Labels are one of the most useful and quick ways to organize – especially for organizing paper.

A few years ago I went a bit overboard labelling things – finances, travel documents, drawers with planner supplies etc. Some of those labels started to show signs of wear and tear so I was going to make some new ones, but then (rather freakishly good timing), Oz Labels contacted me…

So I had a look around the website and found they make vinyl labels i.e. durable labels. If you’re a fellow Aussie you know how hard it can be to find decent label paper that doesn’t cost a fortune. So when Oz Labels offered some free labels in exchange for this review I wasn’t going to say no!

Oz Labels

These are the labels I picked!

The professional printing means the colors are really vibrant 🙂

Here’s some of the ways I organize using labels:

Recipe Binder

When I find recipes I like online I print them out direct from the website and add to my recipes to try binder. Along with tear outs from magazines.

To keep them organized within that binder I’ve added labels for each baking category:

I stuck them to the bottom right corner so I can easily find them when flicking through the folder.

I deliberately don’t use tabs in my recipes to try folder. I keep all of the recipes for that type that I want to try in the one plastic sheet protector i.e. try these recipes first before I go printing more off the internet.

Once I try the recipe and decide I like it and it’s worth keeping, I take a photo of it it and the recipe gets re-formatted / transferred to one of my recipe binder printables. The reason I do this extra step is because I dislike the print outs that come straight from websites. Some are formatted ok, but some include advertising, the font prints really small, they write the recipe out in long paragraphs rather than short dot points, the recipe has nutritional info such as calories etc, the recipe is in American metrics rather than Aussie metrics etc.

The recipe then gets transferred to the relevant recipe binder e.g. baking, dinner meals, lunches etc.

Some of the other things I keep in my recipe binder:

• Kitchen conversions chart
• Favourite websites list
• Recipe index

I added a label to each of these to make it easier to find

Meal Planning

Each week I pull out recipes I want to try – usually a mixture of new recipes and recipes I’ve made before and put into plastic sheet protectors with the day I’m planning on cooking them.

I was using labels I made with my Dymo label maker

… but the labels were a bit small so I chose these bigger, bright blue ones from Oz Labels.

I place the labels sideways so I can quick find what I’m looking for.

If a plastic sheet protector is empty that means I’m not cooking that night (leftovers).

Desk Folders

I use these bright folders (from Officeworks) which I keep in a magazine holder on my desk. To be honest, it’s basically a dumping ground. When I receive a bill I stuff it into this folder. Then once a week when I do my book-keeping, I pull out this folder and pay the bill, then transfer to a plastic sleeve in my 3 ring tax binder.

I had the folders labelled with sticky notes but sticky notes don’t last forever and I wanted more permanent labels.

I also use these folders for printable planners I want to try e.g. if I’ve found a planner company that has a free printable online, or have printed some of my own printables:

Related: Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free 

One thing that was disappointing is that you can’t choose the colors for each label. The color you choose will apply to all of the labels. I was going to get some labels with colors i.e. the word yellow with a yellow background so I can organize pens and other planner supplies by color but this option wasn’t available 🙁

Finances

I chose the smallest size label with months of the year printed on to use as tab labels and the medium size for plastic envelope wallets that my sister uses to organize postage receipts for her shop:

And labels for each financial year which I used to cover up the velcro on the pockets I use to organize tax stuff.

I also used labels for each financial year’s receipts to stick to the plastic sheet protectors in my tax binder.

Property Documents

Labels to keep the expenses for my investment property organized:

I chose labels for each thing: rates, body corporate, statements etc.

Travel labels

I chose medium size labels for organizing travel in an A5 folder (it’s from Officeworks).

Titles I chose are:

• Good to know (currencies, phone numbers, bank locations, nearest pharmacy to the hotel etc.)
• Budget (both before the trip and to record spending afterwards)
• Receipts (to store receipts & help with the above – essential if you’re travelling with someone else and need to split the bill)
• Packing list (which I take with me so I can re-pack too)
• Itinerary
• Travel Insurance
• Transport (e.g. airport transfers)
• Tickets (e.g. tickets for hop on hop off bus tours)
• Accommodation
• Day Tours
• Flights
• Car Hire
• Checklists
• To Buy
• To Do
• Research
• Timeline (for key dates – arrival & departure)

This has made it so much easier to find everything for my upcoming trip to Europe! 😀

More on how I do travel planning in this post.

Pros of Oz Labels

• Colors are vibrant / good quality ink
• While I only chose vinyl labels there’s plenty of other types of labels to choose from such as iron-on, sew-on, shoe labels and clothing stick on labels
• Can add graphics etc. if you want to use them as name labels for your kid’s school supplies
• Choose from rectangle, square or round labels in various sizes
• Multiple font styles to choose from

Cons of Oz Labels

• Can’t choose the colors for each label. The color you choose will apply to all of the labels so they’re not ideal for color coding
• Limited sizes and shapes
• The largest vinyl labels were prone to air bubbles (the smaller labels were fine) – which has never happened to me when I’ve used matte label paper

Disclaimer: I didn’t receive compensation for this post (other than the labels!) and I won’t receive a kickback if you choose to make a purchase from Oz Labels. As always – all opinions in this post are my own 

Some of the other ways you could organize using labels:

• Pantry labels
• Organizing storage boxes that aren’t see-through
• Jar labels
• Kids’s clothes
• Drawer labels
• Things put into long term storage
• Storing Christmas decorations
• Moving box labels
• And anything else you can think of ?

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More posts:

• How to organize and color code your notes for school, college or university 
• Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner 
• Cheap versus expensive pens: is there actually a difference in quality? 
• 10 Quick planner hacks you need to try (planning tips & inspiration)

Browse all posts on the blog.