Need 2010/2011 Jewish Day Planner/Organizer

Rubber Ducky

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:43 am

It seems that my beloved frummie day planner, The Balabusta's Daily Organizer, is not putting out a new edition this year. Any suggestions for a replacement?

Liba

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 11:24 am

I couldn't find anything on line or from any of the publishers or on line websites.

Today I went to the bookstore and bought a 16 month planner. http://www.palphot.com/categor.....aries - this is the publisher. It has more writing space than the calendar I had last year, has very little wasted space and is nice and compact in my pocketbook.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 11:39 am

I'm also unsure of what to do. I was going to try that one, but didn't see this coming year's. Now I know why.
Last year, I got one from Targum Press, and I wasn't thrilled with it. (One month, R"C was marked as 2 days, when it was really one day long.)
The year before I had a non-Jewish one, and I manually put in all the Y"T/R"C...I might do that again.

Starhavah

Mon, Aug 23 2010, 10:41 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

It seems that my beloved frummie day planner, The Balabusta's Daily Organizer, is not putting out a new edition this year. Any suggestions for a replacement?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I love that one.

imabima

Tue, Aug 24 2010, 6:52 am

I've been using the Heritage Desk Diary from Artscroll for 4 years and I love it. It has week by week view and big writing spaces plus all holidays/special customs, etc. and bits of Torah on each page.

http://mesorah.org/deskdiary.html

The site says it comes with a $36 donation.

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, Aug 24 2010, 10:27 am

Amazon.com has one from Rabbi Shimon Grama (The Jewish Woman's Planner ?) -- anyone ever seen this in real life?
I need one with months and days -- so I can record appointments, days off of school, keep track of how much I owe babysitter, make menus and shopping lists.

Rubber Ducky

Wed, Aug 25 2010, 11:51 am

Update on The Balabusta's Daily Organizer:

I can't find anything I like in the bookstores or online, so I called The Balabusta's Daily Organizer author in Michigan this morning (her name and phone # are on the back page) and am attempting to convince her to put out a new edition even though it will come out late. I offered my services (graphics and layout) at an attractive rate/payment plan -- really she could use a patron, an investor, or a publisher. She self-published the previous editions.

We shall see...

Tova

Wed, Aug 25 2010, 4:00 pm

Oh no Rubber Ducky - I love love love this one! I got it last year and this year too. I can't believe it's not coming out again. Please convince her to do it! [At least the current one goes until December.]

The lined sheet opposite each weekly page is how I keep track of my billable hours for work to enter into the time system. I love the Rosh Chodesh and Yamim Tovim icons and the monthly calendars and the shopping list strips, etc...

Tova

Wed, Aug 25 2010, 4:08 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

It looks sweet, honestly, but I don't know if it's large enough for my needs.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Aug 26 2010, 11:19 am

Right, I can't visualize how it is.

If I can't get a Jewish one, I'd recommend Mom's Plan It (I loved the line items on each side of the week for shopping lists, recording hours, menus I put in each day) and manually put in the R"C/Y"T stuff.

I'm running out of time though!

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Aug 26 2010, 7:17 pm

Yay, BE"H we are gonna have a new Balabusta's Daily Organizer for 5771/2011! I have already started updating last year's edition.

Tova said:

Quote:

Yeah, I take that organizer everywhere, keep all kinds of records and essential info in it and was going to be really lost without it. That's why I finally called up Sara (the creator) and pushed so hard for a new edition. This year I just want to get it out ASAP -- for next year we can tweak it and make it even better.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Aug 26 2010, 11:13 pm

The Balabusta's Daily Organizer is a spiral-bound organizer, about 7" x 8 1/2". It is not a wall calendar. I take mine with me when I go out; the rest of the time it stays on my desk. Plenty of room for appointments, shopping lists, to do lists, etc. are in the weekly and monthly calendar sections, and there's lots of useful info and room for notes and phone #'s and other stuff after the calendar part. It is absolutely the best organizer/appointment/planning book I've owned. BE"H on Sunday I'll put up a picture of a sample page. Maybe you guys can give me ideas for the cover; that's the only thing I really want to change the look of.

Last year it was available at many Jewish bookstores and online -- I bought my copy at Shabsi's, a bookstore in Baltimore.

We're aiming to get this to the printer before Rosh Hashana, but it will take time to print and distribute so I'm not sure when it will be in stores. I think you can also order directly from the author.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Sep 16 2010, 2:38 pm

The Organizer did go to press Erev Rosh Hashana. I just sent in corrections. I have been so busy with this project that I've hardly posted on Imamother at all (and at least one of my few posts was anonymous!). Anyway, I last posted that I would put up a few pictures.
Here is the new front cover:

And here is a sample weekly right-hand page:

And a left-hand weekly page:

It could still be another 4 weeks before it's in stores. The spiral binding adds a lot of production time -- but it wouldn't be nearly as useful without spiral binding. When I started this thread about Jewish planners, I never thought I'd end up doing the layout for the one I like best!

Tova

Thu, Sep 16 2010, 2:58 pm

Yay - the inside stayed familiar!

Thanks so much for your work, Rubber Ducky. Production can take as long as it needs as long as it's available in stores by 12/31 when my current one runs out (OK - a bit before so I can record appointments for 2011 that I will be making at the end of this year).

Thanks again - let us know when it hits the shelves!

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Sep 16 2010, 7:24 pm

Yeah, I didn't change the inside weekly pages layout very much... why fix what ain't broken? I did tweak things a bit for greater consistency and a more feminine and professional look. The monthly pages I changed more, but again the basic layout was already good.

In the Quick Reference section we added a weekly routine, a ready for Shabbos checklist and a 3-week menu -- these are all sections that you fill out according to what you do/need/eat to create your own lists.

Sunny90: Regarding England and Israel, there are candlelighting times shown for a few cities in both countries in the candlelighting charts, but I have no idea whether any copies are sold there. I'll ask the author and post her answer on that.