Get Real about the Paper Problem
Right now, somewhere, someone you’ve never met is sitting in some corporate office planning to mail you something next week—a catalog, a brochure, a special offer letter. The person planning this mailing is not a bad person; they’re just doing their job.
Actually, more likely right now there are twenty people at twenty companies planning to mail you a total of twenty separate items next week.
If you spend just three minutes leafing through each of twenty direct mail offers and catalogs, that’s one hour of your week that you will have surrendered to strangers!
Now, if you spend the three minutes reading the letter or the catalog and then you take the next step and save that piece of mail because maybe you’ll donate to that cause, or maybe you’ll order from that catalog. Add three minutes more per item for filing, stacking, cleaning around, restacking . . .
Think about it: When you hang onto a piece of mail, you’ve committed at least three minutes of your future time to managing it, whether it’s organized or disorganized. You’ve agreed to take time away from your family, your friends, your job, your community—whatever you really want to be doing—to fool with the written demands of perfect strangers.
How many hours of your life would you like to take back? That depends on how many pieces of mail you can throw away without opening.
Kate S. Brown
Transition Homemakers
Annapolis, Maryland
www.transitionhomemakers.com
Handling Paper (Ugh!)
A group of library scientists in the 1990s concluded that the total stockpile of information in the world doubled every seven or eight years. A more recent study at the University of California at Berkeley found that in just one year, between 2000 and 2001, the total information in the world doubled.
Obviously, there is no dearth of information in the world. In fact we are drowning in it. This is the information age, and this impacts our desks, offices, and homes, because much of the information ends up in these places in the form of papers that someone sends to us, we print, or we buy.
There are three main reasons we tend to keep too much information:
Face your fears by setting up a system that works for you, asking for outside help if that is possible, and generally tackling the task of handling the papers of your life.
For some who use their computers easily, electronic filing systems may quell a lot of fear of losing papers. Software programs use a Find or Search as part of the system to hone in on the information you are looking for. Check out Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger software. Their promise is “the only guaranteed way to find anything in your home or office in five seconds or less!” Or look into Smead’s Arrange software, which encourages us to “find any document in your office with one easy search” and “you’ll never lose another file!” Other products of this type will undoubtedly begin entering the marketplace in the future.
You may have to take some time to put the info about your papers into the system, but once it is there, you will be able to find in a jiffy the things you had forgotten you had. A powerful tool!
Is this the Bare Bones Way? As with a few other Bare Bones methods, it may take some time to learn how to use this tool, but once you learn it, your life is greatly simplified.
What Do You Want?
Look at the following reasons people want to improve their handling of paper. Which is most important to you?
How important are these three things to you? Circle the number for each item below.
Once you clearly focus on the benefit you want to achieve, you will work with a stronger resolve to get the job done to your satisfaction.
The Bare Bones Way
Paper problems take many forms. In this chapter we will cover several of them:
bills
receipts
files
banking papers
business cards
greeting cards
news clippings
junk mail
notes to yourself
magazines, newspapers, and other subscriptions
appliance manuals
tax papers
school papers
Bills
For most people the highest peak in the paper mountain range in terms of importance is the bills to be paid. For that reason, bills need their own special spot—a drawer, box, cupboard, or some other place. If you designate an easily accessed spot with a container, preferably labeled, from which the bills cannot escape when you are not looking, you will have created the biggest bone, the femur, of the Bare Bones Way.
Then you need a system for keeping up with paying them on time. There are several ways to do this. Put a sticky note on the front of the bill with the due date, write the date on the envelope, obtain a divided day-by-day calendar folder into which the bills go on the day they should be paid, or highlight the due date with a marker when the bill comes in. Perhaps you will develop another system or just shuffle through them on a regular basis to see what needs to be paid.
Make up a simple bookkeeping system in a ledger for keeping track of each regular bill as it arrives monthly (quarterly, or whenever). Somehow, when bills are written down side by side in a systematic way, it’s easier to see where the money goes and it is eye-opening.
Another method of paying bills, which many swear by, is online bill paying. You still need to keep up with what is due and when, but it simplifies the mechanics of paying them.
IN THE TRENCHES WITH SMART HOMEMAKERS
From Mary:
I keep my ledger on my computer. I have a template that includes all the regular bills and due dates. At the beginnning of each month I make any necessary changes and additions and print it out. Then it’s a handy reference for bill paying on time.
