I recently downsized from multiple files/boxes - went to big box office supply store and got new matching paper boxes for the information to be retained (I disagree with keeping 7 freaking years of credit card statements - good grief!). I also found a third (groan) pile of papers to be shredded when I did the closet clean out - in an old briefcase - just ordered a new shredder to deal with rather than squirreling away in odd places!

BTW - if you get a file cabinet, you'll fill it up - I sold mine as an act of self discipline!

Luckily, my boyfriend and I just did our file cabinet earlier this month. BUT, at work, I just moved to a new position and a new desk and am trying to figure out how to organize five years' worth of accumulated belongings and knick knacks. Ick.

One alternative to tossing old greeting cards is donating them to St. Jude's Ranch Recycled Card program. I keep a folder of cards and mail them in once a year.

P.S. I am enjoying following along with the January Cure and doing my own round-ups on my blog!

woohoo! I did this the weekend I was supposed to be focusing on the kitchen...

Ha! as if I could tackle this in a day!
I'm wondering who actually has time every week to deal with paperwork?
Commenter Virginia, 7 years is a standard recommendation for keeping records if you deduct any of it on your taxes. You can actually be audited by the IRS or your state DOR farther back than 7 years but it's rare. If you don't deduct, don't save. If you own your home save major home improvement receipts until you sell; they can affect your capitol gains.
If you live in a state that allows you to deduct rent (Maxwell must not) do also save those receipts.
See why, I at least, can't find a time every week to do this?!

I have all my bills set up for "paperless" and use my iPad to keep track of what is due & when. I pay bills every Friday or payday online so I don't have all this paper clutter or statements to save. This helps a lot with sticking to a budget too because I have all my bills on one page for the month. I pay what needs to be paid each Friday & whatever is leftover we can use for groceries, entertainment, etc.... i have my savings deposit automatically taken out of my check each week so i dont have to be so disciplined with that. I do file away our tax returns as well as any manuals & booklets on any appliances or equipment we have & other important documents, etc.... I also keep a folder in my office desk drawer to collect any tax info/statments/deductions throughout the year so it is all ready to go at tax time. My desk could use a old cleaning out though.

Hm, but isn't it important to keep receipts of items you might end up changing your mind about and want to return? Also, a previous management company misdirected our rent to the wrong apartment and demanded proof from us that we'd paid rent that month, so it was important to have had the rent receipt, which we happened not to (my ex was in charge of that back then). So it took quite a while to get that sorted out. I now keep the past two years of rent receipts just in case.

I pay most of my bills online but can still occasionally forget to pay monthly bills somehow. I need a system where I don't forget to pay my bills, but where I don't spend every waking minute going "OMG don't forget to pay my bills!" which seems to be my current system. It's exhausting.

I keep the bills I pay monthly for two years. I have two sets of 12 manila folders, one that begins "January Odd" and the other "January Even" for the odd and even years. When a bill comes in, I pay it, write the date it was paid on the bill and then file it in the appropriate month. Paperless billing would be easier, but after two weeks of no power or cable post-Sandy, I can't quite bring myself to do it.

Papers, oy. That's got to be our number one source of clutter around here.

If anyone is interested, I made a Flickr set this morning with my AT Cure progress. I'm not all that disciplined about taking before and after shots, but it's fun to see how things are shaping up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeep/sets/72157632578098642/

That's a great idea -- but then I read this: "We can not accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting cards."

That's like... 99% of the cards we get.

I'm so happy that I've already got a pretty good system in place for bills and papers b/c I'm not sure I could set up a good system from scratch in a single day. But I do need to do some maintenance on my existing system - I have some files that need a purge or a tweak - and that is a manageable task even on a busy day!

IphigeniaGoesShopping - don't know if this will work for you, but a couple years ago I used a generic printout of a calendar month to record the due dates for my bills. I'm a pretty visual person, so having that single page has enabled me to know at which times of the month I need to be sure to sit down and get those bills paid, and which weeks are bill-free. It's helped me a lot!

IphigeniaGoesShopping: my system is to create an event in my google calendar on the day I need to pay the bill. I set up an alarm to receive an email on that day so I know I have to pay this bill today.
The event repeats every month for mon credit card payment so it's an automatic reminder.

Hello. Anyone know where to get the simple laptop stand? Really would free up my small desk area. Thanks.

I just started tackling this yesterday - spending a few hours on going through piles of papers. The filing system I have is ok, but might be a bit too complicated because sometimes I have trouble deciding where something goes. I'm going to try to get into the weekly paper management habit though, perhaps that will help.

ps. re: Frankly's calendar of when bills are due - I love that idea!

We also use the calendar print out marked with due dates, and transfers. Works great!

I'm a little compulsive about my paperwork. Money's super tight, and I absolutely HATE paying late fees for my mistakes. I receive my bills through email (even medical bills) which means less actual paper mail to deal with, and so I immediately file them in their efiles. I pay/schedule all of my bills on or around the 2nd of the month. My Mortgage, car note, and investments are all automatically paid (set up through my bank so that I have control of when to stop payments if necessary). The rest I schedule online (again, through my bank). Therefore I have an e-paper trail going back to about 2004. I have one nice looking leatherette file box for things that I can't do online, but I'm hoping to splurge on a scanner soon. Then that box can hold warranty papers for our bikes and appliances. Oh, I do have a shredder for those questionable papers that come in the mail. Can't be too careful. I warned you, I'm a little compulsive about this.

