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Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:21 pm
by Harriet
Ever feel like you're gonna be in monster-sized trouble because you didn't TAME all that PAPER ?

THIS could be you....

Yipes! And just think of all the variations ...

Mailbox dailies
Thank you notes
Bill paying
Financial plan
A clear desk?
Refrigerator art
Magazines
Office supplies
Greeting cards to send
Greeting cards received
A filing system?
Medical records
Catalogs
Stash 'n Dash recovery!
:shock:

(breathe)

That list could go on and on. Better take charge. Get the chair, put on the pith helmet! But most of all, you need some friends who are in this PaperTaming thing with you, so post here for accountability and encouragement.

The days prior to and including April are a helpful time to get caught up on papertaming. For those of us in the U.S. and Canada, there's the specific reason of April tax deadlines. :shock: We can save ourselves a lot of stress if we gather and organize as info comes in, and get finished with that paperwork early.

Please post here any tips and ideas to help others, any recommendations of supplies or storage that have helped you. Feel free to ask questions about how long others keep documents, how they consolidate storage, how they keep on top of complicated tasks, ways to simplify correspondence, what to do when the children's coloring book pages look like more fun than the tax forms and you consider switching - whatever advice will help you!

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:47 pm
by Harmony
And the bad news is: MY deadline is March 15th. With other deadlines hitting January 30, unless I want to get fined for not getting things like W2's and 1099's in the mail before then. And in our case, we have at least 1 employee who desperately needs to do his taxes and get his refund, so I consider it a kindness to get my stuff out as quickly as I can......

By April, all my files need purged or my stack of papers for 2013 is too big to fit in the space I keep it. And in the end it all boils down to one red-rope accordion file with about 6 file folders inside given to the cpa and 1 milk crate of organized receipts in the closet. Amazing.

I have 1 large kitchen-size wastebasket in the office of papers I've thrown out in the process. Probably 3/4 of another by my other desk. Oh, and the shredder bin is full again.

It would be nice if at the end of this rush I had a day when I could say, I'm done, and take a day off. But sadly, one year slides into the next and I'll be busy getting things going for another year. Personal stuff is easy for me, I have folders set up already and as stuff happens that's relevant, I copy and file in appropriate place, and it's all ready for taxes. It's our company which causes me this much work.

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:52 am
by Harmony
I wonder how everybody is coming with their tax paperwork. I was curious how things were going with mine, and just about the time I was thinking about it, the CPA called.

Apparently the changes the gov't made caused some of the forms to be late in coming out. Some are coming out only March 1st and a couple of these late ones are needed for our return. So, even though he knows the bottom line, it won't be ready till then.

Which is ok, we still meet our deadline. We have to pay $15 this year! It would have been lots more but we had a rollover to take care of the rest. The good news is 2011's unfinished stuff rolled over to 2012 and 2012 stuff added was good...finally crawled up out of this economic mess we've been in. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Presently I a piles of stuff needing filed, 2012 file cabinets still need purged, 2013 not yet filed is stacking up; it's a stack here, a stack there, in several places. I guess I could do some of this, but still can't do all because 1 audit is late this year.

How is everybody else doing?

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:58 am
by ellyphant
I'm pleased with all the shredding and recycling of paper that was accomplished here yesterday. Today I will balance some accounts and put the tax info in a big envelope for Dh. Then we will be ready for T urbotax! Dh does out taxes and Dd's. Ds manages his own, thank goodness!

Onward and upward!!

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:01 pm
by Nancy
So Chester {the squirrel} decided that bil's box labeled "2011 tax records" that was stored in the garage would be a good nest, and he set to work energetically shredding said records. Here's hoping there are no audits in our future!


My sil wrote on her fb today! Chester is an outside squirrel they've been feeding in their yard possibly hand raised as bil is a vet. This would be one advantage of doing this on the p/c with a scanner!

I'm going to try to tackle more of the paper work and piles on the dining room table today.

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:22 pm
by ellyphant
Oh no, NANCY!! We have plenty of squirrels here. I would never feed them...they don't need any encouragement and can be a real nuisance. :)

Re: Paper-Tamers' Challenge - Tame by April, 2013

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 5:06 pm
by Harriet
Our neighbor had a hand-raised squirrel when I was young - what a little charmer. My dmom never liked anyone to squirrel-hunt too near the house because she felt like she "knew" the ones she saw often. In reality, of course, they are full of fleas, yipes. What a great story, well told by your sister, Nancy!

It is the last day of February and no, I do not know where I am on taxes. Have got to get that act together. Often so simple, yet put off because other deadlines loom.

I have avoided several free or greatly discounted magazine subscriptions lately because I just can't handle any more paper and stacks.

I'm doing well lately handling the mail immediately.

Birthday cards are going out in more timely fashion now that I have a wall calendar right beside my desk. I don't write them on the bday. I write them on the day or two before, "mail Mary's bday card".

I did some organizing of medical records. HRH wants to make himself a mini-spreadsheet of his various bloodwork over the years, to track and make sure he's improving all he time. He has that file, so I need to be sure to get it back from him when he's done.