TLCs and Papers that Make Me Nervous

 

For those who haven't read my 5 Layers of Clutter, I refer to clutter that takes that extra time or effort a TLC for Tedious Longsuffering Care. I had quite the little stack this time.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a before picture before diving in. It wasn't this pile. It was about 3 inches higher and they were all in those intimidating Manila folders.

Like this one:

 

I've found for me, that papers that scare me or that take a whole lot of extra effort fall into a few main catagories. And that's how I tackle them.

First…Scary official documents that are piled neatly in 2 inch thick envelopes. You know the ones, right? The ones that give you a headache before you even open them. This year, for me it was my insurgence settlement from when a drunk driver hit me.

This was one of the stacks.

 

Three one inch thick stacks like this one, all hard to read or understand! And some of them brought back some horrible memories, like this one…

 

Can you read it? This was my trauma report. Some of the lines that had me remembering back were…

Vehicle caught fire while pt still in car, poss minor smoke inhalation.

Status: Pregnant

But…ya know, this is settled now and we don't need every paper attached to it. I didn't want to let all of them go, but I let a whole lot go. The stack I kept all fit easily into one Manila envelope.

Don't let these kind of papers scare you. I tell myself I can keep anything I want, I just commit to looking through all of them. I'm always surprised at how much I no longer need each year that I did the year before…if I will just look.

I would keep anything still pending in these big projects, but once it's done, it's done. Then you can really look at what's important and what's excess.

Not all papers in the same envelope are equal! Just keep that in mind.

 

Second…Papers that require action.

I set up yellow hanging files for things that need action. Insurance papers you're using daily while on phone calls, keepsake papers you're adding to a scrapbook, or that project you're in the middle of would all be in a yellow file at my house. I would keep these right at hand since they require action now.

 

Third…Papers that require time and/or money. And I mean sitting (marinating) kind of time. These are things like half written books that I'm not ready to completely let go of, ideas that I think might work next year, or insurance settlements that you have to wait and wait and wait while the papers keep piling up. Some of these are clutter that I just haven't fully accepted yet. Some of these are really just time consuming files. Either way, keep everything like this in a yellow file out of your way. If you look back through them every year…they slowly trickle into the trash can or back onto your desk.

 

Fourth…it takes more than just me to handle the paper. Some things just can't be decided on without others in on the decision. I find that some things, I need to find the time for my husband and I to sit and talk about before tossing or filing.

Whatever your TLCs and scary papers are, my best advice is just to dig in and actually look. No obligations. Just look. Sometimes you find a lot of junk that you didn't know was there. And some of it can just be filed better.

 

For example, these big files stay with the others, but I like them in closed Manila envelopes. I just turn them sideways and add a label so that it can be read just like the other files.

 

Today's Challenge:

Don't be scared of having to throw anything away. You don't have to. You just have to look at what's there. Every single paper you toss or shred will never come across your desk again!

If you know you're going to keep it, go ahead and make a file so it has a place.

If it requires action, time, or money, make a place for these to belong that will work for you.

 

So, how do y'all deal with hard-to-handle papers?

-Tabitha

 

 

Keeksakes and Kid’s Papers

As I said at the beginning of this series, I’m not delving into keepsakes. However, there are things that just get mixed up with the rest of the papers and have to be dealt with. I even had a reader mention that she wanted to know about cards…so here I am, delving into keepsakes. I think I may have a little writer’s ADD. What do you think?

Now, to be very specific to those following along, we aren’t going to go pull all the keepsake papers out and start looking through them! Oh what a mess that would make in my house! But as we’re going through all the papers and files that are scattered about, it’s unavoidable to run into some. So what to do with them, you may ask.

Kid’s Artwork and Creative Endevours:

Do you remember the Dump Zones we created in the first week? The kids had one each as well. I pile all of this stuff in each child’s personal dump drawer or box. (If it’s seriously a scribble I don’t hesitate to toss it). Every now and again, I just have them sit down, look at each piece, and throw away what they don’t want. What they do want, they file in my older (ie retired file folders). Even if I don’t think it’s worth keeping, I don’t do anymore than ask them why. Paper really doesn’t take up much space, and it gives them the opportunity (home-school family) to learn how to sort, categorize, label and organize papers that are important to them. 

My thinking on kids paper clutter is that they will grow out of it a whole lot faster than we grow out of paper keepsakes. Three years down the road, they’ll toss something in the trash that they clutched with a tight fist before. Why fight it now? As long as each child has a dumping drawer so the pages don’t go flying and a place to put the ones they keep, it’s really okay. 