By my landing strip I have a little file box that holds pendaflex folders and I have 5 files in it: "pay" "read" "file" "receipts" "to do". I get paid twice a month and pay bills those days, then the bills go in the "file" folder. Once I check my bank statement or credit card bill, I throw out the receipts or if I need them they go in "file". Eventually (sometimes not as eventually as they should!) what's in the "file" box gets sorted into a file drawer in my "home office" which is in the basement. If I had my desk and file drawer upstairs this might be more streamlined, but I found that if I sort stuff as Receive it or handle it, at the front door or the dining room table, it's easier once I get around to doing the filing.

I used to have back dated piles of papers and bills around the house, about 5 or 6 years ago I worked on getting through them, since then I've been keeping up with it weekly or at least monthly. I will go in and i'm sure i'll find older bills I can toss. But I'm keeping most personal and holiday cards, not many people send them anymore and they make me happy!

@Iphigenia, I keep a composition notebook for this purpose. Each month has its own page. I have 6 columns = Biller, Bal. Due., Min. Req., Amt. Pd., Due Date, & Ref. #.It goes back to July of 2000 (which was the last time I paid any late fees). In the left margins I've written the biller's name = power co., cable co., mortgage, car, cr. cards etc. I do this for the next month immediately after I've paid/scheduled all my bills on or around the 2nd of the current month. It helps me anticipate what's coming. For example, every six months I have a car insurance bill due, so once I've paid that bill (say in January) I'll turn 6 pages, mark the top of that page with that month (July) and then put the biller's name (ins. co.) and the anticipated amount due. I realize I'm a little compulsive about this, but my paper trail is so small and I now have a 12 year old record of all my expenses and moves in one little notebook. I hope this helps a little.

BTW are you Greek?

@Jennifer from Meals, Squared Thanks for sharing your pics Jennifer. They are inspiring. Have you considered painting the frames in your entry hall black also? I noticed one was already black.
jenny

The black doors look amazing

I actually employ a method pretty similar to what Max describes. I have a "to file" holder on the wall above my desk where I stick things during the week. On the weekend, I file them, or do whatever needs to be done. Take 15-20 minutes, max once the system is in place.

I did a MASSIVE sort/purge/organization of our papers a couple of years ago. My boyfriend had 7+ years of random records, junk mail, etc. stored haphazardly in office boxes. I went through all of it to weed out the stuff to shred and toss and then had him help me sort stuff. I bought two small file boxes and made labeled filed folders for each of our things (i.e. tax info, medical records).

So I think I've got a pretty good system in place, but some of the files do need some pruning and a few folders need to be labeled. I also need to catch up with my bills for this month!

Eurgh. Been dreading this task. I'm quite bad with my paperwork but my husband is terrible, he never opens anything. We both have a habit of stashing paperwork around the house. Some is on the bookcase, some in the trunk we use as a coffee table and some is stacked by our files with the intention of filing them properly at some point in the future. When post comes in it can be put in any one of 3 different locations!

We pay most of our bills by Direct Debit which means we don't miss any payments and have been setting up as much as possible online now.

I've now got my mail holder to put up in the hallway so at least we can keep post in one place. Junk mail goes straight into the recycling so that's not too bad. I've decided that as we don't really use the files we have I am just going to replace them with some Ikea boxes. It might not be too organised but it will work for us and at least keep everything in one place.

One thing I did do a while ago was put a lot of our appliance manuals onto the iPad following this suggestion http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-turn-your-owners-manuals-into-digital-files-for-your-ipad-166391

@ EnglishRosie I love this idea of putting appliance manuals onto the iPad. Gonna do that!

Oh Boy! I need a whole weekend for this task. This is definitely going to take me all week to sort through all the paper I have. I have a filing cabinet, and 4 plastic file storage bins to go through. I am thinking going paperless on a lot of bills may be a much better way to go now.

Love hearing everyones ideas on how they handle their paper trails. Very helpful.

IphigeniaGoesShopping, I use Gmail and put all my bills on my Google Calendar. I color code all the bills the same color so that when I look at the monthly view I can easily see what's coming up (very helpful when budgeting). Plus each bill has a reminder that gets emailed to me 2 days before it is due. I leave these reminders "unread" in my inbox until I have paid them so that I remember.

I guess Im lucky on this front. Having organized my bookcase/file bins before the holidays I only need to file what is floating around. My bf does most of the bill paying online but there are still papers everywhere, I thought we signed up for paperless darnit!

I do need to invest in a shredder though, tearing the mail into tiny pieces takes foreverrrr

7 years is a long time to keep credit card statements. I keep mine for a year. Is there a reason to keep them for any longer?

Oh no! I just crafted my first ever comment here and it disappeared on me!

What I wanted to say (more eloquently) was:

1. I did this a few days ago (yey!)

2. I was feeling guilty about letting some days' tasks slide but... I have a new half finished house, a 5 year old and a new baby - sometimes there ain't enough hours in the day! So I have decided anything is better than nothing. I have fresh flowers and framed art, and much cleaner floors than usual, and it's made me happy (which is the point of the Cure, right?!)

