organization tips please

[linconlass]

Have just spent a day off getting rid of build up old letters,"household drift" outgrown clothes,etc{my housework not a prob its the stuff to do things like letters from school.holiday info...etc}misplaced little items like needle and thread no one has returned to its place ,dh bits like screwdrivers and items i have no idea waht they actually are!! ds and dd items around house.
All this stuff not a massive lot lot but if i didnt deal with a bit daily would be a mountain - does anyone know of any good systems that work for them - eg for post_i oft put in drawer then get a late fee on credit card as have 4 forgotton!
Does anyone have any good systems for post- other peoples debris,general household stuff, like school letters.I find that i tend to put stuff at bottom of stairs to ask people to take their stuff up such as disgarded fleece and by end of week there is a dangerous mountain!!
One practical issue i s that we have basement kitchen so when children are heading upstairs im not on same level in house to notice that they are about to go upstairs and to ask them to take a chunk of their stuff up.
systems please !!!!

Get everyone a box. When a person goes to bed, they take their box and put the stuff in their room. Bring the empty box downstairs in the morning. You can do extra sort-outs during the day as well if you need to. If you need to, have one for yourself for special/unusual things or bathroom stuff or whatever.

Also get magazine racks for your post, DH post, house post and children's post. Open everything standing by the bin/recycling every day. Bin junk extra paper with bills/flyers immediately and file stuff you need to keep in the relevant magazine rack. I tend to put bills that need paying on the computer desk (pay online) but might not work if you have loads of traffic in that area. Maybe a pin board or special "Bills to be paid" folder? Keep a pot of paperclips, a stapler and envelops near by so you can clip /put things together also.

I then have a periodic tidy up of all post sitting on the floor watching TV and putting things into files. I find it quite theraputic!

Also set up minimum payments/standing orders/direc debits as much as possible. Take a morning to set them all up and that way the bill is just for reference and the payment will come out autumatically. This is really worth the effort.