clearing out clutter, what do you do with your paperwork?

Question

With the help of my boyfriend, I have attempted this weekend to clear out my flat. However, I find that week on week, the amount of paperwork I have, builds up non stop. What does everyone else do with bills, receipts from online purchases, banking stuff, letters from work, guarentees, mortgage payments papers and statements. I find the paperwork is swamping me and I cant believe everyone else has this much junk. Im running out of folders and shelves to store it all in.

Help!

yes,i shred all junk mail with my details on it, and throw everything else out and shred stuff i have decided that I dont need,,,, but i have bank statements, back 7 years, mortgage stuff, bills, documents about things, the problem is, everytime i sort through things to keep/shred, there appears to be so much that I cant throw out. For example, as Im in a leasehold flat, we get bills nearly every month for some rip off or another,,, and the paperwork for that, bills, letters, estimates etc etc, over 10 years of living here has built up to enourmous proportions and I dont know what I should be keeping and throwing??

Answer 1

I burn or shred the stuff I don't need, things I need to keep go in those decorative document boxes the like of which you can get in IKEA, WH Smith etc. The boxes stack on shelves, in cupboards or under my bed.

Answer 2

A simple system I have found useful is RAFT.
R: Read
A: Act
F: File
T: Toss
Gather all paperwork in one central location. Use a portable file. Really important papers should be in a fireproof box or a safety deposit box. Bank papers have to be kept 7 years.
Use your discretion on other receipts. Stay on top of paper clutter 15 minutes a day. Do not bring any junk mail into your house. Keep a garbage can right by the front door. Set up your recycle bin for newspaper and take it out weekly. Do not keep any magazines for longer than 3 months! Donate all unwanted books to a local booksale. Invest in a shredder and use it. I hope this helps. I personally shred a lot of paper every day and put it in recycling.

Answer 3

You are obviously in England so maybe you don't have the same IRS issues we have in the States, but here we need to keep documentation for 7 yrs. in case of audits. That stuff can be relocated to the basement or a storage unit by year just in case. Daily paperwork needs to have a home office filing system per current year. When it comes in it gets tossed or filed as required. We have a home office that is attractive and useful. The current year paperwork is filed there. That is moved to the basement in a filing system there at the end of each year. Again if you don't have a basement, get a storage unit if you need to keep your paperwork as we do for potential auditing that could go back years.

Answer 4

Hi well we all have paperwork. Firstly I believe you only need to keep bank statements for 5 years not 7 so get rid of 2 years worth of bank statements for starters. Secondly, I usually go through purchased items. Once I receive them then keep the receipts for approx 1 year unless I think that if it stopped working after 6 months would I bother or be able to obtain a replacement then I get rid of box and/or receipt etc. All the other stuff mortgage papers etc etc you need to file. Guarantees and instruction manuals need to be filed too. Invest in a small wood nice looking filing cabinet to store all these things in then they are all in one place and you have an extra bit of furniture to keep in the corner. Unfortunately its become the same for everyone everything produces paperwork.

Answer 5

I'm hopelessly disorganised and now that I NEED all those important papers and can't find them, I'm really fed up with myself. I wish I had filed and kept everything properly as I may lose out financially because I don't have all the documents I need to make claims, etc. So, personally, I wouldn't shred it unless you are really sure it's of no future use. Just keep buying files, it really is worth the investment. I wish I had!

Answer 6

Shred the rubbish stuff, keep a database of good stuff, I use a red pen to mark the top right of eack reciept letter etc with a number and put a ring round it then place the document on top of the last regardless of the document type then, when you need the document again just look on the database to see what number im after and fish it out from a lovly numbered pile.

Answer 7

They sell fileing boxes at Wal-Mart. You should make sure that the newest months utility bill is in sync with the last one and then throw the last one away. The new one should reflect your last payment and balance. I have a specific folder for my warranties, monthly bills, bank statements (only last 6 months), instruction manuals with receipt inside or the receipt with the warranty. I only keep online bill receipts until the waranty runs out or if I completely paid for it and returns are not accepted. As for letters from work, if it is something that you have to keep for later you can give it a special folder but otherwise I would just chunk it.

Answer 8

Join the club. I'm sure it multiplies. I've shredded,shredded and shredded 'til I've b*gger*d my shredder and there's stillmore to shred. So by now you'll have guessed - I SHRED mine. Anything important I need on paper I keep and other important stuff I scan and put it on a re-writable disc which can be deleted later.

Hope this helps and have a nice evening.

Answer 9

I belive paper work over 7 yr,s old can be desroyed, geat some bankers boxes and sort the rest find a place to store it but handy , I have a small bus. have paper work comoing out of the Ying Yang BUT it,s Neat I put thing away as I use them Took a L O N G Time to get in the habit But my home office looks neat.

Answer 10

Apart from all these great ideas....get all bills converted to E-statements. My bank statements, phone bills, Internet fees, credit card statements etc all comes online. That way it reduces further clutter, plus less risk of anyone getting access to your details....and no investment needed for a shredder!