Exception to my own “rule” is papers that DO go flying. If a paper is in their dump zone, I don’t say a word. However, if it’s floating around the house, it’s mine. If it looks important or I personally care about it, I keep it or ask them. If I want to throw it away, I do. Usually, I give a casual warning first. For example, if I see a bunch of scattered pages floating around, I mention to them in passing that I won’t hesitate to toss them if they’re still not put away later today when I tidy the house. 

You may ask then about them leaving anything they don’t want for me to trash for them. They know that I will confiscate a quarter from them (it’s still theirs but they don’t have use of it until they earn it back) if I have to pick up their trash. I really only call for the quarter if it’s trash in their rooms or if it’s a pile of paper I know they made a mess of. I don’t go looking for who did what. Then, if they want their quarter back, they do a trash related chore such as gather the little trash bins and dump them or wipe down the outside of the kitchen trash can.

Greeting Cards:

I keep very few cards. The one’s I do keep are put in a ziplock with other like keepsakes. So if I’m keeping baby shower cards, I’ll find them in a ziplock bag with that child’s baby keepsakes. 

I suggest making a list of “rules” ahead of time so that you can decide quickly. 

These are some of the guidelines I use for my own, although I don’t write them down:

If it’s from a great-grandparent and has their signature on it, I keep it.

If it’s from a grandparent, I keep it if it’s the only one or if it has an endearing note to my child.

If it’s from a special event in my life, like a baby shower, I keep it if we know the person well and it has more than a signature. If there’s very few, I keep about 5 anyway and prioritize by giver.

Anything else goes through the endearing note rule. If it doesn’t have a thoughtful note–as in more than two or three sentences, then they were basically grabbing a card and making your DAY not your life. Toss it. They’ve way past forgotten about it, I promise. But, if the note still brings really great feeling, than I keep it.

Some exceptions:

I kept every card from my wedding.

I keep all birthday cards for my children up to age 5 and later let them decide out of the ones I don’t care about. After age 5, they get put in their own keepsake boxes when they want to keep them. I also usually pick one or two cards from ages that are milestones–10,13,16,18, etc. 

Any card that’s also a picture I store with my photos. 

ARTKIVE:

If you have an iPhone, look up the app Artkive! It’s genius! Basically, you take a picture of artwork, tag it by name and age, and whenever you want you can order a book of their artwork instead of storing all those pages separately. The app is free but the books aren’t. 

It’s really worth looking into. Right now, we still keep our very favs, but the kids are willing to let go of so much when they know it’s stored as a picture that they can get to. 

Another advantage is that it’s just photos, so homemade earrings, Lego creations, and other 3D “art” can also be taken care of.

I hope that gives you some ideas. 

What do y’all do with paper keepsakes that come across your desk? 

-Tabitha

Simplify Future Paper Purges

I try and purge my files every year, usually right around tax time. I don’t like having to think too long about whether or not I can toss a piece of paper or a file, so I started jotting little future notes to myself to make the process easier. 

Notes like:

Toss it when…

Toss Jan. 2015

Don’t you dare toss! Pg. 3, bottom

Keep until…

Paid $234, chk #2267, 2/14/05

Etc

Anything that will give me quick clues later and doesn’t take but a second to write, really does help later.

Today’s Challenge:

While you’re looking through papers today, when you come to things you’ll keep, jot yourself a quick note. Think about what you were asking yourself when deciding whether or not to keep something, and when you get the answer, make sure you have the answer without looking for it next year. Even if you do this only a few at a time, it starts adding up and making a real difference later.

What kind of notes do you jot to yourself?

-Tabitha

Shred it: What to Keep, What to Toss, and What to Shred

This one, I’m gonna leave to the experts. To get the detailed breakdown, here are some good links to read before you dejunk the touchier papers–ya know, the ones that make people nervous. 

Really good info:

http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/how-to-purge-your-financial-clutter-weston.aspx

Printable:

http://apps.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD012&SRCN=aoedetails&GnavID=84&SnavID=20&TnavID&AreasofExpertiseID=17

It’s really nice to read these, but you sure don’t want to check it against every page that passes your fingers, and unless you’re weird (just kidding), you aren’t going to memorize them. So, I usually read through them once, and then just keep some things in mind.

If I were ever in court for (insert case) would this paper help me prove anything? 

Relation to someone

Ownership/Gaurdianship

Medical condition

Responsibility

Final or most resent payment made

Etc.

