Need help organizing/culling paperwork, bills, receipts, etc...

[Sue G in PA]

I turned our finances, check book, paperwork over to dh years ago b/c I had too much on my plate. Well, although he does a great job keeping our finances in order (what little there is :glare:), he's not the best at keeping our paperwork organized. We're talking a large computer armoire stuffed with misc. papers, bills, receipts, his work paperwork, etc...NOT in any order what.so.ev.er. It's getting to me. So, I'm taking over. Can we say n.e.s.t.i.n.g. :D Anyway, how do you organize your bills, receipts from bills paid, etc. and more importantly...how long do you KEEP the receipts from bills paid? Ex/ electric, phone, cell, trash, cable, internet, etc. You know, those monthly bills. What about mortgage payments, credit card receipts, loan payments (car, home equity), bank statements etc. Dh keeps ALL receipts in this little basket which is now overflowing and I don't know what to toss and what to keep! Somebody help! My home is being overtaken by paper! Dh tosses bank statement, envelope and all, in this box and forgets about them! I keep telling him it takes up less space to OPEN the envelopes and toss the contents...keeping ONLY the statement itself! Duh?

Okay, thanks for your suggestions! Looking forward to getting this organized so I can make this room more user friendly!

[Cindy in FL.]

I'll be honest here and tell you that I don't keep much! I shred monthly bills after I pay them. At the most I would only hold on to the prior month's and shred when the new one came. I shred all bank statements after they've been reconciled. Keep only the prior month's mortgage/loan statement. Don't keep credit card statements unless there's something on them that I need. If I buy something that has a warranty I staple the receipt to the instruction book. I do keep receipts for things like shoes in case they fall apart too soon and need to be returned.

All in all I try not to keep anything I don't have to. I just can't stand the clutter that all that paper seems to create and I can always get a copy of it if I need to.

Cindy

[Beth in Central TX]

I use this accordian style monthly organizer at Office depot to keep all of the receipts and bills once they've been paid: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/566121/Office-Brand-Recycled-Expanding-File-Letter/

I have something similar to this desk top organizer to keep all the bills that need to be paid: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/153280/Christopher-Lowell-Bill-Organizer-Medium-Cherry/

HTH!

[Danestress]

I actually don't keep most of that stuff.

Once I see the check cashed, I shred utility bills and such. I don't see a point in keeping them once I have paid and they have credited my account.

I pay my mortgage online and don't have a receipt. I don't even write a check - I pay online out of my bank account. Maybe I am niave, but my bank keeps that data, and I don't. I could go online right now and download it all though I might have to do a formal request for the older statements.

[Gailmegan]

I use those accordion files as well. I get the ones with 12 pockets - one for each month, and I keep reipts, bills, etc, in the appropriate pocket for 1-2 years. I have a file with last year and current year, so right now I have one with all of 2007 in it and one that I am creating for 2008. At the end of 2008 I will go through 2007, making sure there is nothing I need, then I will shred everything and use that file for 2009. I can't think of what it was off the top of my head, but I have found that I needed to go back on occasion, and since it's only one file, I don't mind keeping it for a year. I do pay much more on line though, so there is less paperwork than there used to be.

[OnTheBrink]

I keep an accordion file thingy that holds bills, any flyers I might want to keep for shopping purposes, recipes I cut out of magazines, and catalogs. I toss bills once they're paid because my credit union sends me copies of cancelled checks with my monthly statement, so I have my verification of payment should someone need it.

[Mama Anna]

I'm a paperwork-type person, so I tend to save everything. And then have fun every January, shredding and pitching a lot of stuff! :001_smile:

I go through our receipts once a week, enter them in the registers (I keep one for our credit card just like our checking account.) and then file each account's receipts in a labeled envelope. Then, when the statement comes in, I check all the receipts, reconcile the statement, and shred the receipts. This means that I have about 1 month's worth of receipts for returns, etc., without special storage.

For bills, I just have a two-drawer filing cabinet where I keep about 1 year's worth of all bill statements in along with car info, IRS stuff, etc. My philosophy is that I'd much rather have too much than have too little. And that January clean-out of the previous year's stuff is so . . . satisfying . . . :D

HTH!
Mama Anna

[Kari C in SC]

I pay all of my bills online. I don't have any copies of any payments, etc. I also do my banking online. No real paper statement. I rarely write a check. The pool company is my only bill with a check because they don't take online payments. I do need to get a handle on tax receipts though. We will itemize next year, so I guess I need to organize that stuff.

[nestof3]

I have a filing cabinet with the following hanging file folders:

Bank Accounts
[All deposit receipts and bank statements go in here. When I receive a bank statement, the deposit slips are stapled to the statement. These are filed annually with our tax papers in boxes stored in the garage. Registers are stored in old check boxes in our desk drawer. I have a folder for our joint account, a folder for each of our younger sons, our oldest keeps his in his room along with his CD information.]

