Did you intend ‘purchase receipts’ for all receipts, or just for things that don’t have another category? Do I put receipts for computer things, car repairs, etc. in the folders for those topics? Both ways seem wrong–it’s weird to put car repair receipts outside of ‘vehicles’, but it’s also weird to put some receipts in ‘purchase receipts’ and others outside of it. The LA folders seem to split the baby on this topic rather than going one way or the other.
Vehicle within 12.30-12.39
Vehicle purchase receipt 12.31
Vehicle repairs 12.33
Computer within 14.10-14.19
Computer purchases repairs etc 14.11
I would think that 13.41 would be for small-medium purchases that do not have big warranties maybe? Food shopping, clothing, sofa, dining table and chairs, beds, mattresses, shed, bedroom furniture. If any of these had a warranty/insurance, for example my sofa has a warranty and is insured, I would probably think to put THE WARRANTY in home insurance and claims 12.12 with my other insurances on my dish washer, fridge freezer, washing machine and contents insurance etc? (Johnny said to put contents insurance with house insurance).
(I am slowly working through this section so I cant be exact but that’s what I think I would naturally do using the system?)
The idea was to put them all together. For instance, see the note at 12.16:
We made a decision to store all receipts in
13.41 Purchase receiptsfor simplicity, now there’s only one place to search.
But I confess that I also put a receipt for something next to the thing, because it felt better. And in our small business design, we’re tending towards thing-near-the-thing-it-relates-to – where thing is more than just receipts – as well.
I think you just need to decide for yourself, and be consistent. And, of course, make notes in your JDex. This resolves any future ambiguity.
This might be what it ends up as, yeah. The fallback for when there isn’t a better home.
I had the same issue with where do i file my life and income protection policies, how i found this topic. I’ve just purchased & started with lifeadmin - and this is not reflecting. Are you still considering adding this Johnny?
Could have had financial planning as a broad topic but since you have stripped components of it - banking/budgeting, savings, investing, it makes sense to keep other components on their own - life & risk insurance; Estate planning & Wills should be on their own not tied with life insurance…
Brings up another topic. These (estate & wills) are ‘legal’ matters, so could be considered with those “offical” docs - cat [11.16]. But there is a difference in planning matters (written estate plan or financial plan (covering tax/investments, etc) vs legal docs like Wills, which are official & filed with authorities, etc.
Estate plan is part of financial planning so I would think [13.52] for planning docs & subsets of these… Legal docs to 11.16 are subsets there?
On that note, what about, if you are a beneficiary of a Trust or Director of a company/ies, where should those records be saved? So not for those entites but yourself, your record of involvement with those entities?
Yeah sorry, next version of life admin will use the same system-generator utility that I’m writing for small business. It’s just too hard to update otherwise.
My version of the LA pack is from sep-24 (1.1.0.a). How will I know / where can I find an update if it ever is released?
(The workbook is on Gumroad, which already shows new versions).
The next update will be it migrating to the same site that we use for the SBS. That will enable, amongst other things, translations! Whoop.
That’ll take a little while. When Lucy’s back in work mode (she’s in travel-organising mode) it’s the thing she’ll be doing first.
There’ll be a blog post when it happens which I’ll cross-post here & Discord.
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About halfway through the process of migrating to the johnny decimal system.
I’m prompted to select a folder to save a backup of my BusyContacts database as a permanent home. I think the answer is no, as I might start to collect other backups that are not application-specific like iPhone back ups, laptop back ups, desk top backups.
Do I create a folder called "YYYY-MM-DD-BusyContacts Backups and call it a day in
14.14 My data storage & backups
Or is it keeping it closer to the surface by creating 14.16 for my Application Backups folder, where all my applications can store those auto-saves?
Generally, my brain keeps bumping when I try to find the correct folder for my Quick Start, and then I realize it will have tons of complexity. (Challenges of starting from a quick start!)
Thanks, everyone. I’m already benefiting from the system and excited to complete my migration.
For me, I think of backups as the primary thing. So I’d do as you suggested and create a subfolder in 14.14.
This isn’t always the case. For example, we’ve found that people tend to prefer saving receipts for things next the thing that it relates to, rather than in a central folder of receipts. So if you buy a laptop the receipt goes in 14.11 My computers & servers.
If in doubt, just add a note to your JDex so if you go looking in the ‘wrong’ place, you’ve pointed yourself to the right place. This is exactly what it’s for.
That’s where I’ve now put it! My thought was exactly that — it’s a backup. If I need it, that’s where I’d look for it.
Thank you for the speedy response! I’ll be active on this thread more I’m sure as I work through the process. I’m currently at the stage of moving things to the correct inbox and determining what other areas I’ll need. As I create new file, I’m pausing to determine the best home if I can. If it doubt, I put them in the index. So far, it’s working for me!
