Perpetual address book

Over the years I have had many different address books. Every few years the scratch marks and strike-throughs would get to me and I would buy another one. I would then have to go through the work of rewriting all of my addresses into the new book. Well, I figured out something better. I now have a digital and hard-copy address book.

I keep all of my addresses in a Microsoft Excel database. When I first started it, I printed labels for everyone’s addresses and phone numbers and then adhered them to my (hard-copy) address book pages. I like the refillable binder address books from Hallmark.

Whenever I get a new address for someone, I correct it on my database. I then mark in my “Correct” column: “To Print.” Around the holidays, I reprint any addresses marked with “To Print” and stick them in my address book. This method keeps my address book looking nice, makes it easy to make corrections, and saves me time in sending out holiday cards. I can just print out labels each year instead of having to hand address all of my cards.

This idea might not save you a ton of money, but it sure saves on time and for those of you that tend to lose things, all your data is now in two places! I love that I can easily access addresses when I am working on the computer, but I also have a real address book for when my computer is not on or when we travel.

Related posts:

• “Make your checkbook digital”
• “Make your own Internet keychain”