Excerpts taken from FlyLady:
Welcome to October! This is the month of falling leaves, Halloween costumes, and a brand new habit! All month long, we are going to be working on........ Paper Clutter.
Our new habit for October is focusing on our Paper Clutter!!
1. Piles of newspapers. Instead of holding on to them so you can read when you get a chance, discard every day when the next paper comes. Try reading on-line or listening to the public Radio.
2. Baskets of unread Magazines: You can go online and find your answer if you really need it. If you have a basket of magazines that you hate to part with, it is easier if you do it on a weekly basis.
3. Junk mail: Throw it away as soon as it comes in the house.
4. Boxes of old school papers: Do you still have a box full of papers from High school or college? Get rid of this stuff. It was another life. Now for your children's papers. Not every paper is a keepsake, believe it or not.
5. Recipes: We are addicted to cookbooks and recipes. But how often do we use them.
6. Paperback books. If you have read them, pass them on to someone else.
7. Piles of unopened mail: If you have not opened it in three months, then it is probably trash.
8. Tax papers: Our tax papers fit in one manilla envelope. Our copies of the tax returns and receipts, and directions for the schedules are all in this envelope.
9. Medical records: Children's shot records are needed until they start college and sometime up until the girls become wives and mothers.
10. Paid bills receipts. We only keep insurance receipts and tax deductible canceled checks. All the others I have a check to prove that I have paid them.
11. Old Phone books. Get rid of these.
12. CATALOGS: There are many online catalogs. Don't hold on to these.
13. Bank statements: We balance them and toss them.
14. File Cabinets full of who knows what! We need to go through these files, and toss.
15. Family pictures: Some people have drawers full of pictures that are unlabeled. My Mom did one thing that was very nice. She had a scrapbook for each of our family members. Don't start doing this until all your clutter is under control.
16. Birth Certificates/Marriage Certificate/Passports/Death Certificates/Divorce papers/Savings bonds. These all need to be protected in a fire proof safe or a bank lock box.
17. Purses full of STUFF: Each week clean out your purse. Most of what is in there is trash. You might even find some money. I clean out my purse on Fridays.
18. Maps: Get rid of them. Buy you a new one for your state.
19. Travel Brochures: Get rid of them the prices are out dated as well as the phone numbers. Make a list of the place you would like to see and look them up on the internet.
20. Organizational Books: Put your Org books away. There is no way you can follow several programs at one time. Pick one and stick to it.
21. Computer printouts from FlyLady and other websites: Don't print, file it in the computer.
Hidden Paper Clutter
We all have hidden paper clutter. We are notorious for our stash and dashes when company has surprised us with a visit. We also have those ancient filing cabinets that are so full that the drawers do not close well. Right now they are unusable because they cannot hold another piece of paper and it would be difficult to find something we were looking for.
We have to know what to keep and how to get rid of what we don't need to keep.
1. Keep copies of Tax Returns and the receipts that correspond with the deductions.
2. Other papers you will need to hold on to are deeds, car titles, birth certificates, death certificates, baptismal records, shot records and other medical records, passports, marriage certificates, divorce papers, separation agreements, custody agreements, stocks, bonds, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, savings account records and saving bonds.
3. Instruction manuals for the appliances and equipment that you own. Along with them a copy of the receipt of purchase; we can get into the habit of stapling this in the back of the manual along with the warranty. Once a year we need to go through this folder and discard any manual for equipment that we no longer have.
These three categories will only fill about a half of a file drawer in a cabinet. So how in the world are you going to get rid of all the rest of the paper that is in that room you try to use as an office?
ONE PILE AT A TIME! The first thing you have to do with this hidden clutter is make the decision that you are going to get rid of it. Then you will need a way to dispose of the paper.
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