Are you good at organising your household paperwork? Please give me your best tips

[Scrunchcake]

Ok, not an exciting topic but I'm trying to get a bit better at organising papers - all the stuff you really have to keep (birth certs, tax stuff) and other papers that I hang on to when maybe I don't need them (electricity bills etc).

I always start with great intentions of filling up to date stuff and getting rid of old but in reality we constantly have most current papers in a pile on the floor, with out of date things neatly organised in suspension files in a drawer. Once every 18 months out so I'll have a sorting blitz and the whole cycle starts again.

So, if you've got a great system to share I'd love to hear about it. Should I be aiming to go mostly paperless? Should I just have a massive garden bonfire??

I have just one golden rule (but it's a very important one): double, triple, quadruple check before burning or shredding anything. Especially if the covering letter includes the words 'this is an important document, please keep it safe'.

I speak from experience.

I have a folder for each type of bill/info. So everything relating to utilities goes in one folder, mortgage another, car a third, one for long term receipts (washing machine, phone), one for short term etc. Then I have separate folders for "key documents" so birth certificate, exam certificates, passports, EHIC cards, paperwork proving I own the car, paperwork showing I own the house etc. That all lives in a single bag that would be easy to grab if I needed to leave the house separately.

Then I have a standard flat document wallet that unfiled stuff goes into. I deal with it every 6 months ish. No, it's not the most organised system but it means I can always find what I need and importantly it doesn't require discipline to stay on top of things. I'm not disciplined so it's about choosing a method that's feasible without it being so disorganized as to be useless.

Shove it all in the drawers until they cant shut no more then have a sort out.
I wouldn't recommend my method

Get as many policy documents sent online as possible. Set up an email folder to transfer them all into.

Anything you get via post just get a boxfile shove it in there and once a year have a clear out.

Everything else is either OHIO (only handle it once) eg letters from school. Answer it and put it straight back in their bag. Or it gets stuck to the fridge door. Where it will annoy you so much you will have to address it.

You need a pending/ deal with pile and a keep/ review/ shred pile.
Also Post it notes or write on letters/envelopes in pen.
I have beautiful drawers that I wish were full of beauty products but it's rammed with crap instead.

I try to do the deal with pile once a week when I have my morning off. If it's sunny and nice I fail. When it rains I get my niece to do my shredding. She loves it!

I read a response on Mumsnet about this very topic not that long ago which was very simple. Create a box file per year and add everything to that file. Seems like a sensible idea to me. I haven't used this method but I intend too!

Action it as soon as you receive it and file straight away. Personally I keep everything for 7 years, then it’s a file one bin one policy after that for each type of bill etc.

Concertina files. Section each for mortgage/insurance/car insurance/driving licenses/school bills/passports/travel insurance etc. Anything sent by email gets saved and backed up to an external hard drive periodically.

I also have a concertina file with all the operating instructions and guarantees for all the household appliances. When we get a new microwave or whatever, the old instructions get binned and replaced with the new one.

I've just sorted ours into a hopefully manageable system for me (quite slack) and DH (very slack) based on tips from here. Everything possible electronically. Concertina file for the very important stuff. Box file for the year for everything else. I figure that if we just chuck it in the box and we ever need it, it won't take any longer than all the time (or headspace) it takes to file (or not file) the everyday stuff that comes! It's worked for the last 2 weeks...

I have a couple of concertina files for bills, insurance, pension statements. When a new document is received I shred the previous statement/ bill. I keep payroll info in plastic document wallets, payslips I keep until P60 arrives, certificates are in an A4 booklet that has 20 or so plastic wallets attached.

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst hence the username?? I so feel for you!

These are all excellent tips, thanks everyone. I'm going to read properly tomorrow, get some concertina files, and sort myself a foolproof system!

@dingdang

I read a response on Mumsnet about this very topic not that long ago which was very simple. Create a box file per year and add everything to that file. Seems like a sensible idea to me. I haven't used this method but I intend too!

I picked up the same tip and have adopted it.

A set of hanging files for important stuff that needs to be kept such as driving licenses, P60s, birth certificates etc in separate files. another File for car docs, another for guarantees/warranties etc.

At the front of the drawer is a file for the current year's docs such as insurance policies, mortgage statements, tv licence, council tax bill etc.

A new file will be started in Jan.

The theory is that if I want to see how much I paid for car Insurance last year, I can grab the 2019 file easily and only have to flick through a dozen or so papers.

I've replicated the system in my email folders for docs that are sent electronically. I'm trying to get as many sent and stored electronically as possible.

I have a lever arch file for current documents like insurance, bank stuff, sky contract, that sort of thing...dividers with tabs, with the name of document typed on the tab (using a clear plastic sticker). I also have a file for obsolete stuff and a concertina file with birth certificates and anything quite important, receipts for expensive items etc. I also have a 'house' file containing tenancy agreement/boiler manual, that sort of thing. It has to be said though, that I am useless at filing as I go, and have a purge on it all about once a blue moon

In our study I have a desk with a set of trays on it (in/pending/filing). All post is dealt with as it arrives.
A box file for mortgage stuff.
A concertina file for warranties and instruction manuals.
Each bank account has an A4 folder.
A box file for DH payslips. Mine are electronic.
An arch lever file for gas/electric/water/council tax/TV licence.
A folder for each car's documents tax/insurance/MOT.
A file for Child benefit and DLA.
A file for investments.
A file each for our employment stuff and current pensions
A file each for pensions with former employers
A file for anything from HMRC.
A file for building and contents insurance.
A file for DS's EHCP stuff.

I keep it all in a cupboard in the office. If I'm filling stuff away then I look in the folder in question to see if any documents can be shredded.

I'm one of those people who like stationery, hence all the folders. (My employers have gone paperless and I was able to blag a load of folders).

I work in admin. I also love a good stationery catalogue!