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Overview: File Box 2

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With file box 1 complete, I hope the momentum keeps you moving forward. Getting the piles of paperwork removed from desks, counters, and coffee tables will lighten your load.

By ridding your home of clutter, you will be more organized. You will be able to concentrate on more important items without continuously shuffling paperwork around to find room for other projects.

In using time wisely to get documents organized, I use an accordion filing system. My important documents are housed in three blue accordion files. Having completed posts for each of the filing slots for box 1, I will move onto file box 2 which also contains 12 file openings.

Before beginning to explain the paperwork within the first file slot, here is an overview of the categories and the number of file openings dedicated to each category in file box 2:

  • Personal insurance (1)
  • Life insurance (3)
  • Major medical insurance (1)
  • Tax-Favored Programs (1)
  • Prescription coverage (1)
  • Dental and vision insurance (1)
  • Critical illness/cancer/stem cell paperwork (1)
  • Short term disability (1)
  • Long term disability (1)
  • Miscellaneous insurance items (1)

These categories are labeled for easy retrieval of these documents. Next week, I will post a show and tell of file box 2. If you are still plugging away at file box 1, then don’t give up. Keep using time wisely to do the next thing. Slowly and steadily you are making progress. Look back for some encouragement. You are not where you started. 🙂 Happy organizing!

Question: What kind of document organization filing system works for you? Please add your answer to the comments.

Check-up: Credit Report Time

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Dan Eriksson)

If you are following the schedule for requesting your credit reports that I recommend, then it is time to make another request by the web site, telephone, or mail.

My preference is by phone to get a written response.

With the availability of a free report each year, I refuse to pay a service to issue my free report. By using my time wisely to track our credit, I request one report every 4 months. This month, I will be requesting Paul’s Equifax report and my Experian report.

NOTE: Before ordering your credit report, be sure you have waited at least one year since your last request for that report. If you make a second request within one year, then you will be charged for the second request.

When we receive these reports, I will review them for errors. If a discrepancy is noted, then I will dispute it. If all is correct, then I will replace last year’s record with this new report in the first file slot of my Box 1 documents.

I will also run a free Experian credit score. This score will then be placed with the current credit report. I will then put the file away until October.

How is your file coming along? Are you still disputing errors with the credit bureaus? If so, be thorough and get it right. You will be glad you spent your time wisely.

Show and Tell: File Box 1

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Up until now, I have only explained my accordion filing system. Realizing that I have failed to show you my file, I apologize and deliver a show-and-tell session of Box 1 of my accordion filing system.

The closed accordion file box. When purchased, the file had a string to close it. But after sliding the box on and off the shelf with the string getting caught on the other files, the string broke. Since the file still functions properly and I like this system, I have kept the “broken” file box.

The opened accordion file box. This box, purchased inexpensively at Wal-mart, has 13 gaps or slots. I have not labeled each slot, but the categories are written on the tab inserts. For me, having each slot labeled would be a sea of clutter. I prefer to spend my time keeping the file simple by just notating the categories to guide me to the document needed.

Up-close look at the file tabs. In this file, I have used four tabs to identify the four categories. To make the tabs easy to read, I have placed them in a row from left to right. The four categories identified in this box are:

  1. Credit Report/Card Documents
  2. Important Personal Documents
  3. Home Ownership Documents
  4. Auto, RV, and Boat Documents

This concludes the pictorial tour of my accordion file box. Now as I explain where I have placed named documents, you will have a visual image of my document organization.

What about you? What filing system are you using? Was this post helpful to you? I welcome your feedback.

An Organized Filing System

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

After my husband and I were married, we found ourselves without an organizational system for our finances. We had his accounts and her accounts.

As we tried to determine the best way to merge our lives, we sought financial advice. Since my uncle is in the financial field, I picked his brain.

He graciously answered our questions and guided us on our way. For Christmas that year, he gave us Suze Orman’s The Road to Wealth.

I read the book cover to cover and implemented a lot of her ideas. I do not agree with everything she promotes.

Without taking her stance on prenuptial agreements and her legal advice, I can agree with her stance on money. Her advice has helped my husband and I make knowledgeable decisions on insurance and ROTH IRAs.

A few years after mapping out our financial plan, I purchased a kit designed by Suze Orman to house all our financial paperwork. The kit was purchased through the local PBS at a special price during a Suze Orman presentation. Some of the proceeds of each purchase went to support our local Public Broadcasting Station.

The kit ended up being too small for all our important documents, so I purchased three legal-sized accordion files. Here is a breakdown of the documentation housed in each box:

Box 1 of 3

  • Credit reports and credit cards
  • Personal records
  • Home ownership
  • Vehicles

Box 2 of 3

  • Personal insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Major medical insurance
  • Health savings account/medical spending account
  • Prescription coverage
  • Dental insurance
  • Critical illness/cancer/stem cell paperwork
  • Short term disability
  • Long term disability

Box 3 of 3

  • Social Security
  • Retirement accounts
  • Investment accounts
  • Estate planning
  • Tax records

In upcoming posts, I will outline what I have included in each of these sections. These items are based on Suze Orman’s advice, but I will share what system has worked for me. You might find that another system works best for you.

For me, having all our important documents in one place makes finding birth certificates, passports, insurance polices, etc. quick to locate since I know in which file to look. I also save money since I don’t have to pay for additional copies of birth certificates, passports, or credit reports.

All the documents are in these files. This organizational system has saved and continues to save me time and money.

Question: Do you have all your important documents organized in one spot? How have you organized your files to save you time in looking for paperwork? I would love to hear about your organizational system.

Tackling Piles of Important Documents

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Having a special place for all your personal documents, records, and policies will make accessing these items easy. When my husband and I were married over twelve years ago, I remember finding his box of paperwork. Yes, a Xerox copy paper box held a large stack of credit card statements, hospital birth record, payment records, and policies. When I found this box, I knew I had lots of work ahead of me.

After sorting all the items into piles of similar items, I then labeled file folders and placed each stack into its own folder. I then added his documents to the filing cabinet of documents I brought into our marriage. In surveying our documents, I discovered that there were lots of items missing from my husband’s personal records, but I did not know what was missing or where to begin finding an organized system.

About six years later, I found a system that worked for me: The Protection Portfolio by Suze Orman. This portfolio consisted of a dark green binder box with pockets for each category. She also included a book and CD. I love the checklists she included for each section to be sure all your important documents are safe and easily accessible.

I would highly recommend Miss Orman’s Protection Portfolio; however, I found the one box to be too small for all our documents. I also felt there were additional documents I needed to include. Therefore, my system consists of five accordion-style files.

Each Sunday, I will walk you through my files which I organized based on Suze Orman’s Protection Portfolio. Next Sunday, I will start with my first file and the first pocket: Credit Report and Credit Card Documents.