Who says you shouldn’t organize your papers, bills, documents and whatnot in your own home? Why shouldn’t you? What’s so anal about wanting to know where you last Visa bills are, or to have copies of your identification cards, your marriage license, and even your work files right at your residence? To do so isn’t being obsessive-compulsive, it’s being practical.
If your papers intimidate you because you never know if you should save them or not, then you need to create a filing system. If the thought of creating a filing system for your personal papers is intimidating, then you can follow these easy steps to create one that is as individual as you are, and will keep your papers in order.
Getting Started
As with your office filing system, you can always start with a file cabinet. This does not need to be an expensive, locking, fire, and flood proof cabinet. Very few papers actually need to be kept with that type of security. Something as simple as a cardboard file cabinet will answer your immediate needs quite well.
Start by collecting all of your documents together in one place. The ones you have on the computer, on the kitchen counter, the ones hidden away under the bed, or in a closet. Make your life easier by separating out current bills, and correspondence, old tax forms, insurance policies, loans, wills, and so on.
Labeling
Label one folder for the current year then give it a second label of current bills. You will also have a folder labeled with the year, and current correspondence. Your labels can say anything that means the same thing to you. Place all your unpaid bills in the current bill’s folder and your unanswered correspondence in the current correspondence folder.
Do the same with the paid bills and answered letters. When you file the answered letters and bills, make sure that they have a copy of the answer attached, or printed on the back. Bills should have a check number, or payment date and transaction number on them. These four folders are going to be the most used. They will need to go near the front of the cabinet.
All other folders should go behind them, or in another drawer. When the year is up, all the paid bills can be left in the folder for paid bills and shuffled to another drawer, to the back. The same goes with answered correspondence.
Bills
Paid bills should be kept for one full year after they have been paid, unless they will be used in conjunction with tax paper work, in which case they should be filed with the tax paperwork at the end of the year. Correspondence should be kept for six months after a satisfactory conclusion to the reason for writing.
Insurance
Your insurance policies should be separated out into personal, home, and vehicle policies. These folders can go into storage, as you will not need to access this information unless you have a claim. These need to be kept until the policies are no longer in use.
Certificates
Your will, marriage license, divorce decrees, birth certificates, and information about bank accounts and property should be copied and kept, and a notarized copy placed in your filing system, be it in a fire proof box kept in the home, or in a safe deposit box. This is one of the few times when you will need duplicates of paperwork. The time, space and cost of having these documents in several places will save many headaches if they should be needed.
Tax Papers
You need to keep copies of tax paperwork for at least seven years, but ten would be safer. Put all your tax paperwork for each year in a folder and put it in the back, except for the current year. The current year’s folder should go behind the first four folders since you will be dropping in receipts, and other tax deductible items through out the year.
If you file incoming papers on a weekly basis you will keep your file system up to date and organized. Make a note on your calendar to go through the files and eliminate any unneeded papers once a year, usually around tax time is a good idea. Now you no longer need to be alarmed by your filing system, it is organized, and a little bit of time each week will keep it that way.