Does mail pile up at your house? Have you found a way to keep on top of the paperwork? I have heard organizers suggest keeping two containers by the front door. When you get the mail, all junk mail goes in one container. Then items to read/pay/act upon get placed in the second container. The idea is that the junk mail gets taken out with the trash. Then the active pile gets read once a week.
The above system may work for some people, but I choose to deal with mail each day. I have found the following list works for me:
1. Hubby brings in the mail and puts it on the kitchen counter when he gets home from work.
2. As I am making dinner, I open the envelopes and sort through the mail.
- Junk – goes in the trash
- Bills, movies, statements, etc. – placed in one pile on top of my bread maker
3. When the family retires upstairs for the evening, I bring the pile from the top of the bread maker and take it to my desk.
4. After putting my children to bed, I file the paperwork in the appropriate place.
- Movies – go on my husband’s desk
- Bills – date added on calendar and statement placed in “bills to be paid” section of file
- Receipts, rebates, etc. – added to original paperwork and filed in filing cabinet
- Coupons – placed in binder or folder
I handle the mail in small sections of time. In doing so, my mail pile stays small, manageable, and organized. What tips have you found to be helpful in keeping the mail pile manageable?
Hello, I was wondering what you do with your bills (paperwork) once you have paid them? Do you have a file system for those papers also? I am so enjoying your writing and sharing. Thank you!
Hi Barbara! Yes, I have a filing system for my bills. That is a series I have not started to write as of yet. For me, I use a 2-drawer filing cabinet (https://www.facebook.com/UsingTimeWisely/photos/a.240862899272253.66328.233260016699208/657204144304791/?type=1&theater). The attached picture was almost 3-years worth of documents that I finally cleaned out at the end of 2013.
The top drawer containers manilla filing folders for each account – all 10 bank accounts (one for each family member at two financial institutions), payroll, tuition, mortgage, electricity, gas, water, phone, Internet, each credit card, each vehicle for maintenance, contributions, taxes, mail order, and research files. These files are in the front of the first drawer. In the back, I keep hanging file folders to divide the two sections. In the hanging file, I keep our receipts once I entered the data into the savings tracker spreadsheet and verified the charges on our credit card. Past the hanging file folders, I keep in manilla folders the research I have for each room of our house. These records include paint colors, ceiling fan panel codes, furniture receipts, and pictures of items I like for future reference.
In the bottom drawer, I keep all our warranty information. The front of the drawer contains all our home warranty items while the back has all the warranties for the stuff in our house.
Thanks for your question. I will work towards writing a series which more clearly explains this system. I appreciate your comment. 🙂
Also what about the online bills you pay, do you print receipts for those and what do you do about that?
Good question, Barbara! It depends. I do pay all our monthly bills online. What I do is write on each bill, the date I scheduled payment, the date payment is scheduled to post, the amount, the form of payment (checking account, visa, etc.), and the confirmation number or reference number. For most of our accounts, I receive an e-mail confirming the payment which I save in a folder on my e-mail account. I setup my e-mail account with folders for each of these companies, so our cell phone statements and confirmations get filed under my Verizon folder.
I do print some confirmations that may only stay active for a period of time. For example, our tuition statement is only available for 10 days. So, I print both the bill and the confirmation page. I also print annual payments like life insurance, car insurance, my girls’ cord blood banking, some charitable donations that may not send a receipt, etc.
For the most part, I just file our receipts electronically in my e-mail folders, but occasionally, I do print and file a hard copy. Those hard copies are placed in the corresponding folder in the top drawer of our filing cabinet. For example, the tuition bill along with payment confirmation is filed in the manilla folder labeled tuition. This way all the documents are together.
You ask very good questions, Barbara. If you have more questions, please keep asking. I’m glad to share what works for me. You can then adjust to what works best for you. Appreciate your feedback!
Thank you for the replies, Tracy! It helps me to get ideas of what to do for my many papers.
I have been reading and re-reading the posts on your document organization with box 1,2, and 3. I like the idea and am starting to implement it. I can see it will take some time. I so look forward to the day it is done and it will be easy to find items when needed. What were the reasons you chose the boxes instead of binders? I like it, but am wondering what you saw as the benefits.
Thank you again for your help with my many questions!
Have some family fun and a great weekend. Take your time for the reply.
You are very welcome, Barbara! You have really good questions. Getting those documents organized took 6 months when I was home without children. So, give yourself time as it is time-intensive, but will free you in the future when finding those documents.
Yes, I did choose the accordion-style filing system because the Suze Orman Protection Portfolio was one accordion file. As I chose to use more than one section per topic, I needed more file boxes. Also, I am very particular about paperwork. I prefer paperclips to staples as I don’t like unnecessary holes. Also, I find that legal documents and original policies will need to be put in folders within a binder. If the binder tips, then these very important documents could fall out.
In using time wisely, I choose to just paperclip the items and slide them in a file slot. With a binder, I would need to punch holes or purchase additional supplies for binder folders to keep the documents in their sections.
If you prefer the binder option, then go with it. The binder option is not the best use of my time, but it might work better for you. 🙂 One way is not better than another. The goal is to know what you have, get what you are missing, and know where to find those important documents. Keep on organizing and feel free to keep the questions coming.