3. An excellent app for those who have trouble tracking bills is 'Account Tracker' - download the free version and spend a little time messing around with it. I bought the full version I loved it so much.

What has helped is SECURELY storing documents online at siftsort.com [ https://www.siftsort.com/zooley/login/about.html gives a bit about the founders and you sign up at the button on the top]. You get an email account YourName@siftsort.com and email the bills, important papers, scanned or faxed, and they can be shared with your accountanct, financial advisors, family or whomever you choose through a secure link. Not like google can see what is in your email, etc., and send you ads on financial planning. Made life so much simpler when I did this. 2GB free storage if you don't want to pay for a dedicated personal fax line. Get it through your Merrill Lynch account if you have one.

I went paperless for credit card, bank and investment statements. I receive email updates and can login to my account at any time to see the status. It is possible to obtain copies of statements through the company should I ever need one, which I have only had to do once in ten years. It is ridiculous to think of stock piling all that paper for SEVEN years.

I don't keep paper credit card statements, period. It's too much of a hassle to keep up on filing them, and it's an identity theft risk I'm not willing to take. We have e-mails sent to me when the statements are ready, and I log in to our accounts to view them. For the one account that still receives paper statements (which will be switched to online statements tonight), I examine it as soon as we receive it and put it in the shred bin immediately after review. This, combined with checking our credit card accounts on a weekly basis, helps me stay on top of any issues. We pay via ACH from our bank accounts, so we don't need to keep the remittance slips.

Right now, I take my shredding to OfficeMax for secure document shredding; it's $0.79 per pound of paper, and it's easier than dealing with a small home shredder that can jam.

What I DO keep are bank account opening/closing documents. I treat these as I would any other contract (rental agreements, car note agreements, insurance policies).

I'm planning on buying a separate, password-protected external hard drive for all the financial information, so it's in a second separate location from my hard drive backup.

I have been heading toward the system Dot525 outlined above. With this cure I plan to get all the way there. I started tackling this with the landing strip and bedroom (home to the files) assignments. Tonight I will consolidate to a nice box and include checkbook, stamps, etc. that I need to complete the tasks. I work mostly from the iPad now on bills so a nice portable box will be handy. I feel better already.

I won't be throwing away any cards from my husband - he always writes the most beautiful and funny cards that are more like letters really. So they are staying. If something makes you smile everytime you read it, I'd keep it :)

We currently have five 6"-8" high stacks of paperwork around our home. Of all the assignments in the January Cure, this one is the most monumentally difficult for me. An otherwise very organized person, money is something I avoid dealing with as much as possible, and therefore it's always a problem when I do. Today's assignment is an opportunity to get caught up, face financial realities, and re-comit to a year of staying on top of bill paying.

Will use some digital tools to assist, like the well-reviewed/vetted app I found to keep track of balances and due dates, Pageonce, which I downloaded a few months ago and haven't done anything with, so today's the day. Also going to use the ipad appliance manual idea, thanks for the reminder, EnglishRosie!

It's interesting about perceived value. I keep most greeting cards (not all, just the ones from loved ones) for sentimental reasons.

But I'd burn (if I had a fireplace) or shred credit card statements as soon as I didn't need them anymore.

2 notes:
1) I used to be behind the ball on bill paying but after a couple of tight months turned it around so now I'm 'in front of' the bills... so now I pay and mail as soon as they arrive. No need to keep track of stuff that's not sitting around!
2) I just finished sorting and filing and shredding years of junk mail/bills/statements etc etc. It sucked! So, I've strategically placed the shredder (plugged into a power strip that's off when not in use) near the space I sort through mail. I feed the shredder with junk, sort the rest into 2 2013 folders, 1 for hobby, the other for non-hobby. At the end of the year (or sooner), I'll file that stuff and rename the folders 2014. In the meantime. I can easily find what I need and I handle it all daily. No piles.

No need to keep this stuff so long. I no longer have tax returns from the 80s! 7 years is fine for tax returns. I go two years for credit card statements. Don't even print my bank statements since I just look at the online statement to balance my accounts. If you're receiving online statements, you aren't printing them and putting them in a file drawer... that would defeat the purpose. Records are available through the bank or credit card company if needed. Yes, keep home improvement expenses. If there are tax-related expenses on your credit cards, keep those receipts only with your tax return. I also shred my mortgage statement after paying it. Why would you need to keep them for 7 years? Again -- available thru the lender if ever needed, but I can't imagine why that would be. Less is more! I feel better with fewer files.

There is no way I will be able to complete this in one day, as our filing cabinet really needs to be fully re-organized. However, one huge benefit that I am finding from the cure is that I am getting a gentle kick in the pants to actually see the problem areas in my house, figure out what needs to be done, and do it. I have made huge strides, finished an enormous project that I had been afraid of, and figured out what else is on the list. So the papers might not all get organized in a day - that's alright, because now I know that they *will* get done.

I love doing "desk work", so my filing cabinet is neat and tidy. My desk, however, is a mess so I will de-clutter and streamline.

