52 Places In 52 Weeks: Paper Clutter
Does the paper trail ever end?
Even though I have to say we have a pretty good grasp on paper clutter, I still have to admit we keep WAY more than we need to. In preparing for our baby girl in March (maybe you could call it nesting), I decided to try and rid our house of the unneeded and unused. One of the areas I dreaded going through were our papers. I have a black filing system that I use for all of my loose papers and then binders for categories, such as my organizing blog, Norwex, basketball coaching, etc.
As I was going through all of my papers, I realized that I had numerous papers from college still. I graduated college 8 years ago (I know, I am getting old!) and realized I never looked at them. I went back and forth on whether or not to get rid of them, but I decided it was time. It was time to part with the past and realize that most of the information I wanted to keep, was either in a book I had or could be found on the internet.
There went piles and piles of paper!
So how do YOU clear the paper clutter?
Think about these questions:
- When was the last time you looked at it?
- What do you need it for? Is the information available on the internet?
- Is the information pertinent?
- Is it worth the space it takes up?
- Is there a better place for it?
- Are you keeping it for the “what if’s” in life? If so, has that “what if” ever happened?
Here is where you can start:
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Banking – registers, extra checks, checking and saving statements
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Car – insurance policies, maintenance bills, payment stubs
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Computer/Internet
- Credit cards – statements, credit card info, points information
- Home Insurance
- House – mortgage papers, home improvements receipts
- Loans
- Retirement/Investments – 401(k), mutual funds, and statements
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Medical – shots info, health insurance papers, health insurance payment
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Life insurance
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Taxes – anything you gather throughout the year for your taxes, put in this folder, like deductions you plan to
3. Put magazines and newspapers in their appropriate place (like a magazine rack)
Hopefully this gives you just a glimpse of how you can organize the paper trail coming into your own home! The picture below is sadly of all of the papers I recently got rid of! Think of it this way – every time you clear the clutter, the more organized your home and spaces IN your home will be!
Once I bought a 2 drawer file cabinet that locks, I made a folder for every paper I keep. I also started using a smaller clear plastic storage box for each year's IRS tax return; all receipts for charity donations, etc go into that box. It's necessary to organize important papers in case of an emergency like fire/tornado to make it easy to find & grab them to take to safety. I discard junk mail twice weekly or it's out of control soon. All my memorabilia papers are together in a trunk for safe keeping & easy retrieval. Love your tips.
Sounds like you really have a good system going on! Keeping important papers in a certain place is so important. That way, no paper is lost, but when the time comes to do your taxes, you are prepped and ready, not having to search through your whole house trying to find the papers. Keep it up Mary :)!!!!