After getting rid of most of our books in 2019, I want to do the same with our paperwork in 2020. I’ll start with the two file boxes in the living room and work my way up to the file storage area in the attic.
When mail and papers are stuffed into drawers or piled high on a desk, they can quickly take over and make it hard to work. We’re guessing that you don’t spend as much time and care on your bills and copies as you do on the rest of your house, which may be easier to keep clean. Even though it seems like a good idea to keep paperwork until you need it again, you shouldn’t wait another year to organize your paper piles. From the point of view of a professional organizer, here’s how to do it for good.
She says to keep hard copies of all legal documents, like birth certificates, passports, property titles, and social security cards. Lubega says that these things can be kept in a home safe or a bank safe. If you keep them at home, you should keep them in a fireproof and waterproof safe that is easy to get to in case of a tornado, flood, or fire. She suggests buying a chest, like the Honeywell Lite Weight Waterproof Chest ($119.98 at lowes.com), because it can take a long time and cost a lot of money to replace these papers.
Your long-term papers are those for which you have already taken action and for which you need a permanent address. These should be kept in a filing cabinet, a storage box, or a file tote that you can carry with you. You can put these articles in any order you want. You can make your filing system look good, use colors, or be as useful as you want.
First, I found every piece of paper I had hidden around the house so that I could get rid of some of it. During this cleaning, it’s important to know that I kept my children away from things that were important to me and their schoolwork. Those were the ones I kept until I went through my keepsakes. The paper clutter in my house surprised me by showing me how many places I could hide. Documents could be in the junk drawer, on top of the desk, on the bottom of the desk, in the drawer of my nightstand, on my kitchen counter, or in the closet in the laundry room. I even found papers in my bathroom drawers that didn’t belong there.
Your work and time are worth a lot. The solution is clear: if you don’t think the information in that document is important enough to be worth the time it will take you to deal with it again, throw it away.
How do I get rid of all my paper?
Invest in a shredder. If you’re worried about your privacy and keep papers you should get rid of, you should get rid of them. If you only need to destroy a small amount of paper, you can pay to have it destroyed at a FedEx location. You can also bring documents to a mass shredder on certain days in some places.
How long do you have to keep records?
If you file a claim for a credit or refund after filing your return, keep records for three years from the date you filed your first return or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever comes first. Keep records for seven years if you want to get a tax break for bad debts or a loss from securities that are no longer worth anything.
Do you have to keep hard copies of your bills?
hold for a long time Keep all of your paperwork and contracts as long as you are still making loan payments (vehicle, house, student loan, everything). Once you’ve paid off the debt, the lender will send you a payoff statement. Keep this forever in case an old debt comes back to haunt you after the zombie apocalypse.
What kind of file system is used the most?
The most common type of filing system is the alphabetical file. Each letter of the alphabet has its own alphabetically organized file guide. In a numerical file, the records are set up by number instead of by name.
What is a good way to organize files?
The filing system should be easy to use and not too complicated. But the file system can’t lose its usefulness for the sake of being easy to use. 3. Accessibility: A good filing system should make it easy to find documents when they are needed.
Which two types of filing are most common?
The most common ways to file are the Loose Leaf method and the Collective method. Before being put in a standard file, documents that were filed individually are punched. Adding and removing documents from a file is easy.
Where should I keep the papers for my home?
Stack your papers in a vertical order. A hanging-file system is the best way to keep papers organized and easy to find. Put each set of papers in its own folder before putting them upright in a filing box on a shelf or in a filing cabinet. If you store your papers this way, it’s easy to see how many you have.
Should old schoolwork be thrown away?
Get rid of things you won’t need again. Don’t hold back. If the final exam or class is over, you don’t need to keep any class papers. If you’re tempted to keep a piece of writing because you “might use it for something else in the future,” DUMP IT.
Should I keep my old bank statements?
How long you should keep your bank and credit card statements depends on a lot of different things. Most of the time, you should keep them until you’ve filed your taxes for the year and dealt with any fraud issues, but in the long run, it may be better to keep them for longer.
How far back can the IRS look at my finances?
When the IRS checks my tax return, how far back can they look? During an audit, the IRS can often use tax returns from the three years before the audit. If we find a big mistake, we might add more years. Most of the time, we don’t look back more than six years.
What should be done with bank statements that are no longer valid?
Shred or burn old bank statements before you throw them away to protect your privacy and keep your identity from being stolen.