So how do you organize all the paper that accumulates in your house? What do you keep, file away? What gets shredded and tossed?
Receipts, bills, pay stubs, statements, ticket stubs, play bills, pamphlets, guidebooks, etc?
Re: Drowning in paper
I have kept bills (hydro, phone, cable/internet, water, gas) for the past 4 years, and now i am thinking to throw them away...they are taking up wayyyy too much space! Maybe I should only keep the last 4 years. I throw away all my bills except for big items or things I might need to return later.
Re: Drowning in paper
ugh, i hate paper, bunch of the stuff is on paperless now eg cable, phone and cellphone bills etc.
my view is keep things that may need to be together in one folder e.g. year folder for healthcare, bank statements maybe, and the rest can go into a folder for the month.
I dont have any more patience than that to deal with paper.
Re: Drowning in paper
I still have stuff from freshman year of college, like phone bills and work study pay stubs. Think I can toss that? I live in fear of the day I'll need that to prove my existence as a functional American. :D
For tax purposes, are we supposed to keep receipts and stuff? And what kinds of receipts do we keep? And for how many years?
Urgh. I need to organize my filing cabinet and file all the crap sitting in an unsorted pile.
in one box which can be easily kept in the TOP shelf of my wardrobe...i keep the receipts of big things ..like i have the receipts of all my home appliances ,furniture,mattress etc...bcz in case if u ever need to claim the warranty then u need the receipt... and for some even the warranty period has expired but still i have the receipt...
bills i don;t get them ..thats upto my husband and he handles ..keeps all of them in office..how ..i dont know...
local call made from landline is free within UAE so ph. bills r not an issue..for others we use mob...and those bills r received on emails and paiid by visiting the nearest bank branch...
recently i threw away all the past prescriptions ..how ever whatever was related to my pregnancy...prescriptions,reports,tests ..everything i have arranged in a file...
Re: Drowning in paper
Sahar , wow i thought i was the only one… thats my fear too … with cases of identity theft increasing and all :no:
I think the best thing to do is , scan them and save them in discs … they are easier to keep and handle.
I have one box which contains all my orginals and important life saving documents .. some times i scan some bank statements etc and save them on the disc … but after that the paper work gets shreaded for sure 
Do prioritize, what you need and what you dont. And maybe keep one day a month aside purely to clear the clutter of the month … that will really really help you. Also keep going through your past papers .. what seems important now , may not be important tomorrow .. it helps you throw away stuff :hinna:
Re: Drowning in paper
CB has hit the nail on the head.......scan stuff and store electronically. There really is no point keeping paper anymore....unless they are critical documents which shouldn't be too many.
I have tried to transfer everything to e-bills (i.e. cable, telephone and cell bills, etc.) but I am a little bit of a pack-rat so I find it very hard to get rid of a lot.
Recently I have been thinking about what someone would have to clean up after I die.....this has motivated me to do some much-needed sorting and purging.
Re: Drowning in paper
My husband is so old school when it comes to this...he wants to have everything on paper...we have tons of copies of everything...ID cards,passports,licenses etc etc....I fail to understand the need to do so..I mean we can always make a copy in an instant when needed...
anyways I have switched to e-statements or automatic payments for utilities...kinda helps me stay on track and avoid missing any due bills if I am not getting a paper statement....
I have boxes full of paper from even before we were married....he says he will go through it some day....I doubt that...
I came to know of community shredding events where you bring your stuff and they shred it away...I am thinking of taking old paper/documents there once they visit our area....
the things I have kept are receipts for big ticket items even after the warranty,if any,expires...
the medical documents like reports or useful pamphlets in files in one drawer....
I usually get rid of any bills,statements after 2 years....
Even though I throw out so much paper...I am still drowning in it....:(
Re: Drowning in paper
Wow....what a great idea.....a community shredding event. I wonder if they offer that here....I would certainly take advantage of it. Hate sitting with the little shredder......
btw chips....love your signature.....makes so much sense.
Re: Drowning in paper
^^Thanks Muzna…I like it too…although at times I kinda tend to forget it…
I found about this community service a few months ago and there was one in our neighborhood..I would have definitely taken advantage of it,if I just didn’t have had a baby a week before that…
I still have stuff from freshman year of college, like phone bills and work study pay stubs. Think I can toss that? I live in fear of the day I'll need that to prove my existence as a functional American. :D
For tax purposes, are we supposed to keep receipts and stuff? And what kinds of receipts do we keep? And for how many years?
Urgh. I need to organize my filing cabinet and file all the crap sitting in an unsorted pile.
its good idea to bills for one year.
But for tax purposes you are to keep for several years. In aust, its 5 years nt sure about other countries.
Re: Drowning in paper
oh and what about all the paperwork that comes with electronics and appliances? Not just all those warranties and receipts, but thick manuals, etc?
ARGH!
Re: Drowning in paper
Sahar , under any circumstances , your electrical appliance manuals wont be more then a file ... right? keep them safe .. i keep mine all together in a drawer in the kitchen ... thats important stuff ...
but bills and reciepts and day to day mail and bank statements and all that stuff , shift to ebilling and they will have a full record of you for years ... you wont have to do a thing :@: