How do you organise your paperwork?

[frumperina]

We don't work from home or anything like that, I mean just everyday paperwork, certificates and bank statements.
It just seems to accumulate and whatever system I come up with fails eventually and I still end up with mountains of papers on my desk.I am fed up with it.
Please inspire me with tales of your supremely organised filing systems.

It is not perfect but we have a drop file box thingy with "to do" and "to file" sections (we do work from home so have "home to do", "farm to do", etc)

Then we have a filing cabinet,

Urgent things tend to stay in a pile of 'urgent things to do'

I have 25 box files all labelled in a row, in the study. With 'next' 'powergen' 'hsbc' 'council tax' etc on them. Then when things arrive and paid then they get chucked in a box. Or information letters just get chucked in.

Filing cabinet with suspension files, and in/pending/to file triple tray on desk. This wasn't working for all the school stuff though, so now everything like that (and newsletters from Brownies etc) goes in one of these in the kitchen. I transfer all details straight from that stuff onto the calendar, so it's just for reference.

Sadly the only thing that sorts it though is to actually deal with it and file it. I'm not so good at that bit.

for stuff that has been dealt with, a two-drawer filing cabinet with suspension pockets, and foolscap wallet folders inside. You can use a filing tray for the stuff that needs to be filed, but it will end up being messier and taking more effort than if you file it immediately.

The stuff that has not yet been dealt with, keep it visible. A concertina file might suit you. Or thinking's wall organisers.

I like to use transparent doc wallets for "all the papers relating to..." while they still need to be dealt with, to keep them by subject.

@oooggs

I have 25 box files all labelled in a row, in the study.

I'm with Olivia here, I have lots of large matching folders, and (this bit is very important) a Dymo labeller .

Sadly do not have room for 25 boxfiles( would love to have a study ) but I do have a dymo labeller! So there is hope.
I think secretly I was hoping everyone would say 'Just keep the birth certificates and burn the rest.'
How long do you keep bank statements for?

I use a A4 size big lever arch files. After mail has arrived I punch holes in the paper and then file them immediately in
Finances 2011 (with separators for utilies, bank and mortgage statements, etc)
Health 2011 with separators for each member of the family
General Correspondence 2011 (anything else which cannot go in the previous 2)
When I need to work on anything I find it in the lever arch file (rather than an in tray)
I think this keeps it all simple.

As stuff arrives it gets sorted into two trays -
Filing and Pending. School stuff and party invites go on the drive or onto the calendar. Periodically I file everything into one of three metal files with hanging folders, sorted by theme - mortgage, savings, insurance etc.

< looks around at papermountain surrounding her>

I don't, in answer to your question!!

Starts to-do list for today with PAPERWORK

For me, only keeping the bare minimum seems to work best. There's no need to keep piles and piles of paperwork going back for years so I only keep the last 3 bank statements (as that's generally how many banks want to see when applying for mortgages etc), utilities bills I'll keep a years worth so I can compare usage to the same period in the previous year, other bills I will keep the most recent so I've got a copy of customer reference numbers etc. It all gets kept in a lever arch file and as a new piece of paper gets put away the oldest from that company gets shredded. Receipts for electronics etc get stapled to user manuals and filed away in a concertina file.

If for some reason you really need a copy of something from 3 years ago you can always ask for a copy or worst case scenario make a subject access request. So yes, just keep the most important stuff and burn the rest!

Right DD is asleep and I have time to ponder this very important matter.
How do you divide your folders/files?
Right now I have 1 lever arch file for each of us with personal stuff(certificates/medical and the like) filed alphabetically.Then one concertina file with home related stuff( bills etc), then one folder with work related stuff for me, one folder with manuals/ receipts of TV/computer etc( what I would need for insurance claim) and folders for bank statements. Still end up with mountains of paper.
I think the problem is that it is not very accessible, most of the folders are at the bottom of the wardrobe due to lack of space so to haul them all out is a bit of a faff. So I need easy accessibility and I need to cull bank statements.Might also pop into Rymans today to peruse filing systems.
I blame my mother for my inability to organise by the way, she has a whole room full of papers.

