I'm always ready to jump-the-gun with organizing and I end up with a big stack of crap that has no where to go. That is what this week is about. One of my favorite suggestions from Organize Now! is that you need a place to put your papers and personal information. Whenever I start a cleaning spree, I typically end up with a stack of already-paid bills, recipes I've torn out of magazines, and important papers or receipts we need to hold onto. If there is no where for these items to go, then they end up stacking up and get lost over time.
How many times have you needed to find that one receipt from a big purchase to complete a warranty claim, but can't seem to find it? It used to happen to me all. the. damn. time. Another favorite occurrence was when The Hubs needed to fly out of the country and we couldn't find his passport - we tore up the entire house looking for it. This happened multiple times until we got a good system in place.
So, first thing's first - whether it is in your kitchen, entryway, or office, place a bin or paper tray where your items to file away usually accumulate. My place of choice is in our living room, since that is where I usually open mail. When I have a paper or receipt to file later on, I toss it in the bin and file them once a month. It's far too easy to end up with an overflowing bin, so keep up with it! This is the type of paper tray I use (a similar one can be found at Walmart, Target, or an office supply store):
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| Target, $4.99 in-store. |
Now that you have a document bin as a catch-all for your important papers, you can take it with you room-to-room as you organize. Anything important - house documents, receipts, manuals, bills - goes into the bin to file later. The Hubs and I started using file boxes to store our documents and we soon found that we had amassed far too much to file efficiently. So we opted for binders. Our system is that we have a binder for each category, and add to it as needed. I went the fancy-route and used clear page protectors in them. I slapped a label on each one so that I can easily pull the binder that I need and flip through it.
Next, I had to decide what to do with our most important documents - car titles, credit card information, passports, social security cards, etc. For The Hubs and myself, I wrote down each of our credit card numbers and the phone number to call in case they are stolen, our health information (allergies, blood pressure, height/weight), insurance info, and driver's license numbers. All of this super-important info went straight into a fireproof safe and I hid it somewhere in the house where it is not easily found by burglers. I had fun pretending that I was a spy and had to hide my identity. Hah! I actually don't think that The Hubs even knows where it is... You can get a larger fireproof safe to keep your valuables in, and even install it securely between wall studs in your home. You can also get one of these smaller fireproof boxes on Amazon fairly cheap, around $50:
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| SentrySafe Fire-Safe Waterproof Chest, $49.99 |
One benefit to the smaller boxes is that in case of an emergency (flood, natural disaster) they can be picked up and carried away so you have all of your family's information in one place. You could even keep a small amount of cash and emergency supplies (flashlight, radio) in there, too.
There are a few blogs and books that I have used in the past to help myself get started with this organization process, and as I remember which ones they are I will post them! The most helpful resource that I have used for this purpose is Organize Now! by Jennifer Ford Berry. Check it out on Amazon for just $9.48!
Now that a filing system is in place, you will have a safe place to stash all of your important papers!
- Maggie White
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