Drowning in paperwork

lil_me

Payslips in my 'income' section

I have a filing cabinet, in there is seperate sections

Cars
Income - inc payslips, P45s etc
Household Bills
Bank statements
Certificates, important documents and ID documents
Kids
OU stuff
Bills and finance agreements (for car, credit cards, mobiles etc anything other than basic utilities)
Voluntary work stuff (inc meeting notes etc)

For each year I have a box, I did this last year and plan to stick to it. Everything that I need/want to keep inc credit card statements (incase of purchase problems especially) utility bills (to see what we have used and incase of any problems), bank statements, P45s etc - basically everything but Certificate/ID documents and Car section (and any current insurance policy certificates I need out) gets boxed in year order. Initially I sat with paperwork inc from 2000 and 8 boxes, putting them all in the right one for each year. I then taped the boxes up and store them incase needed.

I am now working through 2008s stuff, shredding what I don't need to keep etc ready to be boxes, I usually have every bill and statement in by Feb so using this as a goal for having the previous years done.

elljay

Thank you, yes that's really really helpful. I have been trying to keep things in year order in files, but obviously I need more discipline.I eventually found my passport, marriage cert etc by thinking back to when I needed them last (in this case it was when I took out a pension plan) and found them under pensions for that year. Obviously a rubbish system!! The room remains in chaos as a resut of my digging about. I'll be really disciplined and spend 2 hours tonight going through in the way you suggest.

Thank you again. I thought I was organised but in practice it really wasn't working.

kazwookie

I have a metal file box, I think I got it from staples, it has sections.

I have labeled up the files, and have a filing session once a week.

Once a year I have a shredding session of stuff I no longer need

greenbee

Thanks for this... I've just done some filing

Aril

I have separate coloured folders for different paperwork and the fronts labelled for ease of identification. I loathe filing with a passion but have found this system works for me.
Aril

elljay

Thanks everyone. I've had quite a successful time of it this evening, though I suspect I've got rid of some things I'll wish in the future I hadn't. I've decided my main problem is definitely the inability to make decisions, some things I still don't know what to do with. Utility bills etc are straightforward but it's others, for example the dog's vaccination certificate that are making me feel very stupid! Should it go in last years as that's when she was last vaccinated, or this years ready for her next jab?!! I'm also right now looking at a bill for boiler repairs from 2001 which normally I'd throw away but want to keep as I'm psyching myself up to a showdown with the landlord to 'explain' how much I've spent on his house since I moved in, that he should have paid for. So for now I've got a 'landlord' envelope with various things in. And I don't think I've got a good system yet for things that don't fit in a 'year' file, such as car papers, passport, certificates, job applications or papers that might be useful for work etc. But I'm getting there thanks to y'all.

But great inroads have been made, even though the dog is playing with the piles of paper on the bed, time for hot choc and Sex and the City on Paramount. I've earned it!

Liz

Sirbendy

We keep a "karl" file for my stuff, a "Jem" file for the missus stuff, a "joint acc" file for the joint account, and an "insert house name/number here" file for things relating to wherever we are.

Each file has sections (Payslips, Car, Statements etc). As to final archive, I scan to PDF and burn to CD, then bung in the firesafe. Any orders I do "on net" such as car tax, water bills etc I print to PDF to and archive the same way.

I'm trying to move as much over to paperless billing as possible.

Most things relating to the property we're in stays with the house..things like safety checks, service records, manuals, "new tenant guide" that I write for each place for the person who comes after us etc etc. I'm preparing one now for here..every utility, provider, manual, instructions, service log, useful numbers..the works. good fun.

piggeh

elljay wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I've had quite a successful time of it this evening, though I suspect I've got rid of some things I'll wish in the future I hadn't. I've decided my main problem is definitely the inability to make decisions, some things I still don't know what to do with. Utility bills etc are straightforward but it's others, for example the dog's vaccination certificate that are making me feel very stupid! Should it go in last years as that's when she was last vaccinated, or this years ready for her next jab?!! I'm also right now looking at a bill for boiler repairs from 2001 which normally I'd throw away but want to keep as I'm psyching myself up to a showdown with the landlord to 'explain' how much I've spent on his house since I moved in, that he should have paid for. So for now I've got a 'landlord' envelope with various things in. And I don't think I've got a good system yet for things that don't fit in a 'year' file, such as car papers, passport, certificates, job applications or papers that might be useful for work etc. But I'm getting there thanks to y'all.

But great inroads have been made, even though the dog is playing with the piles of paper on the bed, time for hot choc and Sex and the City on Paramount. I've earned it!

Liz

:rotfl:

Your mind works the same way as mine! "Should keep this, got sometihng to do with it, now I'll just store it in X as a 'reminder' or to make it easy ot find next time." Always fails!

(Except Sex & the City, that would be a step too far for me personally )

Marg

Elljay - I thought it was just me who had problems with filing - there's ALWAYS a leftover stack that doesn't fit any known plan. I do have ongoing files for things like 'Car' 'Cats' 'Certificates' etc that go on from year to year.
Congratulations on making a start - I bet you feel better for it.

Horasio

I check for outdated stuff every 3 months and shred it.