Anyone have a good system for shredding? I usually end up with a ginormous amount and try to do it all at once which naturally breaks the shredder. In need of a new one right now and I know I will have a huge amount from today's task.

I am a recent convert to scanning paperwork that matters. 99% of the time, what is important is the 'information' on the document, not the 'physical' document. After a yr of a constant gnawing & nagging inside my head about this tedious (but important) task, spent 6 hrs getting caught up on scanning. Going forward, will make scanning a routine monthly task & not let paperwork become so daunting & out of control.

@ hilaw: I hear ya. I certainly do not have time to do this weekly, and even if I did, who wants to? I am meticulous about paying bills on time & record keeping but filing is the bane of my existence. I.hate.it. And as someone said, if you have a file cabinet, you will fill it up. Definitely not my field of dreams. Despite my intentions, mine only got cleaned out when it was overflowing & by then it was a major weekend task. Now, I have long been a suscriber to the *touch it once* philosophy but it wasn't working for me. Sooo...when dh began working from home a few yrs ago (<read that tripled my record keeping workload) I went cold turkey...emptied my file drawers, gave the desk to dd who had long admired it and started anew. Here's my system:

FREEDOM FROM FILING CLUTTER CHAOS IN 3 EASY STEPS

(1) I bought two flat, letter size cardboard file boxes (maybe 4" deep) which are stacked on the shelf above my desk, one for paid bills, the other for misc receipts (in case I need to return a recent purchase). (2) I set up a spreadsheet for tax deductible expenses. AS I pay bills, I enter the amounts on the spread sheet then toss the bills into the box. Takes less than 60 seconds. At the end of the yr, I print out my spread sheet for our accountant, tie the bundle of paid bills with twine (still in the order in which they were paid) & toss the bundle into a shallow desk drawer reserved for bank statements only. Once our tax return is filed, the bill bundle, bank statements & return get relocated to a storage box which lives in the attic. Done & done.

This system has SET ME FREE from desk clutter & tedious filing plus reclaimed valuable real estate in our home. The basic premise is that chances are *slim to none* I'll ever have to touch those paid bills/receipts again. No need to waste time on the front end setting up & maintaining a filing system when I can put my hands on a document in less than 5 minutes on the back end in the unlikely event I ever need it.

Adding here: I also have a 'household maintenance' binder which lives on my bookshelf, filled with clear sheet protectors. All operation manuals, warrantees & receipts for household appliances & home repairs go there for easy access if need be.

Paper organization is the area that gets outta control for me the most. I need help with it. I read the linked articles here, but I don't see any solution to my problem. I think the only solution might be a kick in the rear.

I think the changes I made for the landing strip will help some. Two things that trip me up are (a) the stuff I need to follow up on ... like calling the cable company to ask for a lower rate, or questioning a charge on a bill, or needing to go back to read a lengthy document on something important. These things seem to stack up and take a long time to get done. And (b) actually filing stuff. Somehow filing never happens. I have a 'to file' box. I haven't filed in over a year probably. I also tend to collect articles from periodicals too. I need help on how to make this process flow (from the point of entry to my home) and not stop at the 'to file' box. I have folders. I have containers for them. I need a magic button that sorts them all to where they need to go. Any ideas not already detailed in the previous posts would be appreciated.

On Paying Bills....
I can't imagine not using autopay for all financial transactions. I still receive the stmts to review them. It is extremely important to review... I have a friend who's account was depleted by an autopay for her gas company because they misread her meter and charged her like $8000 for a monthly bill. Ha - That is the nightmare (insufficient fund charges out the whazoo)!!! I assume they reimbursed those charges.

I refuse to live based on my fears though. I hate stamps and any manual process. My online bank account allows me to setup anyone as a payee and pay them thru my account. I use autopay for paying everything. Even if the payment is a check... my bank mails it out on my behalf. I can't remember the last time I physically wrote a check. It is such a time saver. A photo of the checks are included in my monthly statement. Everything is stored electronically, so my transactions can be downloaded and used in any financial software for analysis or tracking. I review my online account transactions regularly (every couple of days) to make sure I recognize the amounts and places the charges are coming from. I highly recommend autopay with a reputable bank.

If you're like me and don't have a shredder sometimes Crime Stoppers hooks up with Shred It and for a donation you can get all your stuff shredded. My city doesn't have a place to bring your papers to be shredded so I just keep my eye open for this event.
This is super helpful when you've just sorted through 7 years of papers. :-)

I did a massive purge a few months ago when we moved, since I didn't want to lug 50 extra pounds of paper with us. I also have a file cabinet and a shredder, so it makes the paper sorting process super-easy. Finally, a day I'm totally on top of!

I have an empty binder sitting in my cabinet waiting for all the important papers - not that I have many, but now that (for the first time in my life) my name is on an insurance policy AND an apartment lease, I need to get my binder together :)

ALSO: my kitchen table arrived tonight! No longer have to eat, study, read, sleep and lounge in my bed. Will probably still prefer bed over chair+table, but hey, it's always nice to have a choice.