For me, after years and years of being unsuccessful at getting and keeping paper organised, I have come to the conclusion that as I am basically lazy and dh is too, we need a system that is sooo easy and fits the way we think.

My fil recommended getting box files as you can just chuck the paper in and then when you need it, or have time to do a cull/sort, you just leaf through. He reckons it takes longer in total to decide exactly where each particular paper goes and find that place and put it there than to find a utilities bill in a box of similar ones on the rare occasion you need to find it.

What exactly do you need to be easily accessible and sorted? We have one box labelled "Personal & Car" that includes a wallet of identity documents so we can get that quick. Then we have one box for Money, one for House and one for Info (including important instructions and warranties). Those box files are in a kitchen cupboard that also has a set of trays for Action, To File and In Use. I did include a need for that cupboard when designing the kitchen though!

In theory, I open post immediately, shove it either in the trays or in the top of the right box file if I have time. And then sort through the boxfiles and archive anything still needed to the loft once a year. Very rare that you actually need to lay your hands on a bank statement from 2 years ago quickly, even though you are supposed to keep them.

I still have a box of random memorabilia though that needs to be sorted and I just can't decide how so I'm waiting till inspiration strikes. There's no rush. It's is in a box and can just stay there a while.

Now to confess - the reason I spent this time typing out pretty pointless advice is that I am SUPPOSED to be sorting the paperwork today! We have 2 days post in the porch and a weeks worth on the kitchen worktop because sleepless nights with a toddler and a baby crushed my energy levels. Oh - and I blame my mum too!

cough I have 12 box files
envy at the dymo labeller though.....[runs off to check argos catalogue]

I have hanging files in 2 suspension file boxes. Each hanging file is labelled clearly & as paper comes in, it goes in a file, if it needs to or gets chucked. I am such a sad OCD organised person, I try to only touch incoming paper once!!!!! (Birthday & Christmas cards not included.)
I probably need therapy but everything is very easy to find & nothing ever gets lost.

I had never thought of keeping it in the kitchen cupboard. That might be a brilliant idea.
I guess most stuff does not need to be very accessible but because at the moment I keep it all in one place I can't be arsed to pull it all out to file one thing ,which then leads to build up of papers on desk/under desk/on kitchen worktop.
I like the idea of throwing things into boxes.

you need to keep the papers store it next to wherever you will be when opening the post and dealing with stuff. That might be on the kitchen table, or you might have a desk or a PC nook.

I don't
In fact mum bought me a bag that is perfect for this thread. It says - when I am grown up I will understand how beautiful it feels to administrate my life effectively. Until then I will continue to torch all correspondence that bores me, and to dance naked over the remnants of it's still glowing embers ...

Most of a 4-drawer filing cabinet, concertina sections mostly labelled with something relevant but have evolved over the years so some are a bit random.
Every now and then I see a section that's looking overstuffed and go through, chucking stuff.

But we do have lots of piles of paper everywhere needing attention... I keep trying to do as much stuff as possible online and ensure MrNC doesn't give his address to anyone wanting to send junk mail, but it doesn't seem to help.

MrNC is both severely dyslexic and paranoid about throwing useful stuff away, so had mountains of boxes of paper when he moved in with me. I've just got rid of lots of car insurance offers, for example - from the 1980s!

I have a drawer in a filing cabinet for most of mine. The rest in the calendar pockets or my special box.

DH keeps his in piles all over the house.

Just marking my place.

I do exactly the same as ooogs but just counted and only have 23!!
They are kept in a large cupboard but in our old place which had no storage whatsoever, they were lined up on top of the kitchen cupboards.

I put all incoming mail in pile in the kitchen. Anything requiring action then gets put into a pile on top of the microwave.

Thanks for starting this thread, OP!

Must agree w/ someone's fil -- effort of sorting each piece probably not worth it as probbaly most of us do not look at papers again so why spend major time sorting.

I've been using the binder method this year; leaving out any papers that need immediate action (phone calls). Has cut filing time enormously.