I file pretty frequently so I didn’t really have much to do in the area of filing for the Organizing Round-Up, but I did manage to do a few things. As I worked, I took notes so that I could share with you exactly what I did, as the pictures don’t really show much of a transformation.
-First, I went through my temporary file box and processed and filed everything that was in it. I also managed to throw a few pieces of junk mail away.
-At this time I also made a new folder for tax stuff and placed it in the temporary box, so I’d have it ready for all the tax documents that get mailed to us.
-Within my file cabinet drawer, I went through all the files and threw out any old or unnecessary papers.
-I also rearranged a few folders; since I have one large file drawer instead of a few small ones, I try to keep similar/related files together, and I decided to move a few folders around to make it a little more orderly.
-And for those who may be curious, the order of the files is (from front to back): Household Bills, Bank/credit card statements, Insurances Papers & Bills, My Husband’s Student Loans, My Student Loans, Legal Documents, Tax Documents, and Misc.
-I also made a few new labels for my green hanging folders; my labelmaker broke, and I haven’t bought a new one yet, so I had to make some temporary handwritten labels, but at least now all the sections in the file cabinet have labels. And I made labels for each of the banks that we have accounts and/or credit cards with. Previously I would have 2 or 3 banks inside one hanging folder, but I decided to separate those out into separate hanging folders.
Here’s the before picture:
And Here’s The After: See? Other than a few new handwritten labels, there isn’t much of a transformation to look at. But I guess it’s the thought and action behind the pictures that really counts!
And here’s a picture from another angle. I tried to separate the folders and make spaces so that you could see all the different “sections” of files that I described above, but didn’t work out to well. (Again, it’s the thought that counts!)
Also, check out my other posts that are related to filing:
The Secret To My Success (With Filing) – The Temporary File Box
Organizing Tax Information – Part 1
Organizing Tax Information – Part 2
Join us over at Org Junkie for the Round-up!
-Jerri
I love how well you spelled this out. I need so much help with getting our files in order because it is well, chaos! Thanks for the temporary file box post, too. I think that could really help us!
Hey, at least you’re keeping up with it! I’m sure it was still a nice feeling of accomplishment; even if it isn’t obvious to others. Great job!
Looks good! 🙂
Thanks for visiting my blog! You are welcome to come organize at my house anytime you want. The state of my filing cabinet would probably scare you away though :s
Your welcome “It feels like Chaos.” I hope you can use the idea, and it can be of some help!
Carey – Yes, exactly! I knew before I started that my cabinet wouldn’t look any different, but I really wanted to particiate!
Thanks Sparkette!
KCShipe – I’ll take that as a compliment! It actually has been suggested that I start organizing for people, but I’m afraid I’d fix people’s stuff, and they’d hate it! I can hear it now, “You organized everything, and now I can’t find anything!”
Great post, even if the work isn’t obvious in the pictures. I liked your “temporary” filing box idea and have tweaked my inbox folder to incorporate more folders. The receipts folders will really help. I was just dumping it all in the “To Be Filed” folder.
Thanks for sharing.
good for you, jerri! if i ever have that much paper scattered about my house, i’ll certainly refer to this post (after thinking to myself “how did i accumulate all this stuff?”)… 🙂
Thanks for stopping by my page!! You did a great job—you made me feel better–knowing that there are others out there who just “tweaked” their file system as oppossed to doing an entire overhaul.
Anyway, I love your ideas!!
Thanks for visiting my page!
You did a great job–I like all your ideas. It’s nice to know there are others who just had to “tweak” their file system as opposed to doing an entire overhaul from scratch.
Looks great!
As long as YOU can tell the difference, that’s all that matters. Great job!
Wow! You did a great job! I totally need to organize my files!
Sounds like you’ve got a great system that works very well for you. Awesome!
Thanks for participating 🙂
Laura