From Karen:
It is pretty important for the bills to have their own place, especially when you bring the mail in. Just place them in there. Include the bills, a pen, stamps, and extra envelopes.
Bills Basket:
I am single and own a home. I have 1 cat (had 2 but one passed on this spring). I used to have a very difficult time finding my bills. I finally got a very nice basket that sits on my computer and holds the bills. Nothing else goes in there. When I get my mail, I open it in front of the shredder. Things I don’t want are shredded immediately (I love my shredder, and need to get a new one sometime since this one is wearing out after a year or two of heavy work). Bills go in the basket immediately. Now, I admit, I often forget to pay the bill because I get busy with other things but at least I know where the bill is when I do get around to paying it. For me this is an advancement. I used to dump things into Mt Vesuvius boxes and they’d get lost/buried for ages. I managed to pay off a credit card once because it got buried for a year and a half so I couldn’t use it.
Slow Bill Paying Solution:
I had a bill paying problem. Money in the bank and just never sat down long enough to write out the checks. Another problem was that if I did them on the dining room table the cats would bother me and make a mess. So I decided to try online bill payment with my checking account. As the bills come in, I try to schedule the payments right away. I can schedule them to be paid by the due date, mark them in my check register and file the paid statement in the bill hanging file. The trick is to do them as they come in.
Prompt Bill Paying and Credit Rating
Paying “in a timely fashion,” as they say, is important to your credit rating. Those who have a good track record pay three or more percentage points lower on mortgages. Credit scoring is used to determine what you pay for insurance and may affect your chances for employment. Most lenders consider a score of 620 to be the lowest acceptable score. Check your credit rating score and note whether there are any errors that need to be corrected. Then set up and use a system to pay your bills promptly, which will raise your score.
Not having money is one thing. Having money and not paying your bills on time is quite another that needs organizational attention. Some payments, such as for insurance or mortgages, can be debited each month automatically from your bank account. Paytrust (www .paytrust.com) is a bill-paying service offered through your bank that can simplify your bill paying. It actually receives your paper bills and then emails you an electronic version. You then authorize payment by a click of your mouse. At the end of the year you can purchase a CD with a summary of your transactions in categories. This system cuts down on paper, saves time, and gives you peace of mind that your bills are being paid. The cost is from five to fifteen dollars per month. For some people it is a way of doing less and getting more—a definite Bare Bones concept.
You can check your credit with the three major credit repositories. It’s a good idea to check all three, because they may differ.
Check www.myfico.com for a merged report.
Tips
Receipts
Receipts fall into two categories, those that come with purchases we make and those from bills.
RECEIPTS FROM STORE PURCHASES
Often store receipts go astray right in the store because they are stuck in the bag, a pocket, or somewhere in your purse. To avoid that problem, consistently follow this system of keeping store receipts.
IN THE TRENCHES WITH SMART HOMEMAKERS
From Sue:
I buy & return items often . . . usually I’m returning items because we’re needing the money. . . . but, I can never find my receipts (what a wonder!) & so I always feel embarrassed returning. It’s usually at Wal-Mart. They will refund your money up to $9.00 without a receipt, so I just make sure I don’t have more than $9 worth of stuff to return, or they will give you a gift card if it’s more than $9, which is fine because I’ll use it to buy groceries.
What I hate is buying an expensive item. Something is wrong with it & I can’t find my receipt. I really need to start putting receipts in a central location so I can keep up with them.
RECEIPTS FROM BILLS
When you pay a bill, make a note of the date on the part you keep, which is your receipt. Stack these receipts in the same shoe box you use for the other receipts. At the beginning of each month, add a sheet of paper that indicates the month and year. Now your receipts, which you will not likely ever need again (but fear tells you that you may), are reasonably accessible without a lot of effort on your part.
IN THE TRENCHES WITH SMART HOMEMAKERS
From Shirley:
I have to keep almost all our receipts for hubby’s business. I just have a sheet I write them out on (one sheet for each month) divided into categories. Then I just throw all the receipts I’ve recorded into manila envelopes and clip the paper to the front. Anything like warranties and such goes right in that envelope along with the receipts. When I need a warranty, I just look on the sheet to find out what month we got it, dig through that envelope until I find it. Maybe something like that would work for you? I tried to keep this as simple as I could for myself because I don’t like messing around with all these receipts and know I’d put it off till tax day otherwise. We have a lunch bag type cooler that we shove all receipts into until I can get them on the sheets and filed in the envelopes. Lately the cooler has been winning and is overstuffed with receipts, but at least they’re all in one place and I can find them if I need them. When hubby needs a receipt or warranty on something he’s got on the tow truck, he needs it ASAP or we’re losing money. This works well for us.
Files
Ah, here is the tricky part, the part we dread. We don’t enjoy opening those file drawers and sticking pages into manila folders. For most of us, it is boring. It is unpleasant. It is scary. It is at this point that the fear mentioned above kicks in. We wonder whether the important piece of paper will ever be found again if it goes into the dark cave of filedom.
As in all organizing, the process begins with categorizing. There are many ways of doing this, most of which work quite well if they make sense to you. The following are the groupings suggested by Marsha Sims of Sort-It-Out.
Papers we want to keep fall into two groups: Action and Reference.
ACTION
Papers that are temporary, reminding us of things we need to do, are action papers. These include invitations, tickets, reminders from the doctor for a checkup, and the like. Place them in folders that are within reach and store them standing up, perhaps in a small desktop file container available from office supply stores. Some people call this their hot file because it contains items for use in the near future.
Indicate what action is required by writing on a sticky note with the sticky part turned to the bottom. Attach the note to the tab of the folder as a sort of temporary file label. Begin with a verb like, Call Doctor or Go to Wedding. When the action is complete, remove the sticky note and discard the materials.
Don’t put these papers in a storage filing cabinet drawer unless you have no other place. If you do put them in a file drawer, place the action file in the front of an easily reached drawer.
REFERENCE
Papers we want to keep or store for future use are reference papers. All of the file tabs will begin with a noun, unlike the tabs in the action file, which begin with a verb.
Group your reference papers in the following categories below:
IN THE TRENCHES WITH SMART HOMEMAKERS
From Carolyne:
I use file cabinets to keep up with my things. They’re not very expensive. Wal-Mart, and lots of other places, sell them. For me, they’re a good investment in saved time and energy and peace of mind. I have a big problem with papers. The main one is that I don’t like to file. :) So I try to make it as easy as possible. Here are a few ideas that are working for me.
I have a 2 drawer file next to the computer, and another 2 drawer file in a spare bedroom closet.
The first file in the top drawer is for receipts. I can just drop them straight into the file folder, and since it’s so accessible, I actually do it. So if I need to return something, the receipt is easy to find. (Which beats my previous system of turning the house upside down, searching for receipts. :)
The second file is local restaurant menus. When I go into town, I can just pull out a menu, call ahead, and save time by picking up food that’s ready to go. The file cabinet is right next to the phone, so it’s easy to just drop the menu right back into the file.
Financial information—the budget/bills, current living expenses, bank statements, credit card information, savings and debt, insurance, etc., is next, in the top drawer, so that it’s easy to get to. Automobile is behind that, then things are alphabetized from there.
At the end of the fiscal year, I take out the financial folders and rotate them to top drawer of the bedroom filing cabinet, and set up new file folders for the new year.
On balancing the checkbook, I usually try to do that the day the checks come in, so it only takes a few minutes, and I don’t have to sweat checks bouncing, and those nasty fees. I try to write as few checks as possible, too, which also makes the checking account easier to balance.
I hope this helps someone.
An Alternative View:
I have had filing cabinets coming out my ears (I had a 4 drawer and DD had a 3 drawer). But they never worked for me—it took concentrated time to keep it together.
What has worked though is a concertina file (sometimes called an accordion file) for each member of the family, and one for the “Family” items, and one for the “House” items. I find them easy to use and easy to find things in—and most important, small enough that it is only a little job to go through each year and sort out the paperwork in a short session.
But for on-going stuff, I have beside my desk a pile of letter-sized cardboard envelopes—sort of like manila files with a flap over the top. They have written in big writing along the edge what they hold—bank statements, receipts, medical, bills to pay, etc. And when I am organized, everything gets sorted into that. At the end of the year or 6 months, or as the mood strikes, I sort these into the concertina files. The worst part of the system is the pile that accumulates before putting them in the folders.
The paper fear is a big one to calm. I guess one of the most important things I have learned is if you really do not need it— shred it or throw it out.
Banking
Concerning your bank account, I have one wonderful word for you: Quicken. I could never balance my checkbook before I got the Quicken program for my computer. Now it takes me about three minutes to reconcile my bank statement. I couldn’t live without it now. To “start over” with your account, just don’t use it for a couple of weeks till every transaction clears, then use the balance the bank says you have. I can’t live without duplicate checks either, especially since I don’t carry a check register anymore. Online banking simplifies keeping up with banking with or without Quicken or any other banking software system.
