Paperwork

[BumblePan]

Where do you store your paperwork?
I am trying to deal with paper when it arrives into the house, but I need to tackle a few old piles.
Newspapers are placed on the coffee table for 2 days. Then into the garbage.
School notes are noted in the calendar and then binned.
Bank statements are filed into an A4 binder placed under my bed.

I never notice paper lying around other homes but I'd never ask where its stored, so I'd love to know where yours goes.
I am hoping buy a container or something for storage based on your ideas. I would love a filling cabinet, but I dont have the space.
I am also hoping to help an older relative that's overwhelmed with clutter, mostly paper but I need to get my own home in order first before I can motivate myself to take on a bigger job.

Hi @BumblePan I've just finished my paperwork culling and organising. What a nightmare.

All mail comes into the kitchen. I have a cupboard with all my files, a pending tray on the kitchen counter, along with a letter opener and, under the counter and behind the bin is a shredder and a small recyling bin.

Any paperwork that comes in is filed, shredded or in pending if I have to respond to it eg if there is something I need to confirm or someone I have to pay. Any school stuff is done the same night and I usually take a photo of it (because I have a shocking memory) and put dates on the family organiser, which is also very close by in the kitchen. I also put a note on my calendar on my phone to ping me to remind me it's a mufty day etc. I know its all a bit ott but my memory is very poor and I need a failsafe.

I don't get banks statements through the mail but if I did, I would check it and shred straight away. It'll be all on your online banking site anyway so you don't really need to keep it. If you want to keep it, (5 years for a business account and perhaps a year for a personal account) make sure its with the rest of the paperwork. I have organised everything in the files to within an inch of it's life.

Think about where the most logical place to put the paperwork for your home is and keep things things like shredders, letter openers etc handy.

Tell your bank you don't want paper statements any more and just use online banking.

Scan/photograph documents and save them in something like Google drive or drop box and then shred/recycle the original paper document.

Basically: get rid of as much paper as possible. You really don't need to keep everything always.

Start reading newspapers online/on your kindle, iPad etc.

For anything mission critical, an A4 sized drawer desktop unit, usually ugly and made of plastic, will allow you to divide things into a few categories and hide them away in a cupboard.
Or a box file with dividers. And then away in a cupboard

No domestic household needs a filing cabinet.