Community Chat

[qualitygal]

Would anyone care to offer tips, on how you file at home?  I hate it with a passion.  I have to find a better way.  I get rid of extra envelopes.

What do you keep, and what do you get rid of?  What is your system like?  I have to simplify, and I'm determined this year to downsize all this paperwork we have.  I could just torch it and start all over, but no, not a good idea. LOL

Please, suggestions, no questions, just an easy, thorough way to get the job done.

Thanks.

[Jaspersmom]

First and foremost, I do most transactions online now.  That means I get very little mail with copies of bills, statements, etc.  That's been a blessing.  Next, for those things where I still receive a bill (stubborn HOA still sends hard copies), I pay them online and then immediately recycle the paperwork.  I have chosen to save a few statements for a short period of time and then I recycle those.  For major purchases, I keep receipts attached to owner's manuals and keep a separate file for them.  Any warranties are registered online.  I don't even keep QVC statements anymore because all my transactions can be found in my account on their website.  I used to save everything because I thought I might need that one piece of paper for a purchase I made ten years ago - LOL.  In today's digital world, it's unnecessary to keep all that paperwork.  I do keep tax records for a few years and have a separate box for those.  Finally, anything that's important like life insurance policies or copies of wills, I keep in a safe in my home.  I was very nervous when I first purged boxes and boxes of old files, but honestly, it was freeing and I actually felt a whole lot more organized afterwards.

[Foxxee]

I use my desk's file drawers and file holders. 

You could also use a filing cabinet.  If you don't like the metal type, they do come with wood cabinets. 

There are less expensive portable stackable filing boxes, too.  

[mimomof4]

The only paperwork I really keep is legal documents - birth certificates, titles, anything I need for warranty purposes(these docs can be scanned and saved as well), etc

If a bill is received in the mail, once I take care of payment I shred and dispose of the bill.

For tax purposes I keep 1 folder for the year with any receipts I need.  There are apps you can also use now. to scan and store.

Everything else is shredded.  I can get payment history off the internet.  If necessary I can call a Dr office to get a payment history as well.  These days no need to keep paperwork around.

[CelticCrafter]

On a day to day basis the only thing that gets kept is our monthly investment statement and that gets shredded when the new one comes in.

Bills get shredded once they are paid, bank statments same thing once they are checked.

Of course the important stuff like our wills, deed to the house, insurance policies, birth certificates, etc. are kept in a safe place along with a list of what would be important for someone to know.

[Peaches McPhee]

I file at home the same way they file in an office (or at least used to . . . most of the office stuff is electronic these days).

One file cabinet. One hanging folder for each thing.  Example: cell phone bills, electric bills, stuff for 2021 taxes, retirement fund statements, home improvement receipts, etc.

Pay each bill.  Look at every receipt/statement.  File appropriately.  Every now and then I go back and purge old things I don't need to keep.

Workd for me.

[wagirl]

I shred monthly--mostly normal bills that change every month--utilities, any credit card statements--which I only have one of these days but I keep all medical bills until the end of the year and finally.... only have the last 4 years of IRS tax stuff---and will shred the oldest one every year. Other wise every thing is online including my banking. And i have one plastic bin type hanging folder thing I use--still neeed to go thru papers as I moved from a big house into a tiny apartment--no room here. Am wondering if youtube has vids about all that--well of course they do--check it out.

[ALRATIBA]

I have tons of "paperwork."   Depends on what the paperwork is. 

File boxes and binders system works for me.  They come in various colors, so it's easy to separate various categories of paper.

----------------------------------------------

For bills, tax info, statements, etc., .....

I keep that paperwork by year, and use magazine file boxes - separate box for each year.  

At the end of the year - I go through the box - shred what I don't need to save. The rest goes back in the box and box on the bottom bookshelf.

Every couple of years, I'll review past years and weed out the important papers, combine years, and put them in the "save these" box - shred the rest.

--------------------------------------------

All my personal legal papers (birth, baptismal, marriage, school records, etc.) and memorabilia are in a separate box

-------------------------------------------

My genealogical research materials (paper trail stuff) is kept in ring binders according to location and surname.  Copies of official documents are all in one binder.

--------------------------------------------

Knitting and crochet patterns are sorted by type into ring binders.  Recipes in other ring binders.

Everything is labeled and sorted on bookshelves - usually easy to find what I'm looking for.

--------------------------------------------

My parents had a couple of file cabinets in the den and used ordinary file folders.  Worked well for them. 

The bookshelves work best for me, the magazine boxes are colorful.

[alicedee]

I don't have room for a desk or file cabinet.  My system is kinda odd, but works for me.  I have a wire holder that holds 6-7 folders at an angle.  Use pretty floral folders in that, and those folders are for stuff I need to access....Forms (ex..birth certificate, baptismal certificate, etc.), Social Security, Car Insurance, Divorce paperwork, Medicare.

I have a large, pretty cardboard box that some Valerie beaded fruit came in years ago.  It slides under a small stand in my dining room.  When I get any receipt that doesn't go in the  aforementioned folders, it gets put in that box.  

At the end of the year I take those boxed receipts and anything in the folders that I don't need to keep out, and put them in a couple of pocket folders.  Put those folders together with a big rubber band, label them with the year, and store on a shelf.  When I do my taxes I attach everything for that year in a "bundle" and those are also labeled by year and go on a shelf.

[riley1]

Its called a shredder in my home. Once bills are paid, which I do on-line, everything gets shredded.

Any junk mail I get doesn't even make it beyond the office where the shredder is.