If I ever escaped a fire/flood/tornado, would I be kicking myself for not preserving/storing this better?

Photos/keepsakes

Titles

Written works you’re proud of

Important financial records

School records

Etc.

What can I toss? What needs to be shredded?

A really good shredder can be your best friend while you’re purging papers. The first time I bought one, I only spent $20 and within an hour of working, I was back at the store! That time I spent a wee bit more and it’s still with me. 

You can veer on the side of caution and sometimes should, but sometimes we can be a little too paranoid. For example, if you’re sitting at your dining room table and come across something with your address on it and feel the need to shred, think about it. You’re putting the trash bag out there in front of your house…that has the number clearly marked on the front in big bold numbers. If someone’s digging through your trash, in front of your house, chances are they could find your address a wee bit easier. Not making fun…I’ve thought these same things. 

I would say anything that has your personal information attached to sensitive financial or number related info should be shredded in most cases. 

However, even though I totally shred my unused checks, I don’t shred my check copies with my info. Why not? Well, I guess if I give them to perfect strangers as young as high school at the local walmart, I don’t feel like a trash that would be icky to dig through would be a greater risk. But that’s just what I do…bury it in something like chicken dinner leftovers. 

If you want your check stubs shredded though, it’s not as tough as you may think. Gather them up and take them to your bank. I used to work at my credit union, and we shredded old checks for people all the time. There was an enormous machine in the back that we’d turn on and toss in checks that were printed wrong and watch as the machine ate them alive. If someone came in and asked, we were happy to toss their stubs or unused checks in with them. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d guess most banks are the same. Just call and ask.

A shredder was always my virtual security blanket that helped me let go of more paper than I otherwise would have. So, really, it doesn’t matter if it really needs to be shredded. If it helps you sleep at night, go for it! 

I’d love to hear from you! 

What do you shred and what do you toss? Any “horror” stories that have made you shred something you hadn’t before?

-Tabitha

How I Look Through Receipts

When I’m beginning a paper purge for the year, there are certain things I set aside to look at when I’m not on a roll. One is receipts because they’re small print and generally take longer to get through. I don’t want to be slowed down until I’m pretty much done for the day. Another is cards and keepsakes. It would slow me down to deal with them as they surfaced. So, I put these in a ziplock and keep them by my t.v. watching chair. Then, when I’m done for the day, I casually look through these while I watch a show.

When, I’m looking through a big pile of old receipts, my eyes want to cross, but I’ve found a way to help me through it.

Here’s what I do:

First I sort them into piles.

Fast food, resteraunts, grocery stores, and gas stations in one pile. 

These are all consumable and can’t be returned (unless you have the flu-blech). I can quickly toss these without a second glance. Now, if you have to keep track of these for taxes, that would be different. I would set up envelopes to stuff them in ahead of time, if that were the case.

Walmart, Target, Homegoods, etc go in another pile. 

These I need to review a little before I toss them. I predetermine what my price of no return is. As in, if it’s less than $30 and I can’t find the receipt, I’ll cut my losses. 

So, I scan the edge where the prices are without even looking at what’s on it. If I hit a price over my set limit, I look at what that item is and quickly determine if I need to keep that receipt for that item. If it’s nothing I’ll ever return, I keep scanning. I toss any of these that I can, usually most of them.

The Apple Store, Auto Zone, Discount Tire, and all specialty shops go in this third pile. 

I closely look at all of these and take care with the dates of warranty, etc before tossing any of these.

I make a Manila envelope labeled “Important Receipts–2014” and put anything remaining in it. If I’m looking for a receipt at all, it’s either stapled to its warranty or it’s in this envelope.

If I were keeping a lot of receipts for tax purposes, I would have more detailed envelopes, such as:

Resteraunts with clients

Gas on the job

Business purchases

Etc.

Today’s Challenge:

Gather all your receipts into one ziplock bag (more if needed to keep them in categories), and set them aside for after today’s purge. 

If you haven’t finished with yesterday’s obvious trash and paid bills, do that before your receipts. That way your eyes won’t cross before you’re finished.

Sit down for a not-favorite show. Something you can glance at without major plot lines is perfect. Now, dig into those receipts.

How are you doing with your own paper dejunking? Do receipts make your head swim, too?

-Tabitha

Toss the Envelope and Junk Inside

When I was a newly wed and started filing paid bills for our new family, I would neatly cut open the envelope, pay the bill, mark it paid with the check number (do they even make checks anymore), and then staple together the entire contents after flattening them out.

