Week 1 planning and paper work

[ChristmasPir8]

Here is the link to the main page for the Holiday Housework Plan http://christmas.organizedhome.com/houseworks-holiday-plan. And the link for this week's plans http://christmas.organizedhome.com/houseworks-holiday-plan/planning-week

This week are goal is to get our paper work undercontrol and setting up a Christmas notebook.

I will admit paperwork is a big problem for me. I get the mail in, throw out trash and the rest just goes in a stack on my counter. I, for one, don't have the extra counter space to waste and two: this means bills get lost and misplaced. Not good. Currently,when i thought I was having company, I grabbed all the papers and put them in a a plastic bag. Again, not good. So my goal for this week is to sort through them and but the bills in my calendar and find some way to better keep track of them. How about you?

 

[luludou]

I didn't know this was this week's goal but I did alot of paperwork, filing & shredding this week. I too add the papers to the counter but on the weekend I go through them & pay the bills, then, instead of filing them right away downstairs, I put them in my bedside bureau and file them after 5 or 6 months - not good. And when I do finally file them in the basement I never purge through my files, but I did some over the weekend, so I'm very happy about that.

 

[festivefun]

My plan is to get a system in place in my new house as paperwork has been a problem area previoudly for me. My to do list includes filing the paperwork I have!

Here we go!

 

[aggy]

Piratemamaof3boys my filing habit is terrible. I think paper reproduces lol. When you think you've conquered it, you turn around and more appear.To try to be better I set up a system. Actually I got the idea from watching Oprah when she did a show on a lady who was a horder. The husband was a horder of paper. What i have done is went through all the papers lying around. I seperated into.3 piles: Trash, shred, and file.

I filed all my bills/medical papers etc. Junk mail went in the trash and papers that i didnt need but had personal info on them are in a bag to be shredded. Its a lot so I am taking them to the job where they have big shredder. Next in my foyer i put one of those collapseable baskets I bought from Dollar Tree in the little cubby hole of the table sitting in there so when i bring in the mail, bills will go in there. Under the table I put a shredder my stepdad gave me to shredd junk mail immediately. Hopefully this will keep the paper pile down.

My main focus during this plan is the Holiday prep. My budget is done and the master gift list is 95% complete. I have 40+ gifts to get. Some family members have told me what they would like such as a make-up or a nice pair of sterling silver earrings. All but 5 people I'm not sure what to get them. I am waiting to hear some kind of clue as I am good at listening to people talk about specific things during casual conversations. They are so surprised Christmas. Noone has yet discovered my secrete. heehee

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

I need to get the stuff printed out. That's my first goal. After that I'll set up my next baby step!

 

[Nutcracker]

I am like all of you. I can't get rid of the paper. I scrapbook so I also seem to keep everything that comes home from school too! Our family office area flooded in January and I still don't have it set back up! I am working on the computer from our guest bedroom! I guess this week is for me! My question is how long do you keep bills filed? One year or more? My friend says that as soon as she gets the next month's bill indicating her payment has been received she shreds the old one. That kinda makes me nervous. Does anyone know?

Can't wait to go through this together!

 

[aggy]

Nutcracker I too get rid of my bills once they are paid. I can access them online to check if payment was received. I think after two years you could throw them out. However if your not comfortable with throwing yours out keep them.

 

[happy2bme]

One of the best things I did to get rid of the paperwork was to get my bills emailed to me instead of mailed to me. This really helps. Two of the companies we deal with can't do this and they have to be mailed. As soon as I pay those, I shred them. I don't need paper records when I can find out the information I need online. When the paper shredder is full it goes into my compost pile.

A big problem for me is my husband. After he opens his mail and reads it, it disappears. This is not cool when it is something like the renewal notice for our house insurance like happened in July or the renewal notice for our car insurance which happened this month.

We need to work on this.

 

[Lana]

In my file cabinet I have folders with the months listed on them and I put all the bills in them after I pay it with the date, ck # or bill pay information on it and then when I pull stuff out for taxes I burn the rest. I still get my bills mailed to me, in case my computer goes down and I have no way to get them. (last spring I was down 7 wks. give or take) The library is closed when I am home most the times. Every once in awhile I go on Monday eve but they have 4 computers and it is 1st come.

 

[Gingerbug]

Papers are a daily problem around here....uuugghhhh. Glad to know I'm not alone!

