Drowning in paper! Help!

[BamaTanya]

Dd came home from school *without* the T-shirt and sweatshirt we'd ordered in October. The school doesn't have a record of the order. I know the check number, but I can't find the bank statement from October! And, the online access only goes back 3 mos -- stopping just short of that check.

Yikes. I have piles and boxes and mountains of papers. I have 5 dc in school, a teacher dh, all my printouts and handouts and courselists and first homework attempts for grad school. . . PLUS all the regular junk that comes into the house on a regular basis. The papers I don't want to throw in the trash because of identity theft but I hold onto until we get the shredder unjammed.

I will have to pay the bank some fee to look back more than 3 mos. Or I'll have to write another check to the school for dd's shirts.

I need a step-bay-step paper consultant. Something like Flylady, but specifically for the printed page. Instead of decluttering all over the house, I need to tackles these mounds.

Any great sites for me?

tia

[Ellie]

File--Don't Pile! by Pat Dorff. The author had a similar experience to the authors of Sidetracked Home Executives and Flylady and the Messies Manual, which caused her to do some major organizing with her paperwork. File--Don't Pile! is a *wonderful* system.

[CookieMonster]

I don't have a system to refer you to. But, I would say you need to spend some time simply sorting. Take boxes, desk space, the dining room table: whatever is available. Sort your paperwork into several major piles: school for each child, your grad school stuff, banking, etc. This is where I would recommend starting.

[BarbaraL in OK]

Do you have any underlying system? If so, maybe your frustration is like mine -- I get a sudden surge in papers, or a change in my routine or time for tending to paper, OR our life changes a bit to bring in different paper... and suddenly I'm overwhelmed! For me, since this is the case, once I tackle the piles and get them sorted, filed, hand-shredded, recycled/tossed... then I need to change or add to my basic system to meet my newer needs.

Good resources: the book "Taming the Paper Tiger" was a HUGE help to me. I've also appreciated OrganizedHome.com (http://www.organizedhome.com/) Best of luck!

[BamaTanya]

I *do* have an underlying system, but it gets thrown off pretty easily. For instance, we hosted the family at Thanksgiving, and in the "clean sweep" that preceded the guests, *somehow* a VERY IMPORTANT BINDER disappeared. It had all of my "bills paid" for 2007 and possibly my bank statements filed by month. I have not seen it since. I have searched in boxes and under beds and in the garage.
And it's taken me this long to figure out that I'm going to have to start over! I *kind of* get it together in between semesters, but by the second or third weeks, I've fallen behind again.
I *think* my system must be too complicated for me to keep up with. Or, I just don't check in with the piles often enough.
The Paper Tiger books are at my library, so I can check them out tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm off to the Organized Home.
Thanks for the suggestions!

[BarbaraL in OK]

Stowed in a closet? Under the sink? Above the washer & dryer? In the sunroom? Under your bed? ...those are places I've stashed piles or whatever before Christmas or one of our twice-annual big parties. I still have a storage-type closet half-full of stuff I haven't missed. At all. For a couple of years. Yikes!

Read books, browse Web sites, and think about this: at what point does your paper get out of control?

For me, it's often when I'm busy and don't attend to paperwork right away. Then my "to-do" pile gets out of control and then ignored.

I already sort the mail and other incoming paper over the recycle bin :) I'm going to tackle the remaining paper by making a set of folders for it: Call - Mail - Calendar (add to) - Pay - File (and file those items weekly) - and folders for the next 12 months, with the current month always in front, for stuff I want to have later but have no good place for! I heard this idea on the radio, and I think it's exactly what I'm missing.

[Denise in IN]

I already sort the mail and other incoming paper over the recycle bin :) I'm going to tackle the remaining paper by making a set of folders for it: Call - Mail - Calendar (add to) - Pay - File (and file those items weekly) - and folders for the next 12 months, with the current month always in front, for stuff I want to have later but have no good place for! I heard this idea on the radio, and I think it's exactly what I'm missing.

This is a great idea! I'm working on my system right now, and I think I'll be incorporating these.

[Melinda in VT]

I also found Organizing from the Inside Out to be very helpful in assisting me to figure out why my existing systems weren't working for me.