A few years later, as files started thickening, I really began looking at what I was keeping. I laughed at myself the first time I realized I was filing ads! Ads!! At least I was neat about it, right? What was I thinking?

Not everything in the same envelope is created equal! By all means, toss the junk! That pile of paper is what I threw out–envelope included. This is all I needed to keep.

I can fit my entire year’s worth of phone bills in ONE file. I don’t keep a record of everyone I’ve called, so it’s just the paid bill. I don’t keep the terms and privacy statements. I never look at them anyway, and if I needed to, they’d be online. The company name is on every page with a date, so I don’t even keep the envelope for most things. 

It’s really amazing how much junk you can get rid of if you take the time to trash the excess! 

Today’s Challenge:

First, don’t hesitate to toss obvious junk mail like old ads and wrinkled printer paper. I don’t even wait to get there in the pile. I want those piles to shrink fast, so if I know there’s junk, I just reach right in, grab it and toss. 

When there’s no obvious trash left, start going through old bills like this. I personally only keep one year of statements and toss the rest, except mortgage statements and car notes. For some odd reason I keep every one of those until it’s paid in full. I have issues. Then, when I’ve got the title, I keep that and the final payment together. Call me paranoid. 

At least I don’t keep the ads anymore.

When you’ve whittled down a file as thin as you’re brave enough to make it, re-write or print a nice new label and put it aside to file.

Rinse and repeat.

Let me know how it’s going. How full did you get your trash bag?

-Tabitha

Let’s Get to De-junking Our Paper!

Do you have a hot drink and your supplies ready to go?

We’ve got our paper “vacuums” all set up and it’s time to turn them on! Some “vacuums we didn’t discuss are a big trash bag and a good shredder. Hopefully, they’ll do a lot of “sucking” too.

This week I’m going to be giving you 7 tips on purging your papers. We want to get those piles whittled down to nothing, those files slimmer, and the trash bags full to overflowing.

Some things you will need:

Trash bags

A good shredder

New or gently used files

Labels

A pen

Your paper “vacuums” from this last week

And a nice hot drink of your choice (or cold–whatever calms your nerves)

This week:

• Quick Purge Junk
• Toss the envelope and junk with-in
• How I look through receipts
• Shred it! What to keep, what to trash, and what to shred
• Making future purges easier
• Keepsakes and Kid’s Papers
• TLCs and Paper that makes me nervous

Today’s Challenge:

Are you brave? If not, just take out a little stack at a time. If so, search the house for all your papers and files, make neat stacks on your table, and take a before picture.

To get started, locate any too-important-to-misplace papers and put them in one central location. I put our tax return papers that Josh planned to work on soon and a few bills to be paid in mine. Also, it’s wise if you’re gathering, to bag or stack things by where it came from. Everything I found in my side table, for example, was bagged together. That way if I was searching for that one item and knew where it had been, I knew which bag to search.

Choose a place to work that won’t disable the flow of traffic and start looking at what you have. Generally get acquainted with what each stack contains so you can maneuver a little easier around your piles.

I would love to hear from you!

How did last week go? Did you get some paper vacuums figured out and set up?

-Tabitha

Paper Transport Vacuums

Transporting papers or files in an organized way is important, but I rarely need to. I’ve written a few tips here to think about, but if you transport papers and files every single day, I would look into buying a bag similar to this one and creating a more detailed paper transport system.

 

 

 

What I use most often to transport papers are these simple folders:

 

 

I use them in whatever way fits that day or year, but I’ve kept to things that still need to be finished on the right and things that are finished on the left, like this:

 

 

My children are home-schooled, but they call work done at a baby-sitters or out somewhere “home work”. Ironic. I simply load the right side with any loose worksheets and stuff, and when they’re finished with one they put it in the left side. They take everything in a backpack to and from Marme’s house, and we rarely lose a thing.

 

If my children were in public or private school, I would likely have a few of these in their backpacks.

 

Something like:

 

 

And my husband now takes care of the bill-paying chores, so he has a specific pocket in his laptop bag for them. He’s never misplaced even one. If it were me, surprise surprise, it would be in here:

 

 

The point, really, is to know exactly where to find each type of paper or file and keep them in a place they are safe. You’re transport system will differ from others, and needs to since our lives are all different, but we all need a plan.

 

The other transport files I have are my Emergency Tub files. I hope I never have to transport them again, but it sure does make evacuating a whole lot less stressful when you know all of your most important papers are ready to go in a wink. I chose a plastic tub because in our area the most likely evacuation is a hurricane. Yours might be a fire-proof safe. But whatever it is, think easy and fast transport.

