Do you have a filing system?

[poshsinglemum]

I have a filing cabinet but I find it hard to keep up with paperwork.

What do you keep, file, shred?

Keep a fair amount - all bills etc.
Receipts I tend not to keep very long - I track our spending on MSMoney on the computer and then chuck receipts on the whole. (Keep ones for electrical items or similar)
Have files for tax, pension, payslips, blah, blah, blah. Can usually find anything I need.

On top of the microwave!

The trick for me is to only touch it once! So it comes through the door and is either actioned, shredded or filed ASAP. rather than put on a filing pile, which gets moved around and read again and moved etc

I keep the last years worth of electricty, gas, phone etc, banks statements are online, dc's school stuff is on a bulldog clip on the calendar and I only keep the bare minimum as most is on the school website. I am pretty ruthless with my shredding and things like catalogues etc which come through I look at and if I decide not to order immediately I recycle.

I file all bank statements, credit card statements, utility bills, things to do with the house or the car, payslips, pension stuff, child benefit letters. Quite a lot really. When I think the files are getting too big, I get rid of a year off the back of them, but I don't have a regular policy for that, just when I notice the lack of space.

I also keep receipts for expensive items, in case of having to claim under warranty or insurance claims.

I'd second everything mrspink says, handling it immediately is the only way. It takes less than a minute to sort a day's post this way. If I leave it for even a week then it's a much bigger job which I need to find half an hour for, so I put it off, and then need longer... it's a vicious circle.