. But you get the idea. If I’m ambitious I may put it to grid paper. This tip also earns extra points for combining two or three previous tips into one. I plan to use the plastic cover because it can be punched and then taped into the inside cover of the hard cardboard. (photo)

simple-mynd-hack the final product

Somewhat related:

diysara.wordpress.com/2007/04/05/diy-circarolla-nb-cover/

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Warm Vanilla Sugar Hpda Cover

light blue hpda cover

Originally uploaded by lexly87.
So last night I was taking out the garbage and found a plastic empty container from The White Barn Candle Co. that my wife bought at Bath and Body Works. Hm…right there I had an idea. I quickly snatched up the plastic art material and sneaked it into my work bag. This is a terrible habit I know. More then once has my lovely wife chided me for picking up trash for my art projects. This is the final product and your Thursday Tip of the Week!!

I like this idea because:

1. I’m doing my part to recycle waste.
2. The plastic is not so thick yet strong enough to be a cover and can be easily punched with out damaging my portable Rollabind puncher.
3. The clear plastic is see through, so there are potentials for decorative craft if you are so inclined.
4. The cover will have a subtle scent of Vanilla or a variety of any other scent of your choice. (Japanese Cherry Blossom bubble bath gel is just heavenly.)

Speaking of see-through, the blue underneath the Warm Vanilla Sugar Cover is from a Mead 3×5 color coded two ring index card pack. It comes with two blue very small and good tab deviders. It is slightly thicker then the Vanilla Cover.

I’m not saying that you should go out and buy the Fragrance Bulb to creat a cover, but if you find other similar products with the same gauge plastic (please let me know) it could be potential for a really cool cover for your Hpda Circa Rolla projects. The Fragrance Bulb has a very nice smell. I plug it into my electrical outlet and people think that I’m baking cookies at the office.

Other uses for this cover: simple-mynd-hack

Good Luck on your projects!

Okay this is also an opportunity to write an open letter to my garbage company. The big old truck rolls around Thursday morning around 5 or if we are lucky 6am. Why do they pick this time to wake up the neighborhood. One woman complained that it feels like the noise is right under her pillow. We had a Condo Association meeting and no one else is going to do anything about this noise pollution. It could be that the elderly residents are heavily medicated or sedated so they don’t hear the ‘garbage thunder’ or make a fuss. I figure the garbage company would be sensitive to an elderly community and re-schedule their pick up time. Maybe the enraged neighbor and I will work up a petition to re-schedule the pick up time.

The Garbage Company’s Response

Somewhat related: replayground.com/pages/shop/foodnt.asp

ducly.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/simple-mynd-hack

ducly.wordpress.com/tag/tow

Be Blessed

Be Blessed

Originally uploaded by lexly87.
I received this postcard in the mail from New Hope Community Church. This is the Easter Celebration announcement. The glossy card stock is heavy enough to be the cover. The quotation is an inspiration for my Commonplace book.

Again, look at the punch mark silhouette of the Circa Portable punch. It is an almost perfect semi circle. The Circa notebook’s punch mark is slightly different.

tags: commonplace book, book, paper, notebook, quotations