Paper piles can quickly add up and take over your office, home and life. A disarray of paper can cost you time and money.
Taming the paper monster is about utilizing systems and solutions to ease the organization of paper.
Do you really need to keep every single paper?
Most statements – credit cards, bank and the like – are readily available for download online. Once you’ve reconciled your banking statement for the month you can rid yourself of receipts and ATM slips. You will, however, need to keep receipts pertaining to a deduction taken on your taxes.
Most household bills also are readily available to download. You will need to keep copies of household bills if your house is used for business — a home daycare or home office.
Set up a system to house papers you have to hold on to temporarily. One system is to have a small file for receipts, incoming mail, school permission slips, invitations, flyers, etc. to house them until they can be reconciled or your event is over. However, the important point to remember about this is to handle these items immediately: for example if it’s an invitation, add it to the calendar and take a picture of it; if it is a permission slip send it back immediately. Don’t let paper linger without a home or purpose.
Digitize items
Why not take advantage of all technology has to offer. Software and apps offer a number of ways to digitally organize. Accounting software will pull in information from banking and credit card statements and categorize purchases to help track expenses.
A number of apps will track expenses such as mileage and grocery spending which will allow for easier record-keeping as well as eliminate random bits of paper.
Newer scanners with faster speeds and large paper capacities will allow you to keep a record of items that you may not to reference as often. Some scanners also contain software to allow you to categorize it for quick referencing later.
Paper you just have to keep
As much as people have hearken the coming of a paperless society, there is some paper you just have to keep. There are some items you should keep the physical copy long-term. Of course we all know to keep original important papers indefinitely — birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, wills, and titles. Ensure to keep these items in a safe place.
There are some additional records to keep for the long term. Records pertaining to the house — deeds, original purchasing documents, mortgage, improvements, etc. — should be kept for as long as you own it. Warranties also should be kept for as long as you own them. Keep the most recent copies of retirement plan statements and social security statements. For original tax returns, the advice is varied but the general consensus is to keep the supporting documents for at least seven years (Some recommend scanning forms over seven years and never completely rid yourself of at least a copy of old returns).
Discard carefully
Once you’ve organized papers and are ready to rid yourself of the excess, ensure to shred anything that has personal information like names, accounts, addresses, or social security numbers.