Talk to me about Paper Clutter

[onetruething]

I have so many old bills/statements. I don't have an efficient filing system and I'm unclear how long I am supposed to keep everything.  Could someone please help me get a handle on it?
What systems work for you, especially if you are disorganized by nature?
Thank you!!

[lilac05]

I don’t have a system that works. I’ve tried a million different things, and just can’t seem to stay on top of it. My H now does all of the filing. I pay the bills and read the mail, then he takes care of it from there.

I think in the age of everything digital, there are probably few things that you actually need to keep a hard copy of.

[readyin07]

Welcome to my life.

[thebreakfastclub]

I've turned off all paper statements. If there is something you end up needing, you can always go back and print it. I look at my current statement on line, make sure it's fine, and then move on.

[sunnysally]

I use mycheckfree.com to pay utilities so I don't have paper bills. I also only get e-statements for credit cards. I do taxes online and save a pdf. The only paper stuff I have are warranties and the occasional check that I uploaded. I throw the checks out after 30 days per my bank and keep the other documents in a filing case. If I replace something I throw out old paperwork when I file the new.

[jenny1223]

Keep tax returns for 7 years and throw the rest away! Really though, there is very little that you'll need to keep. No need for bank statements or water bills from years ago.

My system works okay but I have to keep up on it. I have a file bin with hanging folders. Every 3-6 months I'll go through the folders and recycle/shred old stuff. Moving as much as possible to automated bill pay and/or paperless statements helps so much!

[wildrice]

I don't keep most things. I have a soft sided file folder thing where I keep our apartment lease, marriage certificate, car title and other related financial information (like the loan payoff document), tax returns, vet records, and a few other misc things like my professional certification certificate. I also have information from my prior divorce and house sale, though I am guessing 6 years later and with a new marriage they aren't even necessary anymore. Any bills or financial statements beyond that can be printed from the internet if I ever happen to need them. Up until recently all our medical records were kept online, too, though now that we're in a new state I actually don't know if there is an online system so maybe I need to figure that out.

I get very few paper bills or statements anyway. They mostly come via email and I just delete them after paying. I don't know if I'm supposed to keep the insurance things that come (I am totally blanking on the name of them - the ones that show what insurance paid and what you owe) but we get so many that I don't. I figure if there was ever an issue I could always ask for a reprint. That's the only other paper I'm on the fence about, though. For the most part, I think paper filing is out of fashion and unnecessary in this digital world.

[ohgillian]

I don't get any monthly statements or bills. They're all online-only.

If I do get a hard copy bill that I want to keep (like, once a year I get a car tax bill and I keep it b/c we itemize our taxes), I pay it, then scan the bill and save in as appropriate (e.g., in my dropbox "tax" folder) and throw away the hard copy.

I have two filing drawers.

One is solely for instruction manuals, warranties and receipts on major on items we buy, etc. It has folders by theme "kitchen appliances", "outdoor toys", whatever.

The second has these folders:
- Important documents. It's like, marriage license; birth certificates; baby naming certificates; SS cards.
- One for each of us called [name] personal papers. It's mainly keepsakes, or things that aren't a big enough deal for the first folder. There's not a lot in there.
- One each called [name] health. It's not EOBs, it's more health items we need to keep long term. So for example, vaccine records.
- Folders for taxes by year.
- Car.
- Hard copies of wills and life insurance policies.
- A few situation-specific folders (like, one for a relative who died and I administered the estate.)

Nothing in there is short-term stuff. I don't store short-term papers. Everything is available online. I think that's really the key. Being organized isn't enough for me -- to have a handle on papers, I stopped the flood coming in.

[Susie]

I've switched to e-delivery for all statements that I can (which is nearly everything now).  I am the family archivist, so I keep pdfs on a hard drive, although I don't do it every month necessarily.  

The best way for me to deal with it all is to sit down with it weekly or so, so it doesn't build up. I keep the small amount that comes in paper in an organizer on my desk, which is where anything goes that needs to be scanned and then shredded. Nothing ever hits a permanent resting place. I have a scan+shred session a couple times a month, about as often as I pay bills.  At the same time, I'll go through my email and download statements, pay bills, and then delete the emails out of my inbox.

I'm working on scanning/shredding stuff in an old filing cabinet from before I was getting everything electronically.  For old loans, I scan documentation from around the time of origination, and then the payoff notice, but I don't scan all the intervening statements.  I did scan and keep all old tax docs, even though I probably went back further than necessary.

I toss manuals for anything I can get the manual online in pdf form (which these days is most things).

[Deleted]

What bills are you actually getting in the mail and why aren't you getting them electronically? Even in the event you might need them, you can pull them up electronically and print them out (though how many times have any of us really gone back to our filing cabinet for a cable bill?)

[tarajane]

I have a basket with all the most recent bills. I actually had to pull one out and use the confirmation number I received when I paid it over the phone as they didn't think I had.

When I have time they get sorted by category and filed in a cabinet.

[ohgillian]

A lot of us (including me) are saying "online bills", but that only works if you know how to do that. Most billers let you create an account on their website, then you have an option to select "electronic billing" or "paperless billing." So just, FYI, in case you don't know how to get electronic bills.

[tiptoetulips]

I read this and was all excited to talk about Cricut and silhouette machines and my favorite paper cutters! I’ll just see myself out

[onetruething]

Aug 15, 2019 15:52:13 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

A lot of us (including me) are saying "online bills", but that only works if you know how to do that. Most billers let you create an account on their website, then you have an option to select "electronic billing" or "paperless billing." So just, FYI, in case you don't know how to get electronic bills.

I totally know how to do this, just never really thought about it!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Aquatica]

As others have mentioned, I do electronic billing too. I have a folder in my Google Drive that I download the PDF and keep them in for up to 5 years (or 6 months after ending the service) before deleting that year's folder.

For paper items that cannot be electronic, I keep it in a filing crate next to my desk. H uses the bookshelf for his work-related paperwork since he needs to have an original on hand, and makes 5x copies because they're notorious for "misplacing" documents. He uses accordion file folders he's collected for free from work events over the years.

[gastro]

Paperless billing and a shredder.