2 more things....
1) Has anyone ever read 'Your Money or Your Life' and followed through with all the exercises? I got a good start, but did not complete everything. It is a serious approach to get real about how you value your time and money. It is my goal to finish that book's exercises and implement changes to support its approach. I would love for AT to incorporate this type of advice into its postings. Caring for the home encompasses so many things... financial advice can answer the question of how to afford the things you really love and will cherish forever.

2) Also for anyone wanting to get rock solid, unbiased financial advice, I recommend Suze Orman. Although reading about finances can be a little bit of a snooze-fest, I would recommend watching her weekly show or looking for online info from her. She realizes that people tend to have complicated relationships with their money, and addresses it head on. She is straightforward and talks in terms everyone can relate to. No one has taught me more about priorities towards money than she has. I love her. And she would be the first person I would call if I won the lotto!! I wish I had her advice when I first started working.

You need to keep tax returns for any ongoing investment including your house. This also includes purchase and sales of previous houses if you rolled capital gains. Personally I scanned every tax return I ever filed and saved them off to secure password protected storage. For those going digital remember to have at least two different backups of things you really need. Most security people advise three.

Another thing I just thought of: The IRS can usually audit you for seven years after you file a tax return (unless you're a serious tax cheat, in which case, get a good lawyer NOW). We shred any paper tax returns that fall outside of that statute of limitations, but we keep the electronic versions and all of the W-2 forms (to show a record of what we received in wages), 1099s, and any itemized deduction support. You can scan the items and save them to an external hard drive. Also, we keep all of our important documents (birth certificates, my sacrament documents, Social Security cards, passports/passport cards, marriage license, stock certificates, life/home/auto insurance policies) in a safe deposit box at our bank. If you itemize deductions, you can usually deduct the safe deposit box fee.

What a great idea.... too bad I just recycled all of my Christmas cards. Keeping this in mind!

All the reader posts are so helpful--I love hearing what others are doing!

I've been paying bills online for at least 15 years--can't even imagine what I've saved in postage and envelopes, not to mention avoided late fees, since I'd sometimes forget to drop things in the mail.

Paper clutter is the bane of my life; I've been known to shovel it all in a box to get it out of my way. In December, I finally dug through numerous old boxes--it was daunting! I shredded and recycled big bags of old papers, and doing that was a weight off my mind, as well as extra space in my apartment. There's still plenty to tackle, but not today. Today's step could take up the entire month of February.

Last week my boyfriend bought me a dozen colorful roses, but they didn't last long, so I'm drying the petals to fill up a small vase. Preferring live plants anyway, yesterday I bought a blooming African violet.

Oh, and I keep a stair-step basket to toss my mail into and keep it tidy unti I have time to look through it. Otherwise it piles up on the front stairs or on the little table at the top of the stairs.

Having had my bank hacked twice and once being the victim of identity theft requiring a credit freeze with the 3 major reporting companies, I will NEVER do online banking or pay bills online.

Yay! I am so ready for my tax accountant now! booking a manicure to reward myself for getting through the boxes of paper with no papercuts!

This is an ongoing process at my house. I have a cheapie dollar store folder divided into months that I put "keepers" in (receipts, paid bills, etc) and stackable trays for things in progress. There's also a "lazy bin" I can toss things into but it gets sorted at least once a month. The most important papers are in a grab and go briefcase in case of earthquake, fire, whatever along with passport, extra cash etc. All of this stuff is kept in a computer armoire that I can close up and have instant tidiness.

Yay. Finally a task we're already managing well. I used today's assignment to post January's digital photos to Shutterfly and my backup hard drive.

I'm still sorting out books and miscellaneous flotsam in our master bedroom. Our "office" is in the bedroom so clearing the clutter really improves the whole space.

I've also become a fresh flower convert. Who knew a little bouquet of hot pink carnations could be so joyful?

artfemme11... that is scarey!! can you share any further details of how it happened without revealing personal information? how did they get into your account? what bank? did they ever identify the hacker? were charges pursued?

Paper is my biggest challenge. I have come up with systems similar to those mentioned here. Additionally, each New Year's day, I throw out the oldest year of Consumer Reports magazines I had saved, and go through other old magazine stashes. Then I go through the filing cabinet. I toss manuals and receipts for items I no longer own, oldest year of bank statements and credit card statements, oldest year tax folder, outdated insurance cards, and unneeded items. I scan some items that I may need again. - - I also learned that if you oil your shredder cutting bars, the shredder will last a lot longer. I oil mine every other time I empty the bin.

I have a 2-drawer file cabinet which holds all documents. I keep manuals, bills pertaining to my condo and car.I keep tax info 7 years.I keep all utility and credit card bills 1 month but most are online now. Since I've retired and only get paid once a month, I have set up my finances to come out at the beginning of the month and most come out automatically. The only payment in the middle of the month is my bi-monthly mortage.

I love using Freedom Filer; have been using the system for nearly a year and it's helped me curb my slight paper/knowledge hoarding. I use the file boxes from the Container Store.

SCANNERS: I want to declutter by purchasing a scanner but I don't want a honking huge one that takes up tons of space - I already have a printer and don't need an all in one. Just the scanner please. Anybody have recommendations for a good one? The ones that scan only seem to be $400 +. What am I missing?

