How to Eliminate Paper Clutter
While you may think you are being diligent by keeping all sorts of paper records, too much paper clutter often makes it difficult to find the things that you really need. Set a regular schedule of decluttering your paperwork, ideally one per month or four times per year, and stick to it to keep from getting buried.
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Things You'll Need
- File folders or manila envelopes
- Scrapbook and scrapbooking supplies or plastic airtight container
Instructions
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Gather all of the paper cluttering your office into one place. Go through the papers and sort into seven piles: tax records, sentimental, receipts and warranties, user manuals, monthly bills, financial documents and investment records.
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Sort tax records by year, and discard those records that you no longer need. The Internal Revenue Service advises that should retain documents until the period of limitations has passed where you can amend that particular year's tax return, anywhere from three to seven years. Create one folder or manila envelope for each year of tax return information that you will retain. Label it carefully and place the appropriate papers into each one. Discard unneeded tax documents.
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Place any sentimental papers into a scrapbook or store them in an airtight plastic container. Be ruthless as you sort through these papers, and only keep the ones that hold a deep meaning to you. These papers may include greeting cards, your childrens' report cards, commendations or awards. If you have a lot of old paper photographs, consider taking them to a local photography store to have them digitized onto a CD or DVD.
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Go through the pile of receipts, and discard any that you do not need. Keep any receipts for products you have purchased that are still under warranty or are for recent purchases that you may return. Discard paperwork for any purchases for which you have an online receipt. Place all receipts that back up tax deductions into the appropriate tax folder and create an additional folder for travel expenses receipts if you submit expense reports to your company.
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Check the manufacturer's website for any user manuals you may have for home and office equipment, such as computers, software, kitchen appliances or other household or electronic gadgets. Check the manufacturer's website. If they have an online version of the user manual, discard your paper version.
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Discard any bills that have been paid once the next month's bill comes in reflecting the previous payment, unless you need them for tax purposes. Place those bills in your current year's tax folder. Switch from paper bills to electronic billing for any creditors that offer it. Check with your bank to see if they offer online bill-pay services, and switch to them to eliminate additional paper clutter. Many banks offer easy bill-pay solutions, such as Wells Fargo's free online payment services that allow you to kick off payments to any institution using your checking or savings account.
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Contact your financial institutions and switch from paper statements to online statements. Keep any paper statements for one month, or until you have gone through it and verified all of the transactions. If any are needed for tax purposes, place them in your current tax folder. Financial planner Sharon Rich recommends that you keep all pay stubs with your other tax information until you receive your end-of-year tax document, either a 1099 or W-2 form, from your employer.
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Keep any investment documents, such as your mortgage papers or home or car titles, in one folder for as long as you own the investment, plus an additional seven years for tax purposes.
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Go through any paperwork that remains with a ruthless eye. Keep important documents, such as medical records, birth certificates, Social Security cards and passports, in a safe deposit box or small fireproof safe or vault and discard the rest.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider scanning any important documents and storing them on a flash drive or CD. If you do not own a scanner, check with your local library or small business center to see if they have the necessary equipment. This type of storage is fallible, however, so always make two CDs or copy the information onto two separate flash drives.
The Federal Trade Commission warns that identity thieves to go through trash to get personal information from discarded records, and advises that you shred any financial documents or papers that contain personal information before discarding.
References
Resources
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