Drowning in paper

[Osteospermum]

Just wondering what everyone does with their household paperwork, bills, policies, receipts, guarantees, etc. I just seem to have paperwork everywhere and haven't figured out most organised way to store/retrieve. I'm not keen on having absolutely everything in the cloud, but don't have enough physical storage space either.

we don't have much paperwork coming through any more since our bills, policies etc are on line but was had transformed our paperwork clutter is 2 things. 1) deal with it straight away (pay that bill, add that date to your diary etc) bin it if you don't need it. 2) put it in a box. That's it ONE box. If you aren't already organised with paperwork already then chances are you won't use a filing system so just put it straight in the box. If you need to find it in the future It will be in the box you might have to hunt but realistically how often do you need to do that? Mine is a nice looking box with a lid and If I need something I know where to find it. Better than piles everywhere in random drawers, surfaces etc. See how that goes and if you want more organisation you could buy coloured plastic folders with poppers and then file say bank statements together and polices together but you may find you don't even need to do that.

90% is in the bin.

I register guarantees online and chuck the paper I don't need.

Bills, insurance policies and invoices are mostly online for me now, so I don't keep any.

The only papers I know we always keep are V5s and guarantees for things like our mattress, my Dyson Airwrap - anything over £500 that would involve complicated repairs or replacements. That's about it.

Similar here but with household textiles instead of paper. Bedding, clothes, towels, throws... so many textiles! Wardrobes and the airing cupboard are full to bursting. 3 dc and so keep outgrow items for the next child but they have fairly large age gaps between them so it never seems to end!

Unhelpful post I know but I recognise the angst caused by having too much of one thing.

Thanks all. Keep them coming.

Folder with sections
ID
hmrc letters/p60s
benefit letters
council tax
guarantees
contracts
medical

the rest get rid if it can be accessed online.

Small filing cabinet folder thing for the stuff that has to be paper.

Everything else gets photo on notes app (iPhone) and saved to the cloud or notability if I have to sign it

One A4 ring binder for essential documents only; original policy documents, passports, birth certificates, cheque books, MOT certificates etc. it gets checked and purged twice a year.

Most things are available online or via an App. Perhaps try and spend some time on switching to online only for stuff, then work on a file for essentials?

I have a habit now of unsubscribing immediately to any emails that don’t add value to my life. I have zero inbox and it’s such a mental weight lifted.

I watched a great Ted talk yesterday called ‘How many towels’. It was about decluttering but the gist is; 2 towels per person. Anything else donate!

Council of perfection is each family member has one colour towel. I’m working on that!

Wow! One box is a good idea! So simple and all in one place.

My paperwork is all over the place. I do have an important documents folder which has birth certificate / driving license etc. But the rest isn’t organised. A pile by the microwave. Unopened post by the door. And a to do file which I’ve not opened since I created it three years ago!

I just don't really bother to keep it. We have a folder of essential documents but most stuff I just bin or ask for it electronically.

Def agree w the all in one box idea - box file works for me. New one w the new year. Have a quick look through old one and put anything important at the top/chuck obvious rubbish. Throw whole lot away after some years if not needed.

We also have an ‘in’ box (just a small wooden crate in the kitchen) for any random bits of paper from the post, school or wherever. Everything goes in there an on Saturday morning I spend 5 minutes deciding to throw, file or display.

DCs school achievements or projects get displayed for a week or so, then either in the memory box or discreetly recycled.

Incoming post or paperwork gets read, filed or recycled.

Any important dates from paperwork go on a shared online calendar and I take a photo of any invitations or important information.

@Rummikub its a great system! You do have to be ruthless though and just bin stuff straight away as it comes in the post. Think about if you really need to keep it or not. I have a nice decorative box that very occasionally ie once a year or less I will go through and purge but basically I just throw it in the box and it sort of date orders itself as it will be in the order oot arrived 😂

Order it arrived that should say

@itsmeagainagain

since I’ve read it Ive been pondering and it’s blown my mind!
I guess I should open the backlog of post and do the one box - I have no excuse not to 😱

Set yourself a timer of say half an hour and just do as much as you can in that time. Things like that always seem so much worse than they really are … you can do it! 😊

my post pile definitely seems an onerous task!

Ive looked at lots of complicated systems and my preference would be to have a filing cabinet but have no room. I used to have one and loved it. Even had a file for menus!

@Rummikub that's me, with lots of piles of paper in many places!

@GodSaveTheClean I have moved online for lots of things but am so paranoid that I will lose access one day and it will all be lost forever. Completely irrational I know, just need to purge myself from the habit of paper.

I remember when we had the switch to GDPR and my inbox suddenly became very light, but back to old ways and it is mostly full of emails which have to be deleted, so I should unsubscribe when I can.

i have one lockbox type thing with birth certs, degrees and certificates, passports, mortgage stuff, P60’s and P45’s, latests pension statements, latest council tax form, car log books, my mothers will and POA and red books. Can literally grab just that in case of fire and run.

Every thing else (and also what is in that box) gets scanned (scanner pro app on my phone) and uploaded on to google drive (from my phone) where I have a virtual filing cabinet. It is literally a few clicks. It took a day to sort out the pile (and I filled half a recycling bin with paper!) but keeping on top of it once the system is up and running is not too bad actually. Just remember to name the file you upload 🤯