Which is better filing by month or subject?

[farmerswife]

So, for years I have filed under months. Everything, other than taxes and car repairs goes under the month it was paid. When the kids where young it made my life simple and easy, but now I am finding that as I am getting older filing by subject may be a tad better.

Sometimes I need to go back and look at something and now that I am older I don't always remember the month; I end up looking through three or four months before I find what I need.


Any thoughts? If you file by subject, have you found it easy? Thanks.


~ Farmerswife

 

[Jennifer73]

I've always filed by subject and year. I find it much easier to find things when I only have to search though one folder.

 

[ejagno]

Subject should always come first. Now should you want to use simple manila folders in monthly expanding files that would help you transition. For instance you would have the expanding files labeled January - December. Inside each expanding file you could have your subjects such as Auto, Tax Receipts, Medical, Utilities, Home.

I do it like Jennifer with a single set of files which are cleared out annually, usually the week between Christmas & New Years in preparation for the new year and taxes.

I use binders for warranties & receipts as well as a lot of other filing needs.

 

[Cindylouwho]

A great question to post! Very timely for the upcoming Paper Week. This is a real struggle in our house. I have an BO friend (Born Organized) that I want to copy. She files for the year (not sure if by category or by month but I am pretty sure it is by month). She then pulls out all the files at the end of the year, boxes them, burns a disk of all relavant tax papers and once taxes are done they go in the garage along with a copy of the tax return. I'm telling you, there is NO paper clutter in that house.

I have used both systems in my work career and both have their benefits. Would love to hear more on this as I really need a new system. (Going digital sure has helped -- especially with the bank statements). We currently file by Subject but neither DH nor I are good about going in and sorting out the annual stuff. Maybe I have to separate the financial files from other ongoing files. That may be smarter. Maybe keep all the ones that get cleaned out annually in a single color? And I'm still scanning into Evernote whatever I can. So I can just toss the stuff away! It takes much discipline though and I have yet to master it.

 

[happy2bme]

I have always filed by subject. At the end of the year, I go through each file and get rid of what isn't needed anymore.

 

[missjane]

I'm a terrible filer!!! So I will be interested to see what everyone says about this.

 

[Colleen in PA]

I file by subject, but clean out or make "new" folders for each subject at the start of each year. I actually color code my folders...red for payables, green for banking/taxes, yellow for legal documents, orange for my older son (school forms, medical, etc.), blue for my youngest, Purple for family files (about trips, memberships, etc.), plain for miscellaneous. I use a similar system at the office. It helps me find and file things very quickly. HTH!

 

[Cindylouwho]

Oh I love the idea of giving each kid their own color!

 

[farmerswife]

Thanks, Colleen,

I really like the color code for subject. I may just bite the bullet and do it.
~Farmerswife

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Subject

I now file by subject and love it. I would like to color code things but not so sure I want to spend the time doing it. lol

 

[nursemomtothree]

We file by subject, but have never color coded. I'm not convinced it would speed things for me. I think I would forget which color goes with which category.....although it would be pretty!!!

 

[Cindylouwho]

I took a good long look at my files and decided color files would really help me. They are on the shopping list! Still figuring out the purge system that will work well with taxes. (We manage the taxes for both us AND my father in a different state -- which all comes to me -- so there is a lot of paper around here).

 

[Colleen in PA]

We file by subject, but have never color coded. I'm not convinced it would speed things for me. I think I would forget which color goes with which category.....although it would be pretty!!!

Haha! I know, it sounds complicated...red for payables because it's money going OUT and I always associate that with RED. Green for banking and taxes...i.e. the color of $, the orange and blue are my kids favorite colors, so that makes it easier to remember...that just leaves me Yellow for legal (I always think of yellow legal pads) and purple for family. Miscellaneous is the catch all, so the plain manila folders just seemed to make sense.

My giant family calendar (from FlyLady - huge boxes - LOVE IT!) in the kitchen is color coded similarly - I write items down in pen and use highlighters to show which family member it affects...each person has a color, family is purple. Some months it looks like a rainbow exploded on the wall, but it really is helpful, especially for my kids...they can just look for their color to see if they have something planned that day (Of course, the 4yo can't READ yet, LOL! But he knows to ask!)

Diedra - maybe you could start color coding in the new year?

 

[missjane]

I've decided monthly is definitely my preferred way to file. We don't have that much that has to be filed, so even if I need something, it's not hard to find it.

 

[halimer]

I do by subject and go through each folder at tax time and weed and update the files at tax time each year.

 

[Christmaslvr]

I guess I do a little bit of both. I have an expandable monthly file that contains any monthly bills paid, anything that I still get paper bills in the mail for (utility,etc). We also have a filing cabinet and have individual files for things like Medical, car insurance, car maintenance, taxes, Benefits information for both places of employment, banking/investment accounts, 401k accounts, etc...

 

[HouseElf]

I do subject matter, but do a "bills and budget 2013" section, that has mini folders inside the hanging file folder by months... If that makes sense?

I colour coordinated only three files, my boys info and records. They each have a file... One green, one red, one blue.

 

[Cindylouwho]

Found the colored files at Staples -- their Staples brand was the best deal with 5 colors (including purple). About $10 for 25 of them, which was a much better price and selection than the competitor.