Organizing Papers

RE: Organizing Papers Post By Pilla (Guest Post) (08/09/2005) I use 3-ring binders but instead of punching holes on the documents i bought plastic covers and that way i dont punch out any info RE: Organizing Papers Post by babbelingbrooke (1) | (04/17/2002) Contact I bought several 3-ring binders of different sizes and added dividers and lables. I use them instead of files. I 3 hole punch any bills, insurance forms, warrenty information, and other papers that I need to keep. At the end of the year I pack the papers I need to hold onto into a box labeled with that year on it and seperate each section with bright colored paper. After a few years I toss the whole box. For reciepts I keep a small decorated box next to where I put my purse. Each day I take the receipts from my purse and put it into the box until the end of the month. When I sit with my bankstatement I throw out the ones I don't need. Reciepts that can be used for taxes get taped onto a piece of paper in a binder labeled "Taxes". RE: Organizing Papers Post by jacchops (1) | (02/20/2002) Contact This takes up a little space, but it works really well. I just bought a 6 pack of black stackable dividers (organizer trays) at Office Depot for less than $7. You can have a tray for things to file, things to do, receipts...anything. Even if it just things that need to be filed you can seperate them using the trays. RE: Organizing Papers | (01/23/2002) To keep your taxes AND every day papers organized picked one of these comtainers for your files I'm going to mention as per your personality... a cardboard file box that fits your regular sized file folders, or a small metal file cabinet. Now that you have one of them set up with plenty of hanging file folders and regular file folders, put your bank statements in a hanging file folder labeled "bank," then another hanging file folder labeled "Bills," then two sub files, one named "Bills," and "Bills Paid." Now the rest of these won't necessarily be listed in alphabetical order, because you need to label your folders the way you need to... For example name the label of the next hanging file, Credit Cards and have interior files labeled with the name of each credit card you own. Other hanging file folder names: Car (Label the interior files with the names of each car.) Medical (Label the interior files with the names of each person in the family.) Insurance (Label the interior files with something like car, medical, life, house or rent) Tax Stuff (I put anything that I'll need for tax purposes in this file.) For your receipts, I have 12 envelopes all labeled by month that I put receipts in and file by date. Even if you don't get them filed by date, they are separated enough so that you can find then according to when you made the purchase. I'm lucky because my husband has a mind for dates and usually can remember when we've purchased something by month. Then I can easily find it. One of the ladies had a GREAT idea about stapling the receipts to the warranty cards. I'd like to add to that the idea of filing everything in the warranty folder by date. At the end of the year, all I have to do is take everything out of the metal filing cabinet, put aside the things the accountant needs, and put the interior files into a box or bag for storage. If you're using the cardboard boxes then all you have to do is pull what you need for your accountant, label the box and put THAT in storage. Blessings and Peace, Susie Glennan, CEO Link: http://www.thebusywoman.com RE: Organizing Papers Post by ipaul25 (3) | (01/15/2002) Contact I run a home daycare so every month I put an envelope one the side of the fridge and everytime I get a reciept for anything I put it in the envelope. At the end of each month I go and total all the bills into catagories. Such as grocery, utilities, garbage etc.... Then I record it on to my computer into the same catagories. At the end of the year I can go and total all the bills for a certain catagory. It keeps me organized. RE: Organizing Papers | (01/10/2002) My idea is not for bill, tax papers, etc. but for your kids' school papers. When my oldest (now is 2nd grade) was in Kindergarten I started out saving all papers. Into the first grade I realized that was not possible or practical - but I still wanted to save some. Now I have another son in Kindergarten and one going to preschool next fall - (not to mention Sunday school papers/projects). I have purchased a "hanging file folder box" for each child. The ones I found are made of plastic with covers. I have one per child with folders enough for each grade, plus preschool and Sunday school and another folder for newspaper clippings, and another for sports events. Someday when I want to scrapbook some of this I'll have it all organized by grade, etc. Have fun. - Marsha in North Dakota RE: Organizing Papers | (01/09/2002) Every year I get one of those brown cardboard accordion folders with about 12 slots in it. The front one is for current bills, statements, etc.and also keeps my stamps, some envelopes and deposit slips handy. The rest are labeled: Credit Cards, Utilities, Receipts for Purchases, Bank Statements, House, Cars, Insurance-401K-IRA, Contributions, Medical-Dental-Rx, and Pets. Everything that comes in is put in its proper file so it doesn't pile up. It is so much easier to keep it up as it comes in than to tackle a big paper pile once a month or so. Every week when I sit down to make a deposit and pay bills I put the "stubs" in the correct place. I also keep my tax returns in there after I file them. The organizer stays in my closet out of sight until I need it. When the year is over and taxes are filed, I put a huge rubber band around it and it goes to the shed. For major purchases (especially warranty information and instructions) I keep a large 3-ring binder with clear plastic sheet protectors. I can attach the receipt to the warranty/instructions and slip it into the sheet protector so I can see it at a glance. I have sold items at my yard sales that I still had the instructions on and I'm sure I made more money on the sale because of that. (I think this runs in my family -- my Mom gave me a couch/chair/ottoman set last year and she still had the receipt and warranty on it...from 1989!!) If it makes you feel any better - with all my great tips on organizing I still have ALOT of clutter around the house: recipes torn from magazines, craft ideas and patterns, photographs, magazines I need to read, books to go back to the library, my husband's notes scribbled at the computer and left there, etc. But at least I know that the important stuff regarding our money, bills, and taxes are in order. I hope this helps! - Ginger Whaley