Our nearby OfficeMax offers shredding. So far we have not broken this shredder, but when/if we do, I think I will just pay at OfficeMax instead.

I decluttered a ton of old papers last week when I was getting my landing strip together. I am horrible at filing, but I am good about at least keeping all of my papers together. My husband, however, is not. He was out-of-town last week when I set up the new landing strip near our entryway, and it's taking him longer to adjust than I thought. Starting a filing system now would be overload for him.

I'm enjoying reading about how others have set up their systems. I think the one Dot525 has would work best for us. My plan is to have it set up at the beginning of February and then move files to a filing cabinet upstairs. I saw a cute one from cb2 that just might encourage me to be a better filer.

To angelinethebaker,a company named VuPoint offers portable scanners for about $100.They are the approx. the size of a roll of Reynold's Wrap.

I should have direct my previous commen re:scanners to thorndale.

What's with keeping bank statements, credit card bills, and mortgage statements for 7 years? The year end mortgage statement will be with your tax forms so why save all the rest, and if you don't have a business why save bank statements and credit card bills? All my bank statements are online and I can retreive online from the bank going back many years if necessary, and it's never been necessary, same with my credit card statements. My credit card bills might have something deductible on them such as dental bills but my dentist gives me a year end statement so no need to keep and I get a receipt whenever I pay my co-pay at the doctor or buy a prescription so I toss those in my tax file. I only have about 7 to 9 regularly recurring monthly bills so I guess not a big deal. I only get paid once a month so I pay everything online at the beginning of the month whether it's due then or not and immediately shred.

"What's with keeping bank statements, credit card bills, and mortgage statements for 7 years?

Theoretically, I suppose there's no need if you trust those with whom you are doing business and the current economy doesn't force them to close their doors. Personally, I don't trust any of them as far as I can spit.

Furthermore, my year-end mortage statement does not itemize my additional payments to principal. Trusting the mtg co to get it right could very well cost me thousands in interest. When our street address was changed due to the implementation of the 911 system here (we live in the sticks) I spent 8 months e-mailing, calling, faxing & sending certified letters with documentation to my mtg co in an attempt to convince them I had not moved. To this day (15 yrs into a 30 yr mtg) I STILL get nasty letters once a year regarding my 'change of address'. The letters go straight to the shredder without response. Trust them? Not.in.this.lifetime.

I pray you never get audited by the IRS.

If I read all the comments, I won't even start on this. The paper/files clutter is what kept me from finishing the bedroom. And this will take longer than a truncated evening. I am 3.5 years out of freelancing. I do look forward to wiping out the 8 year-old box (not file) of paperwork. Thankfully my BIL has a mondo shredder.

Thanks to Kimberly for the St. Jude's Ranch suggestion, even with the limitations there's a pile I can donate. And thank you to the commenter from this weekend who mentioned Dress for Success. I've lost some weight and now can weed out the professional clothes without guilt. I'd keep them in the closet trying to justify the money I spent on them.

Well, time to tackle at least one or two file folders.

I love the black doors and your door knobs look fabulous!

I started this over when we had to declutter books and media...because my bookcases were filled with papers not books! I am not quite finished yet so I enjoy hearing about the systems everyone has in place!

Spent several hours culling and organizing playbills and opera programs. Another box of paper: gone.

I want to second sarajanie's recommendation of Your Money or Your Life and Suze Orman. These are my top two sources for learning about how to deal with money. I haven't done all the steps in Your Money or Your Life either, but I still think it is helpful; the follow-up "Getting a Life" is even better!
Third, is reading about the law of attraction and playing the prosperity game. Which sometimes seems at odds with the steps in Your Money or Your Life...but they are both super appealing to me.

I started going through the filing cabinet and shredding. Now I need to buy shredder oil so that my new shredder lasts longer than the old one, when I knew nothing about the need to oil it...

I hardly get any "real" cards for Christmas. They are almost all photocards!

discerning: Sorry you've had so much trouble with your mortgage company. I hope I never get audited either, but I've never cheated on my taxes and have verification of every deduction filed with each year of taxes so I don't think it would be a problem. In 1994 my city name and zip code changed and never had a problem with my mortgage company thinking I moved, had far less problems with that than I anticipated happening, but it was pretty smooth. A few places either didn't have a record of the new zip code or would attach the old city to the new zip code but the P.O. had it under control.

I had to do this Saturday, actually. Thanks to my cat. (Now I can say I'm ahead of schedule!)

Technically, it's the next day, but I got it done! Shoot @TML83 has a point...we need a shredder.

http://shoes-off-please.com/2013/01/22/purge-o-phile/

Lol, Queen Carmelita, I've never cheated on my taxes either and also have verification of every deduction filed with each year of taxes...on paper. I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree here;) I do appreciate your insights though. Knowledge is a wonderful thing & forewarned is forearmed. Fwiw, I do have these documents stored online. I just don't trust they'll still be there in the event I ever need them. Go ahead & call me anal, it's okay *grin* Cuz I am, about my financial records at least. Prayin' niether of us ever gets audited!

bless ya

First audit I had was a training audit--the guy's second audit of his life and the letter asked for. EVERYTHING. I REPEAT, EVERYTHING. After I had shredded a bunch after 9/11. I had to pay the effing bank for copies of the bank statements. He didn't look at them. I got a second audit after I moved from NY. One bank thing triggered it and it took a 28-page repsonse from my CPA and me. I've a business, IRA rollovers get messed up, had rental properties, etc. Count yer lucky stars ya haven't been audited. I never owed them anything but it's a PITA.

