You diligently write down your friends' addresses — and then everything changes. The key to keeping up with moving contacts is to find a product that can adjust as the information does. For address books, that means replaceable cards.

If you keep addresses at home: This address file by Lovely-design perks up any desktop. The removable cards are made of recycled paper (library cards, order forms, random patterns); the base is Canadian maple. To buy: $75, www.lovelydesign.com.

If you carry addresses with you: The compact Levenger Circa address books have a separate card for each contact, so whenever a person moves, gets married, or both, you just rip out the old card and put in a new one. To buy: $18 for small, $28 for large, www.levenger.com.

Reader’s tip: "I write new contact information on a small Post-it note and stick it over the person's old entry. When my address book becomes full of Post-its, it's time to buy a new book." — Jamie Myers, teacher, Eugene, Oregon