Making a phone list was the first thing I ever used Excel for, about ten years ago or more. I quickly discovered instead of listing name first to list the ten digit phone number since that column will always be the same size. And it is easy to keep alphabetized since a new entry can be inserted anywhere. I've never re-typed the list once. Just add or delete to the original. I print copies and three hole punch to put into a folder by our phone. Shrunk another copy to half size for the glove compartment of my car. At some point I started using the tabs at the bottom of the page to make new pages for: medical, school #'s, stores & restaurants, car info (insurance & parts & mechanics) and at least 5 or 6 more catagories. It is probably the most useful thing (even though it is fairly simple) I've ever done on the computer. The other very successful Excel file I started ten years ago was for medical appointments. I made a few columns that I fill in each time I schedule and complete an appointment. When I get the Explanation of Benefits in the mail weeks later and wonder what THAT was for I can check my own notes, in laymans terms. I also cross reference if I had a copay or needed some kind of follow up. It has helped me at the end of the year when I've had to claim Flexible Spending Account money. I have a medical condition so it has also been helpful to track my meds. The most helpful book I ever read on organization discouraged the use of PDA's. One of the common negatives that people fed back to her was the inevitable loss of data through a dead battery or "accident". I would never trust my dayplanner, medical history or address book to a PDA. At least on Excel you can have a hard copy printed out. I also have a copy on a flash drive. And I'm not that computer saavy!

Hi Amy. I've been a Palm PDA user forever and think it is a great product. First thing to know is that these little mini computers have either Palm or WindowsME as their "Operating System" or OS. The Palm OS is intuitive and super easy. The windows ME is a variant of Windows and lots of folks complain about it and seem to prefer the elegant simplicity of the Palm OS. OTOH, there are complaints that Palm is "resting on its laurels" and really hasn't done much progressive since creating that great OS years ago. And now of course Apple has just muscled in with the stunning iPhone. (though iPhone is more about music/video/entertainment, and Palm is still better for calendar, words and numbers IMHO) Enough consumer politics. Scanning Ebay for you, cheapest used PDA looks like an old Handspring Visor or Palm Zire 21 or Sony SJ20 for under $10 bucks. It'll do what you need. (BTW, Sony and Handspring are out of the PDA business, so you won't see newer models from them down the road). But you'll soon be lusting for something much brighter, stronger, faster, AND sporting a high resolution color screen. Believe me on that. And there a lots of the more common midrange, very popular Palm Zire Z22 or a Sony SJ30. You should be able to get your hands on a used one for under $50. Both very nice products. Went for $250+ three or four years ago. And if going with a used one, know that an internal (vs disposable) battery might be an issue in an older PDA. I'm seeing a couple full featured (yet another step up) Sony Clie PEG-TG50 out there for cheap and wonder if dying batteries might be the problem. Some internal batteries cannot be replaced by the consumer - you gotta send it someplace. Yech. I would not go crazy and get a Palm Tungston level state of the art PDA. Way too much power and too many features. Ditto other upper end models. MP3 player, Bluetooth, swivel screen, voice recorder,camera, etc is probably overkill. Stick to basic. But fast enough and bright enough and with enough memory to work well for you. And the color screen, it's like a TV. Would you ever go back to a fuzzy B & W screen? No way. And while you say you don't want to synch to a computer, you may want to reconsider that for four reasons: 1) You will have to synch to get cool programs off the internet and onto the thing. Or photos! 2) You can move a bunch of info (like your address book or recipes) en mass from the computer onto the PDA by synching. 3) When adding a bunch of new data, it is much easier to type using your computer keyboard and transfer/synch later. 4) MOST IMPORTANT: Your computer will save *everything* for you at each synch. So if/when you smash or crash the PDA, (or upgrade) you just slap it all back on there with a click. Beats starting over from scratch! Last point is that you will likely have some snafus getting it up and running smooth. These electronics always have a learning curve, don't they? Palm is pretty easy and stable though, and there is lots of help on the net. Whatever your problem, you can likely find the answer with a Google or a support board. HTH, and good luck! -Celtic, who just upgraded to an Ebay Treo when my phone and PDA both conveniently tanked on me the same week. Loving it! Here is a link that might be useful: One to watch

FANTASTIC tips, Joann! (Loved the sock item--that's exactly the kind of thing that gets shoved to the corner of your mind and gets remembered only when you're standing in that school auditorium/gym the next year!) The calendar function on my Mac has really helped me keep track of bill-paying, appointments, due dates for library books (with spaces for noting a new title I need to get when I go back to the library) and so many other daily-life tasks. And you don't need an "electronic calculator," as has been noted (oops, pun not intended!). IMHO, what you DON'T want to do is have a series of reminders. How many lists on little pieces of paper do you have now? Unless you really have a severe memory problem, it's a time waster to have one calendar you go to for the basics but one that forces you to look at ANOTHER piece of paper or computer site to get all the details. A second or third day planner or notebook is just one more thing you can misplace. One alternative to a computer calendar and a paper notepad in your pocket is your cellphone. Even the basic cheapie phone that I have (it's not a smartphone) has a reminder alarm component. You can set a series of alarm clock settings for tasks, like "dr. appt" at 11 a.m. and "buy bananas" and prioritize them as well. I've used the phone to remind me of the next drug-dosage times, very handy when you have a cold and want to get some sleep but then wake up wondering how long it's been since you took your last dose of Nyquil!

Ded I was thinking about this and I am wondering if you could just take a big poster board or something like that and tape or staple all the pieces of paper on a category on them. You'd have several poster boards but at least it would be relatively in one place. Then you could take a photograph of them to have them whenever you wish to look at them as you go about your day. It's a thought anyway. I buy poster boards for various things and I also get those large desk calendars and use the backs of the paper for various things so that's what made me think of it.