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hi, all.
Another concept application question.
I’m at work building 11.83 My library.
My library seems such a big and expansive topic that it could not fit into one ID, 11.83.
So, for example, I’ve got a Bear note containing my reading list: things I’d like to read and books I’m recommending. Associating my reading list with 11.83 My Library feels sensible and was the first place I looked to find a home for my Reading List.
But I also have so much to add to My LIbrary: 8 long 200-page PDFs on plant identification, a copy of Emma by Jane Austen, which I downloaded from Project Gutenberg, maybe some notes on books I’ve read recently, the notes and highlights from the books I’m reading on Kindle.
I could create subfolders in 11.83, but that could quickly become a real mess. I could also create a new category, but I suspect there’s a better solution. I could assign a folder with YYYY-MM-DD for the date it entered 11.83 My Library and the title. Still, I’m not sure that a single ID for all the materials I might store here would be organized and encourage me to browse existing materials, check my reading list, and take notes on what I’m reading. There’s so much work I might need to get done in this category. Is one ID enough for a library? How have others organized their libraries? I’d love to keep my library tidy.
This might well be the case, yes.
Remember that Life Admin is meant to hold the stuff that we all have in common: life’s admin. And it specifically isn’t designed to hold what we call ‘your hobbies’ – because we can’t know what they are.
This is such a guiding principle for us here at JDHQ, “it’s a hobby!” has become something we say to each other as we design these systems. Meaning, it’s outside the scope of the thing we’re designing.
(It just so happens that your hobby here is reading, which ties in perfectly with the concept of ‘a library’.)
So this is where you might need to break out of Life Admin and design yourself a new category or area. Because you already have a few types of thing that we can identify that might, say, be their own IDs:
- Plant identification
- Fiction
- Kindle highlights
Which might sit very nicely in a new category, 16 Reading? Or even 21 Reading in new area 20-29 My hobbies?
It’s probably worth you creating a new post here specifically asking how people organise their library of reading. You’re likely to get more responses there as people might not see this buried in this thread.
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Interesting topic as I have quite “the collection” of books and other stuff. 
So far I have indeed split out several things into 20-29 Hobbies but not the library. Currently I use the 11.83 and it contains several Tellico databases for books and movies. But also a folder containing a Calibre database with all the ebooks that I have.
There are also a few other folders holding things like scientific papers or comic books that originate from downloads.
I sometimes think about splitting this out into something broader but so far it worked for me, maybe because the majority of stuff is still “dead wood” 
The main issue remains though the ever growing “to read” list that would need me to stay alive even after the heat death of the universe to finish it. 
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So I downloaded the file pack and put it into my obsidian vault and was a bit confused. I thought the general layout was 10 areas and each area has 10 categories? The life admin area has way more than 10.
Also I thought a unique id was used for each individual note. For example the system manual:
its in area “10-19 life admin” so I thought category 11 would be manuals and the note name would be “11.02 system manual”
Hi @Lennon, a full Johnny Decimal ‘System’ indeed has 10 areas each with 10 categories. The Life Admin pack is meant to fill one area of your System. So what you’re looking at is some 150 IDs spread out over five categories of ‘Area 10-19: Life Admin’.
Do I understand your question correctly?
The idea is that Johnny Decimal has done careful thinking to come up with a compact set of folders specifically for Life Admin. Because many people, when trying this out for the first time, use way more space in the system than they really need, or create overlap and inconstencies. The Life Admin pack shows how compact it can be. The rest of the system – 9 areas – is now free for other things like hobbies, business, etc.
@johnnydecimal the first time I see mention of the actual scope on the product page is near the bottom. Might it be clearer to specify up here that it’s a “fully built Johnny.Decimal folder structure…+for a single area+”?
I see what you’re saying. What confused me is that the ID’s were folders. I thought the ID’s were assigned to files in the file name, “12.02 filename.md" and then you are put that file into the 12 category folder.
Right, that does take getting used to! Usually, indeed, IDs are folders and can end up containing a lot of files. A commonly used example is a longer trip like a foreign vacation: all the documents for that trip go in there. Another example from my admin is the utilities: i have one ID for all gas and electricity records with a couple of spreadsheets for calculations.
So I think it shifts one level up from what you initially thought. Probably studying the LA folders will make it clearer!
We’re just re-doing all of the LAS in preparation for it migrating to the same online system as SBS so feedback noted re: the wording, thanks.
@Lennon this video ‘what is an ID?’ might also help you mentally picture the concept of IDs, categories, and areas. They’ve changed since the original JD implementation 10+ years ago where IDs were a lot more granular. Never as granular as ‘one file per ID’, but Life Admin’s IDs are waaaay less granular than that.
