TIPS FOR REDUCING PAPER CLUTTER
You can hear the audio version of this discussion on my podcast at Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast, on Apple Podcast, and many other platforms!
THE PROBLEM WITH PAPER
Paper can sometimes be difficult to keep organized because it doesn’t stop coming in! Every day more mail comes, doctors send you home with papers, if you have kids they come home with papers, if you go to a seminar you come home with tons of papers, and so on. So, it’s important to have a good system to keep paper organized. When you have papers in a visible space that need to be dealt with, it doesn’t make you feel good. Every time you see them sitting there, it’s like they are saying “hello you need to deal with these papers!” That’s why I wanted to go through some tips on how to keep paper under control.
Since we all pretty much get mail every day, this is the most important one to keep on top of. I find that if the mail gets placed down on the counter, it has a much greater chance of sitting there for a while. For me, most of the time 90%, if not all, of the mail is junk. So, try to walk in with the mail straight to the garbage can and sort out and throw away the junk immediately.
Keep a folder or bin or whatever you like to use to put those items you have to deal with in right then. I keep one folder for bills and things that need to be dealt with or filed. Once a week I go through the folder, pay the fills and I’m supposed to file what needs to be file. Often the “to be filed” stuff stays there until the folder is getting too stuffed!
MAGAZINES & CATALOGS
Make sure to go through them regularly, and get rid of the old ones. By having one central location to keep these, it makes it easier to just periodically sit down and go through them occasionally.
PAPERS NEEDED FOR SHORT-TERM
Do not file papers you will only need for the short term. Have a place to stick things like receipts you might be holding on to in case you need to return something. If are holding on to papers that contain info for an upcoming event. Consider if you can enter the details of the event in your phone calendar, take a picture of the flyer if needed, and toss the original. Sometimes things can go into our filing cabinet and never come out, so it’s important to only put papers in there that you really need to keep.
Consider if something can be scanned or saved as a photo instead. For example, car maintenance receipts, home maintenance receipts, etc. These can be scanned in or saved to your computer as pictures. It’s a good idea at least once a year to sit and sort through the files. If you have a lot of files maybe do a section of them here and there over the course of the year.
PRODUCT MANUALS
Consider if you need to keep product manuals on file. There is a pretty good chance that if the manual is for something pretty basic, such as a basic toaster, blue tooth speaker, hairdryer, something simple like that, you are probably pretty safe not keeping the manual. Some suggest that you really don’t need to keep manuals at all, because you can pretty much always find them online.
Personally, I have found it helpful to have the original manual for things like appliances, vacuum cleaners, pool equipment, etc. It just makes it easier to know exactly what you have when you need some info related to the product. Manuals can easily accumulate over time, so it’s important to go through them occasionally and toss out the ones for things you no longer have.
If you do choose to go the route of tossing manuals, a good idea is to keep an electronic list that includes the date of purchase, where purchased, model number, and any other key info related to the product. That way if you do need to look up the manual online in the future, you will not need to be guessing which model you have.
OTHER TIPS
Go through your take-out menus, make sure there is only one menu from each restaurant. Get rid of the ones you kept because you thought you might order from one day. All menus are online anyway!
When possible have receipts emailed to you. I don’t get why TJ Maxx offers print, or print/email. Why not email only? Either way, by having print & email, you can toss the paper one.
When filing an updated document, grab the old one and toss it while you are there. For example, insurance documents. It can be easy to go file away the new policy and leave the old ones there. Take an extra 5 seconds and grab the old policy to toss out while you are there.
Consider signing up for electronic delivery of your bills. While I do pay all of my bills electronically, I have been worried about missing an electronic notification for when a bill is due. However, I read a tip for this which I thought was a good idea. Set up a spreadsheet or similar document listing each bill that you have signed up for electronic delivery. Include the typical due date, and any login info so that you can access the bill if you missed the notification. Consider signing up for electronic statements with your bank too if you have not already done so.
Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!
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