Someone asked who has time to do paperwork every week. Well, I do. Because I do them every week it doesn´t eat up much time. I have an " action " folder where I keep stuff that needs can be dealt within a week and every Friday, that pile gets paid. For any other paperwork that needs to be dealt with without any delay, are housed in the top middle drawer of my desk. I work through that drawer every day. Bills that are paid, get put in their own respective folder in chronological order and from there, they get filed on long- term filing boxes- even those boxes get shredded and discarded in due time.
I worked for few months to get this apt organized two´ish years ago and I´m not going back. Every thing, every paper has a home and every thing and paper in its home. It saves time and energy and now I know that every Wed I clean our refrigerator, every Fri I do paperwork, every Thu I plan next week´s menu etc. Because there never will be a mountain to climb, it´s done promptly and swiftly.

Another task I almost skipped out of, but powered through. Files needed thinning more than I'd realized, but the task was so much easier than I imagined. Thanks Cure!

weirdrockstar -

I would love to hear more about your home keeping schedule, or whatever you want to call it. I would like to setup the same type of thing. I am an eternal procrastinator and think a specific schedule of what chores to do when and how often would help me get on track and stay there. Can you share a sample of a monthly schedule? How are you reminded of whats on the schedule? Is it on a big wall calendar or a smartphone calendar?

Also, do you organize your paper in one area, where you capture what comes in, go thru it, and file it or recycle it all in one area? What is the key to your system?

Thanks for sharing what you can.

Well, I started with FlyLady after my entire life and home was a royal mess. I had a baby, moved cities etc etc... I regained a sort of order slowly mainly by doing a little every day. The thing is, if you overwhelm yourself, you´ll only end up hating yourself, the world and everything in it and then you´ll just quit and chaos ensues before you managed to tackle it.
Over the years I´ve just fallen onto a pattern to everything get everything done on time.
I do have a home binder. After I moved us to this current apt, I set myself to make a specific office area and to tune our place to a form where everything works like clockwork. It took a few months, mainly tackling with paperwork but after it got done, I´ve been set.
In do have a home binder, in it I have divided our rooms to different zones, every week I work on a different zone. You´ll find a basis for zonework on FLyLady´s pages, I just copied mine and tweaked it to suit our place ( for example, we don´t have a dining room, we eat in kitchen. Also, we don´t have a living room, we have a library etc... ) . For every week I have planned certain chores I want done in every room ( I call it the weekly checklist ), I also have a before bed-, morning etc. routines written down. These sheets are all in plastic pockets for wipeability. I have another section in the binder for shopping lists- grocery store, hardware store, stationary and fabric stores have their respective lists. I accumulate these as need arises. I have a section for budgeting and another for contacts. This is my home management binder. I then have a diary in which there are appointments monthly and daily and from there I keep track on nurses&nannies and my son´s doc´s and hospital dates ( he has some serious special needs so I also double as his nurse 24/7 ). From the basis of weekly chores I divide stuff to do in the house to every week day. These chores are written down on post- its. If I didn´t shower the plants on Tuesday the world won´t come to an end. But the chances are it will get done on Wed since the post- it was stuck to the Wed and actually is no pain in the posterior.
When mail comes in, I take it to my desk. Envelopes get shredded pronto, then I deal with the content of the letters. Bills get to the " action folder " and will wait there for next Friday, instant things get handled instantly. If I can´t at the time, I shove them in the top drawer of desk and will get to them by the end of the day. If there is something that I need to jump into in the next morning, I place it in the top drawer and get to it in the morning. All my files are in one drawer. I have a small additional filebox for my son´s medical records ( these are sub- divided by different diagnosis ). All of our paperstuff is in the desk, alongside with office supplies. I use leather Filofax binders in A5 ( because life is too short for ugly ), keep the desktop always polished and pretty and never leave papers messed up. When I wrap things up, all will be just as beautiful as it was before. My office space is situated in the library so visually I want it to follow with the same theme of old world structure and calm without acid pink post- its scattered around giving eyesore.
I have a plate in the foyer which is a home for the keys, coats and hats etc. go straight to their closets, handbag has a home in my bedroom´s sofa. I tend to sort out our place before bed, during the day and make the table ready for brekkie in the evening. I always wash dishes. Nothing ingenious, just doing these little things along the day makes a sorted house and there will never be odd piles of stuff depressing and sucking the life out of you.
Weekly blueprint goes like this. Mo weekly cleaning, empty trashes, polish mirror, dust and polish furniture. Tu shower plants, 15 mins in current zone. We clean refrigerator, budget, dust library. Thu menu planning, check grocery list, get the groceries. Fri do paperwork, clean out tote, update medicine cabinet, clean and fuel car, Dust library.
Chores can switch dates depending on weekly activities plus there is a whole other cheklist for the week but all those things get done in little spurts. Yeah, I do a lot in the crib but I don´t kill myself for it and also take time to enjoy the nice home we actually have.
But I think there is a way for everybody to find balance in life and in their homes. I do believe there is a way to find a path that is suitable for all ,my life just needs to be very very organized because I have pretty heavy boots to fill. This structure serves also my son. Every autistic needs boundaries and predictability. Sometimes the fact that he knows what we´ll be having for dinner already in the morning can be a calming thing.

wierdrockstar: Your post is very helpful, and you are amazing. Now I know how someone with a pretty heavy load stays on top of things. While it's so important with a child with special needs to stay organized, you appreciate how much organization makes liife more pleasant and worth the effort . It certainly would tame my anxiety issues to adopt your practices, to know what I will have for dinner, and to shower my plants. Thanks, and best wishes!

