How to Get ALL Your Papers Organized

I had trouble figuring out how to get ALL my papers organized. I have tried a lot of different ways over the years but everything always ended up in piles. I tried filing cabinets and they worked for some of my papers that I didn’t need very often. I had a file of papers for the medical information I printed out when I was researching infertility, one for baby and wedding shower games, another for craft ideas, another for church camp papers, etc…you get the idea. These all worked because it gave me a location where these belonged and I knew where to go when I needed these particular papers, which wasn’t very often.

I still had trouble finding things when it was time to do the taxes. It took me weeks or months to gather all the papers I needed to fill out the taxes, then I had to sort them and figure out what I needed. I finally started a binder where I put all my paperwork after I paid the bills. I used plastic pocket folders and put all my utility, medical and insurance payment stubs in the front half of the binder along with the bank statements. In the back half, I used clear sheet protector pages to hold important papers that change periodically like insurance policies, vehicle deeds, school paperwork that you need to keep for awhile like a class syllabus or schedule. At the end of the year I go through the binder and pull out all the papers for the year and I have most of the paperwork already gathered that I need to complete the taxes.

This solved the taxes issue, but I was still having trouble with the daily, weekly and monthly paperwork. I had a book that I put my upcoming bills in and this worked pretty well, but many times I didn’t get all the bills put in the book before they got lost in the piles. I would end up having to pay late fees because I didn’t know I hadn’t paid the bill until I got a late notice in the mail. The piles of paperwork just kept piling up and then when I needed to clean up for company or Christmas or whatever, I would throw all the papers in a box or bag and it might be months or never before I looked at them again. I could never find anything I needed when I needed it and I felt so out of control and unorganized.

I needed a place to put stuff that just needed a temporary place in my organizing system. I labeled some pocket folders – one for each one of my kids, medical, crafts, memories, wishlist, to file, etc…  The folders I use can be changed as needed. I still keep my bills in the book because it works for me. I keep it in the basket along with my folders. Now I have all my bills paid on time and sometimes even early, the kids have their paperwork for field trips or pictures turned in on time, we haven’t missed much since I started using the pocket folders and basket.

I have a place for everything now. The pocket folders hold all my current paperwork, the binder holds the intermediate items, and the filing cabinet holds the long-term papers. It is not a complicated system and it is very easy to maintain. I throw the bills and everything that comes in during the week into a basket and when I have time, I go through and take care of the to dos or put it in the correct pocket until later. Sometimes I do this everyday and other times it may be only once or twice a week, if we are really busy. Anything that needs to be put in the binder is put in the ‘to file’ pocket and about once a month I move it to the correct location in the binder.

At the beginning of the year, I remove everything from the binder and put it in a box until I complete my taxes. Once the taxes are filed, I put the sustaining papers that I need to keep in a manila envelope and place it in the filing cabinet. I then remove the oldest envelope and discard it as the recommendation is to keep any paperwork that was used in preparing your taxes for 7 years. I keep a copy of the actual tax forms in the filing cabinet indefinitely. They do not take up much room and I would rather be safe than sorry.

If you would like help getting your paper organized, I offer one-on-one organizing or coaching sessions at KATS Kreative Organizing.

The system that works for me is:

Long Term Paperwork

• Filing Cabinet

Intermediate Paperwork

• Binder

Current Paperwork

• Pocket Folders

For more organizing solutions that have worked for me – Clean and Organize a Little at a Time and Organizing My Daughter’s Bedroom.

How do you keep your paperwork organized?  Any tips that have worked for you?  Leave a comment below and let me know.

Sign up below to join my newsletter so you always know what is going on around here and don’t miss anything important!