Please can you advise me on a home filing system

[McSteamy]

What do I need? What categories do I need? I seem to be drowning in a paper mountain!

i have files - contacts, receipts, investment, work, misc, house, car ,dog, holiday, bank. if i get to stage when i'm drowning i sit on the floor and sort through it all putting it in relevant piles and then file. though i now have a proper filing cabinet and just slot things in as i get them - this is making things so much easier - i don't have to wade through heaps and can find things really easily. you'll feel great once its sorted

That's the stage I want to get to - just file it away as soon as it arrives in the post/has been dealt with. I have a bit of a way to go first though

dreaming do you have one of thsoe big steel filing cabinets? or a nice trendy one?

Neither - I have a large cupboard that I need to store my filing it. At the moment it is just an empty hole looking at me

i have several a4 lever arch folders and some of the small ring binders at the minute all stuffed in a kitcken cupboard but i need to sort through it all, that is why i am asking, would like something nice and trendy to store it all in.

mine is a big steel ugly thing with card hanging files inside. but it does its job and is in study - did have little box thing that they sell at whsmith - but wasn't really big enough and was in cupboard - so temptation to only use it when had a big heap and couldn't find stuff