I don't get paper copies of any bills, etc if I can avoid it. I have everything that I can set up for automatic payments. If I can't do that, then I use my bank to do the bill pay with them.

I keep tax returns for 10 years, I think you only need to keep them for 7. I have them both scanned on Dropbox and the physical copies.

User guides, etc I get the PDF version and store it on Dropbox.

I store as much as I can online, including a copy of my passport, driving license, etc. It's accessible from any where in the world where's there's an internet connection.

Thats a great idea! thanks!

Most of my bills and credit cards are paperless now, which has cut down on a lot of the paper piling up. I keep receipts for purchases in a drawer until I've decided that I'm definitely keeping the item or until the return "window" is up. I keep pay stubs and rent/electric stubs clipped together in a drawer organized chronologically. I don't need a more complicated system, since the paperwork I do have is pretty manageable!

citygirlarts, thank you!
Actually, there´s plethora of studies done of how environment effects a person. A messy room causes brainwaves to go crazy and an organized place enhanced alpha- waves, It would be especially important to have a calm environment if one experiences any sort of anxiety. I can tell from my son who reacts very quickly if there is too much visual stimulation.

I have been putting my bill due dates in my google calendar - If a bill is due on the 4th will put in 2 days before. It's great because I get reminders on my phone so I won't forget to pay them.

Also I like to have a visual generic printout on the front of my bills folder and highlight when they are paid.

weirdrockstar

Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of these details!! It is very helpful to me.

sarajanie, you are welcome dearie! Again, as a survival of former chaos- it´s doable ( if I pulled it through, anybody can )

A great scanner recommendation: neat scanners, there are a few kinds. At work we use one that's about 12" long by 2" by 2", like a wand, it takes up very little drawer space and it scans letter size documents, business cards and receipts, connecting via USB, no additional power cable required. The included software automatically detects the data, so business cards can easily be added to contacts without reentering data, it exports receipt data to excel and other apps, etc. It was about $180, not cheap, but if you don't want an all in one on your desk, and have a need for the added functionality of OCR, this is a great solution.

Wow, thanks for the advice, weirdrockstar! I don't know if I have the stick-to-it-ness that you have, but you are an inspiration!

Sarajanie, my husband talks about "Your Money or Your Life" frequently, it's got some very good ideas in it!

Discerning, your methods sound very interesting. When I make myself a desk space, that might be the thing to do. I think you've got the meat of it: save those papers just in case, but don't let them get in your way! Make it organized and get it out of sight.

Thanks everyone for good advice and good discussion! Viva la Cure!

I started using the Freedom Filer System a few years ago and it works perfectly for me! I must admit that I didn't buy the stuff from them - just used they idea of the system and things I had around the house already. This system is a huge time saver for me - http://www.freedomfiler.com/Home.cfm

Paperwork: I have a rule. I open my mail on a daily basis and all things that can be dealt with later will go in my "to do pile.".
Once a week I will sit down for an hour or an hour and a half and deal with it.
No more. Just be focused, don't answer phones nor emails and do it.
Been doing this for years, set a designated time and day to take care of paperwork.
It works.

As do these wonderful tips on paperwork organization.
What a great beginning of the new year!!

ugh

I pay so few bills online because they charge me!
For example the cable company wants me to go paperless, but they will charge me a $2.00 fee to pay online. Why would I do that when I can pay the bill for the cost of a stamp.

Loving the hanger detail :9

Loving the hanger detail :9

I am behind the curve on reading e-mails, but here goes anyway. I did a paper clutter clearing during the first of my two weeks off in December. I'd planned to the year before, but I did not get far..so I was determined this time. It took hours and hours over the course of many days. I now have two large bags of stuff to recycle, and I think I will bring it to my office for our recycling pickups here, but over the next several months. Someone asked for shredding/discarding ideas: I used to do some of my discarding by putting papers into dirty cat litter bags. Believe me, a couple of hours there and they start to deteriorate and smell so bad no one would want them. Sadly I have lost all my cats so that is no longer an option.

I, too, was surprised by the long time periods given for credit card statements and bank statements. I suppose seven years corresponds with IRS guidelines. But I do not itemize (own my house, not enough otherwise), so I think seven years is too long. I'm actually keep bank statements for a few (cannot remember what I decided in December) and credit card statements only if a large purchase for something that might be returnable is on it. The three years of renewals for insurance policies made me wonder also. If no claims, any reason to keep that many? I only kept the current.