 

 

Today’s Challenge:

Whatever your lifestyle, at some point you’ll be transporting papers. Think ahead and decide how best you can do this. When and where will you need files or paper outside your home. Find or buy whatever is necessary to insure your papers don’t fly away in the wind or lost under the seat of your car.

 

I’d love to hear from you!

How do you transport papers and files? If you have a system that works for you, feel free to put a link in the comment section so that others can find it, too.

 

-Tabitha

 

Are you ready to purge your files? That’s coming up next!

Vacuum for Paper Requiring Extra Time and Action

In my 5 Layers of Decluttering, I call things requiring lots of extra time and effort TLCs for Tedious Longsuffering Care. These are the files most people dread dealing with! I know I do. Things like ongoing insurance claims, a Manila envelope filled with “important” papers that would totally halt your efforts in purging papers, or that 5 inch stack of math worksheets you need to work on grading tonight but not while you’re on a roll throwing old files away, are all TLCs.

I make a place for these to belong, because I know myself well enough to know that I can only keep going on a project for so long before I can’t stand it anymore and give up. If I didn’t have a place for these type of papers, I would never get all the way through my others. Later I’ll have a post on how to actually deal with them, but for now we’re just setting up paper “vacuums”, so I’m going to show you where I put them.

The majority of my TLCs are papers that my husband and I need to work through together, which requires both of us having non-interrupted time and pretty much distraction free for at least an hour.

I use the same bin I showed you in dealing with other peoples paper as the TLC bin for these files. While I’m purging papers once a year, these time consuming files to be looked through with Josh at another time, just get stacked in a pile. When my initial purge is over, this bin holds these kind of TLCs. I keep it under the cabinet in my mail center.

Everything else TLC goes in the color yellow hanging files. I chose yellow for TLCs because they slow me down like a yellow light.

TLCs requiring action that needs to be done pretty soon–within the month–go in these yellow hanging files in my mail center. These are ones that I can’t lose or forget about. It may be the next paper that needs to be filled out when trying to sell your house, the 20 page (seems like it) stack to give to the pediatrician when you bring your new baby, or the coupons you need to look through before they expire. They all take time, attention, action, and shouldn’t be lost at the bottom of a stack.

Do you see them way back there? Here, let’s set them up the other way.

 

I also put these yellow hanging files in my Emergency Tub and my regular file cabinet. If it’s something I’m thinking about, need to read, or gave up looking through for now, it would be found in a yellow hanging file in my file cabinet. If it’s a decorative birth certificate I still need to hang, it would be in the yellow hanging file in my Emergency Tub.

And unless you’re Super Mom, you’ll likely have to continue with real life before you’re totally finished. I’m back to school now after the baby and I had to chop off the last bit of files I needed to look through and save them for later. Those will be slower going without being able to give it my focused attention, and I don’t want them to be lost. I simply look at what each file left over is by topic–say school related verses financial–and put it in a yellow hanging file in back of where that topic is located, so it won’t be lost but I still know it needs more work.

As long as you don’t stick everything in a TLC yellow file, having a plan for things requiring more time and effort is a life saver!

I’d love to hear from you!

Where do you put those pesky files and papers that require extra attention?

-Tabitha

 

File Color Coding as a Vacuum

When I use color coding to organize my files I keep it very simple! I get very overwhelmed by too much visual stimulation. I buy these color hanging files and keep the actual files basic manila.

Side Note: When I’m first starting to declutter and organize files, I simply put completed to-keep files in the color I’ve assigned them. I can get more detailed when there’s more finished.

Each color I assign only holds a specific general category of file. Here are my color assignments:

Red: Anything for home-schooling my children.

Green: Anything financial (green for money) plus warranties, etc that have to do with money.

Dark Green: Important documents

Blue: Great Ideas and things to think about (blue for ‘the sky is the limit’)

Purple: Writing Projects and other creative papers

Yellow: TLCs (things that really need more attention than you can give them at this time), (yellow for ‘slows me down’)

When the kids ask me where their stickers are, I just tell them they’re in the top file drawer in a red hanging file. Color coding doesn’t just help you, it helps people access things a little easier when you have to tell someone where a file is located.

Today’s Challenge:

If you’re going to use color coding for your files, take a little time to decide which colors mean what. Remember to keep it basic so that you can easily remember.

I’d love to hear from you!

Do you color code your files? What colors mean what in your household?