Paper Tamers' Mid-Year Tidy and Challenges!

[Harriet]

Please join us here in this thread as we tackle the paper, in its many forms, that can clog or clutter our efficient homes, so that we can simplify our lives. Take-charge attitudes in the early part of the year helped us organize lots of paperwork projects, so let's continue!

Today we especially hope those of us in the US are satisfied with our up-until-tax-deadline 2009 financial-paperwork lives. On this day we can be pleased Twins Mom will be able to post more often, and also send out some good vibes to Gretchen, whom we haven't seen in much too long - also a financial/tax pro in payroll life.

So let's start a mid-year "tidy" together - let's get suspicious of all that paper!

[Harriet]

I have started a file of items my parents are paying for that I'm not satisfied are frugal. I'll be asking dh to look over them - their phone with its suspicious new monthly charge, their satellite that seems a little high, and some odd $5 and $10 charges that are showing up monthly on their card statement. He is really good at questioning bills. He recently went over ours and unearthed $350 of overcharges that had been happening little by little for a long time, especially on our hard-to-understand phone bill. He was able to get them retroactively credited to us.

A product that's helped me lately - Post-it flags in a slim clear sleeve. Dh and I have been doing a lot of tandem research lately on healthy ideas and recipes, and it helps to be able to flag a page to point out.

Activity that's helped lately - having a file for the copy shop that I can grab on the way to errands. I've been consolidating my dad's business paperwork and that's come in very handy.

[Smile*Lee]

$350! That made my eyebrows arch. I'm going to start looking through my bills too.

I did another round of decluttering in the office and found a couple of things I've been looking for since the first of the year - Leopard, a Mac OS and Office for Macs. I had crashed my old mac laptop and had a new hard drive put in it for a couple of hundred dollars to make it useable for ds18. (cheaper than a new one) It didn't occur to me that it would come back with the old Panther OS. Ds will be thrilled!

I caught up on a bunch of filing.

One thing I need to do by the end of May is to get ds' high school transcript together.

Harriet ~ thanks for a place to be accountable.

[DeeClutter]

Really like this challenge, Harriet, since a lot of my RV 'mess' is paper, paper, paper! I have started spending 15 minutes a day filing a box full of Church papers I have. Once they're all filed maybe I can get them stored at the church instead of my place. That would be good. Have a feeling there may be a lot more at home. I am determined to get that done and outta here by September. (Unfortunately since I started the 15 minutes I only have done Wednesday -never got there yesterday- so can I really say I've spent 15/day?) That will be on my agenda for today however. I found I got an amazing amount done in 15 though!

He is really good at questioning bills. He recently went over ours and unearthed $350 of overcharges that had been happening little by little for a long time, especially on our hard-to-understand phone bill. He was able to get them retroactively credited to us.

Good for HRH! I really need to be more cognizant of what's happening with ours -especially since most things are paid automatically. Just an easier 'do' for us since we move back and forth.

I probably have more notebooks than we'll ever need for the rest of our lives. Need to consolidate those as part of my paper challenge too.

[DeeClutter]

so can I really say I've spent 15/day?) That will be on my agenda for today however. I found I got an amazing amount done in 15 though!

AHA! I did it -I spent today's 15 minutes and then I set the timer for another 15 to make up for yesterday. So now I'm caught up thus far for the week. I can really see that 15 minutes a day will get it done -and probably a whole lot sooner than I think. And definitely sooner than if I tried to do it all at once (or only made stabs it) . Too easy to give up on it.

[Motivated1]

This is the PERFECT place for me right now.

I am right in the middle of a huge paperwork project. Here's what that looks like:

Let your papers pile up all over your house for the last six months.
WA-LA! Impressive-huh?
Then-make a Staples run. Buy a plastic filing box with a lid. Sit on the bed with a movie playing in the background and make files.
Hope that someone will come along and do this with me

[Motivated1]

I couldn't sleep I was so excited to start my day
I actually am looking forward to getting everything sorted and filed. Two of my girls spent three days categorizing into boxes the stuff in my schoolroom. Yes-it was a disaster! Summer is when I get organized because the rest of the year things tend to get piled in corners as I am trying to concentrate on homeschool.
Off to do my morning routine!

[Harriet]

Filing that's falling behind here right now is my parents' medical stuff. It is an amazing array! And I fear that, like Motivated's it is all over the place. This is because it comes in in different ways! Mail, from appts, from trips over to declutter at my parents' house, from my filing-cabinet of a tote bag! Also it may possibly be multiplying independently. At this point, what I need to do is just gather it from everywhere and get ready to have a middle-of-the-bed file filling session, too.

[Motivated1]

Hi Harriet!

This whole day got away from me. It was one of those days where I ender up doing just about everything other than my plan
I'll try again tomorrow.

[Harriet]

Well, here everything is gathered at least! Everyone's bill paying is organized. Stamps purchased, come to think of it. But the medical filing for my parents is still going to take a lot of time further. HRH and I shopped some portable files but did not purchase - I really need to get farther along before I decide whether more purchases are necessary and exactly what I need.