Anyhoo...
One of the best places to accumulate paper clutter - out of sight - is a filing cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind. And yet if we categorize it, we justify it, right? Ha! Just because it's categorized, doesn't mean it's organized.
I am guilty of doing a once a year clean out of my filing cabinet, and that's it. I honestly don't accumulate a lot throughout the year, and only purge right after I do my taxes and need to add a new tax folder.
This only took me 5 minutes to do, but I know for some of you, it may take you an hour or more. If having a filing cabinet is worth it for you and your family, then take the time to organize it in a way that you'll want to keep up with it. I can't even imagine having a filing cabinet FULL of paper that has accumulated over years. Get rid of it already.
Here's the before picture.
I went through each folder and removed old papers we no longer need. I added new folders for taxes, jobs, and a few other categories.
The categories I use are: health, memberships, personal files (for records, voter registration, etc.), banking, job, taxes, apartment, Jazz (our dog), major purchases (things with warranties and such), utilities, and vehicles.
Here's the after picture (with few differences).
Not sure why I was keeping my old driver license. Most of this paper pile is old (paid off) bills from my gallbladder removal surgery - which was a financial treat, let me tell ya! Everything is now destroyed via paper shredder.
You challenge today is to clean out of your filing cabinet, if you have one. If you don't have one, I'd love to hear how you file/organize your paper!
ok..I'm motivated to do this now! Thanks for sharing! Sometimes you just have to see it done, to do it!
ReplyDeleteI love the line, "Not sure why I was keeping my old driver's license." What a great reminder to question even little things! I'm going to get rid of my old ones today. Okay, maybe not the first one from when I turned 16 :-)
ReplyDeleteIn Maryland you have to turn in your old license when you get your new one, so it's not a problem!
ReplyDeletePurging files once a year is fine, especially if you don't keep much to begin with. The issue I face with many clients is that they keep everything and devote multiple file cabinets to their extremely well-organized paper collection. They would be far better off letting go of the excess (much of what they keep) and having fewer files. It's hard to convince some people that they don't need to keep every cancelled check for the last 20 years.
I've been staring at our filing drawer for a few weeks now thinking of how I need to get on it. Thanks for the motivation.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar system except I use those expandable file folders! Thanks for this post though--it's time for me to purge stuff out of it!
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you! Not just for this post but for your entire blog. I found you via Pinterest as I'm sure others did as well. You have inspired me to clean out my "craft room" and create an office for my husband and I to share. I have started purging all of my scrapping supplies (probably over $15000 worth of stuff if you added it all up - I've been scrapping for over 12 years). Now I am creating a space; make that an ORGANIZED space - for my hubs and I to share. This room ended up being an "I don't know where I should put this - throw it in the craftroom, room." I set a goal for myself of May 1st to get as much done as I can by doing a little each night when I get home from work. I took before pictures to post in the room afterwards to encourage me and my husband to never let it get like that again.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for your inspiration. :)
I have to do this, and rearrange stuff in the expandable file folder I have. . . Especially since it seems we'll be moving soon. . .
ReplyDeleteYou should always shred documents with important monetary information.
ReplyDelete