Using The Month On Two Pages

I got these inserts in June, neither of my Filofaxes came with these so I had to buy them myself from eBay. I knew it would be very helpful to see what my month is going to look like, whether I need to prepare for anything, when I'll get paid or have a day off etc. Since June I've been playing around with the style, decoration and colour coding of the pages. I thought I would share my experiences, what I've tried and what I currently do.

This is how I layout my monthly inserts:

1. I use two pieces of the washi masking sticker set in pastel on the top of the pages to make them look cuter and brighter. At the end of the month I look back, pick one or two good things that happened throughout that month and then write them over the washi tape as a quick reminder when I look back in a few months time.
2. I use the heart stickers from Asda which are very cheap (currently 50p for 300 stickers!) for colour coding. I did try using different coloured pens for colour coding on both the monthly and weekly inserts but like most people, it took too long and personally I felt it look messy. I also tried highlighting but it again looked messy and also would bleed through to the next pages. I have tried dot stickers from Asda which were too big and didn't have enough colours; and the Paperchase appointment stickers (the small ones at the bottom) which were perfect, but there weren't enough (you get two pages in a pack which is £2.25). I am interested in using the Mark-it dots from Amazon, but because they're from the U.S they are very expensive to get sent to the U.K (roughly between £15-£20 which is crazy for some stickers!).
   
   So from my experience, the best thing I prefer to use for colour coding is stickers. I want to get my hands on some mark it dots as they are the perfect size and plenty on each page to last a couple of months, whereas even though the paperchase small stickers are great, you don't get many in each pack. So right now I am using the heart stickers to mark everything monthly, these are what the colours mean:
   Red - Birthdays/Anniversary
   Orange - Events
   Yellow - Appointments/Reminders
   Green - Pay Day
   Blue - Work
   Purple - Exercise
3. With writing in the monthly inserts, I try to keep it simple at the start. I mainly put things that won't change or cancel, such as birthdays, anniversaries, work and paydays. Sometimes I will write in pencil or put a sticky note if something could be happening on a specific date but is not set it stone. If I go through the day with no big events, I'll put a little note of something happening that week (weigh ins, going to boyfriends, going to town, family meals etc). Once the day is over, I cross it off to know where I am in the month.
4. I don't use the left hand side much, sometimes I will use it if the main calendar is looking a little messy, but I just find there isn't enough space there. I might use it to note when I go to college and if I have to miss days etc to keep track of my attendance.
5. I use a simple black ruler which comes with the Filofax and can also be bought on their website, Amazon, eBay, and in local stores like Ryman, Staples, and WHSmith. It makes moving from the monthly and weekly inserts a lot easier than flicking through it. I also sometimes put sticky notes on it as reminders.
6. I've been decorating the spare spaces in different styles since I got the inserts in June by using the ones from January-May to see what I like the best. I've tried colouring, highlighting, putting stickers and washi tape, and just leaving them. I personally like colouring them and also highlighting around all the days in that month so it's a lot easier to see and more pleasing to the eye.