 

[Colleen in PA]

I struggle with incoming mail as well. I like to look at the catalogs, but don't always have time when they arrive...so, everything ends up on my diningroom table! Also DH prints a ton of reports for work that somehow end up all over the house. he has a curious habit of dropping them on the floor wherever he is when he finishes reading them...next to the bed, his favorite chair, etc. We definitely need a better system. I take all of my shredding to do at work.

 

[jinglemom]

Paper clutter is a HUGE problem for me. My problem though isn't really from the mail. I tend to jot down alot of things I want to remember on random pieces of paper (Christmas ideas, ideas from blogs, lists etc) so I have alot of papers with jumbles of different ideas on them. I also tend to print alot of things off the computer (decorating ideas, craft ideas, recipes, etc.) and rip alot of things I want to keep out of magazines without properly doing anything with them. My husband keeps trying to get me to save all of it on the computer. I do this with alot of things, but I have also had too many instances, where the information is no longer available. Not to mention lost information after having computer problems etc. So anything I know I really want, I print out. Today, I put together a few notebooks. I'm going to put in some blank pages and try and be disciplined in making all my notes in the proper notebook, no more random pieces of paper. I need to make a notebook with blank pages for my kids to draw in too. The pictures they draw tend to end up everywhere. I need to be better at making sure all other papers are dealt with at least weekly so they do not accumulate. I'm also using a dry erase board for all my short term things I have to remember to do and that is working much better.

 

[aggy]

Happy2bme I too now get my bills via email if possible. It does help cut down on paper pile-ups.

 

[aggy]

Jinglemom I had to stop with the printing everything off the computer. After a while I would get tired of looking at the papers and would throw them out - wasting paper and ink. What I do now is bookmark the page and write down the web address in the back of my holiday notebook.

Edited to add: I recently started copying and saving information to a word document. Then later I save them on a rewritable disk (CD).

 

[Cindylouwho]

Paper is a constant battle! I ordered Microsoft One Note for my Notebooks after the suggestion by someone on this board and LOVE IT! I keep all my scrapbooks in digital format now, which is better for me. Not as artsy but easier for me to control.

Has anyone used Evernote in their filing? I'm looking hard at this. It's a free program and can be used on computers and handhelds. I don't understand it all, but an acquaintance of mine has serious paper clutter issues and she brought in a consultant of some sort to help her. One of the things the consultant said to do is get a scanner and get "Evernote" software. Everything that comes into her house now gets scanned instead of filed, Evernote files the copy and then she gets rid of the paper. Okay, maybe you need a shredder too. That's about all I know but I throw it out in case it is of interest to any of you. I'm still researching.

Off to check out the Houseworks links....

 

[AnnieClaus]

Are you all living my life?

I too tend to put mail in a pile on the counter, and then have to sit down and go through it.
piratemama- I have also done the "gather everything up and put it in a plastic bag" when company is due.

As for bills- I have 2 drawers in my home office desk. Bills due are put in one drawer. Bills paid are marked with the date, and check number. I purge that drawer every couple of months and get rid of them.
There are a couple of bills I now do online but I'm old fashioned- I like writing out the checks and sending them out. For the utilities I drive and drop them in their drop boxes. I think I do this because as a child I would ride with my dad when he would take the bills to drop off.

But that counter problem- needs to be broken!
Annie

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Wonder why so many people have problems with paper clutter. I like the Evernote idea. I've looked into it. I decided it sounds good but I can see the same pile of paper I have now waiting to be scanned.

I am going to try tossing out my bills once they are paid and I can see them online. So that's my goal for this week. Along with getting my filing done. 15 minutes each day will add up to 1 hour and 15 minutes of filing if I do it from now until Saturday.

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

If I don't shred every day or every other day it gets piled up on our hall table (like it is right now - my excuse is I'm waiting for "entry way week" so I have something to do! Ha!) to the point it slides off into the floor, gets kicked under the hall table and eventually eats things like sunglasses and keys.

Annie - DH still goes to the water company to pay his (our?) water bill. Makes me nuts, but it's him so I don't say anything!

I'll have to look into some of the systems you all have researched. Thanks for sharing them!

 

[AnnieClaus]

Kim- One of my co-workers always gives me a hard time.

I say, "I have to run an errand during lunch."

He says, "Where?"

I say, "To drop off my bill at the electric company."

He just sighs and rolls his eyes.

Annie

 

[aggy]

I have One Note but never use it. Maybe I should see what it's all about.