Fidelity Investments
[All information about our IRAs and mutual funds.]

Health Insurance
[subfolders: John, Dawn, Aaron, Nathan, Ben, membership info, payments, All paperwork for a specific claim is stapled together. This includes Explanations of Benefits, printouts from doctors/hospital, and invoice marked paid with check # and date]

State Farm Insurance
[policies for flood, homeowners, vehicle and personal articles]

Banner Life Insurance [simply that]

Mortgage
[I keep payment receipts in this folder. At the end of the year, I shred these receipts and print out an annual statement from my mortgage company showing payments for the year. I especially like having these records because we pay extra principal each month. Now that I pay online, I just print out the annual payment paper.]

Credit Cards
[I have a folder for each one. We don't use all of them, but we keep a few accounts open for the 0% offers we receive. We use these to pay for things like braces, our $5,000 medical deductible, and so forth. We commit to paying the balance off in a year, so it's like a monthly bill. Each credit card has its own folder with the account # and login info on it and last statement in it. If we need to save a statement for tax purposes, it goes in the tax drawer, if not, it gets shredded. I pay all credit cards online.]

Personal Vehicle Maintenance
[This contains our vehicle manuals and any receipt for maintenance]

Credit Reports
[I store our annual credit reports here]

Miscellaneous
[This stored receipts and invoice records which I keep to remind me of when something is due (like web hosting or something). It also holds a list of magazine subscriptions, account #s, expiration date, and so forth.

I personally do not keep power, gas, water, phone and other utility bills. I have never needed to consult them. I shread the info as soon as I pay.

In this filing cabinet are file folders which contain instruction/user manuals and receipts for things we own. They are subdivided into folders in categories such as: sporting equipment, shop tools, kitchen, household, entertainment, etc. I staple receipts to the user manual. I find this comes in handy when ordering parts, or when I sell the item. It is also good for warranty info.

I have a plastic paper holder on my desk that holds current things I'm waiting on, like rebates, IOWA achievement tests, postal delivery confirmation info on things I sell, etc. I go through this weekly to see if there's anything I can dispose of or need to act on.

In a small drawer in my desk, I keep the following:

personal checking deposit slips
business checking deposit slips

mortage coupon book
vehicle loan coupon book

envelope labeled "business checks" (for checks to go in business account)
envelope labeled "personal checks" (for checks to go in personal account)

three envelopes with closest three months written on them. Right now, we have paid all March bills, so the three envelopes are: April, May, June. As soon as I receive a bill, I separate the portion I need to remit, insert it into the envelope flap (if I pay it online, I discard the envelope) and write the due date on the envelope flap. I then insert this into the appropriate envelope in order of due date. I write due dates on my calender to remind me when to pay - of course the reminder date is ahead of the actual due date. When I finish paying all bills for that month (in this case it would be April), I cross-out the word April, write July and put this envelope behind June.

All of our personal legal info like wills, titles, deed info, child custody papers etc are in a fire-proof safe in our room.

For incoming store receipts, I have a large magnetic "paper" clip on my filing cabinet, which is next to the desk. My husband and I clip our receipts to this at the end of the day. The next morning, I subtract these from the appropriate checkbook ledger and act on the receipts. If they are business, they are filed away into the appropiate file folder in the business drawer. If personal, I make sure the receipt contains nothing we might return. If there is something in question, I place it in an envelope labeled "temporary receipts. This envelope is for things like clothing that has not been tried on, etc. If there is something we bought that we want to keep manual and receipt on, I staple the receipt to the manual and file away. If there's a rebate item, I staple the receipt to the rebate form and put in my "to do" pile. If I am certain I will no longer need the receipt, I shred it.

When I receive the mail, I walk over to the recycling bin and throw any junk catalogs and stuff into it. I open all other mail here. If there are credit card checks, or other offers with our name on it, I shred them with the shredder which is located in the kitchen along with the recycle bin. I then bring the rest of the mail to the desk and file it away -- bills in the envelopes, paperwork I need to fill out in my "to do" bin, insurance paperwork in the file folder, and so on. When I am done, there's nothing lying around. I put it all away and move on.

This may sound complicated, but it all flows quite smoothly and quickly. I find I cannot function with papers everywhere.

Oh, and since DH is self-employed, I have all of that paperwork to handle as well. File folders are my friend. And, my calendar. I write withholding due dates, tax due dates, report due dates all on my calendar. I do not write when it is due, I write when I need to act on it. This keeps me from being late on anything.

Sale ads go into a vertical plastic bin on a cabinet in our "office." I store restaurant coupons, take-out menus, museum coupons, and other event coupons in file folders in my filing cabinet. I purge the sale ads weekly.

If I missed anything, just ask!

[Ellie]

by Pat Dorff. It will revolutionize your life, lol.