Business Cards
It’s amazing how many business cards we collect, even if we’re stay-at-home moms. Everyone from the telephone repairman to our hairstylist has a business card.
Rolodex files and those of that type are designed to hold business cards alphabetically. Or some people use the computer software called ACT to store all of their business card information. Others scan the cards into the computer. Almost any system is better than the huge random pile with a rubber band around it, or worse yet, with no rubber band.
IN THE TRENCHES WITH SMART HOMEMAKERS
From Aleen:
I have a small album specifically for business cards that I got from an office supply store. Each page has room for 4 business cards (8 if you put them back to back), which go into clear plastic sleeves like a photo album.
I have a page that contains cards for the doctors I go to, one for the vets for my cats, a page with cards for the plumber, electrician, furnace people and cable company, about 3 cards from our favorite restaurants so we can make reservations or call up for delivery. I even have my sisters’ business cards from where they work so I can call them during working hours if necessary, and one with my boss’ work phone, home phone, and cell phone number if I need to call in.
It sits right next to my telephone and has been quite handy. I add updated or new cards as I get them and very seldom do I lack for an important phone number. If I don’t have a card, I cut out a card-sized piece of paper and just write down the information. I like the business cards better than just writing the addresses and phone numbers in an address book because they often list office/open hours, email addresses, and websites.
Greeting Cards
Buy cards for special occasions, either boxed or individually. If they are individually bought, separate them into groups such as get well, birthday, sympathy. Nothing is worse than watching an occasion go by unacknowledged because you didn’t have time to purchase a card.
Remember, this organization thing is so you can live your best life. That includes warm relationships with those you care for.
Newspaper Clippings
Cutting out clippings from newspapers and magazines and sending them to friends seems like such a good idea on the face of it. It is sharing knowledge, and knowledge is always good. Right? It is helping others because some of these clippings are very useful. That’s good, right? And perhaps, best of all, it is keeping up personal contacts. When you clip an article and send it to someone, it shows you are thinking about the person in a meaningful way. It shows you care. Isn’t that very good?
Consider the whole picture. Sharing important information, helping others, and keeping up personal contacts are all wonderful goals when done in the right way. However, the habit of constantly clipping and sending articles can become a bad habit for us to develop.
We are forced to keep and feel guilty about magazines we don’t read because of this habit. The pressure to find the right articles, to get them in the mail, perhaps even to file them in case we find someone in need later causes a lot of stress. The space this habit takes up in our house is not as bad as the space it takes up in our heads. The desire to help others in this way can become a very heavy weight.
If you have fallen into the habit of clipping articles, think about whether it is really good for your organizational life. Maybe the first step is to ditch those magazines and newspapers you are saving to go through.
Junk Mail
The best way to solve paper problems is to avoid getting it in the first place. To stop unwanted mail advertising, write the Direct Marketing Association, asking them to remove your name from their direct mailing lists. Within three months 70 percent of the nation’s direct marketers will remove your name from their lists, stopping unsolicited mail. Simply send your name, address, and signature with the sentence: “Please remove my name from all solicitation mailing lists.” Mail to: Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008.
You can also access this service to withdraw and find out more about direct mail by using the web address of the Direct Marketing Association: www.dmaconsumers .org/cgi/offmailinglistdave.
The best comprehensive site I have found is netjunk .com/users/unpretentious/junkmail.html. It contains several more addresses for deletions that are not covered by the address above.
Credit card solicitations are particularly problematic junk mail because we worry that the offer will fall into the hands of someone who will sign up for a credit card in our name. Solicitation for credit cards can be stopped by calling the automated opt out request line, which is 888-5OPT-OUT. I did it and it worked great for me.
You can also get in touch with the individual credit reporting agencies that were listed earlier, asking them to delete your name from credit card solicitation lists. Notice that the phone numbers for stopping unwanted mail are different than those for checking credit.
Equifax Options
Equifax Marketing Decision Systems, Inc.
Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374
800-556-4711
Experian (formerly TRW)
Target Marketing Services Division
Attn.: Consumer Opt-Out
P.O. Box 919
Allen, TX 75013
800-353-0809
Trans Union Corporation
Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 7245
Fullerton, CA 92637
800-680-7293
(By the way, to stop unsolicited phone sales calls, call 888-382-1222. This is the do-not-call line.)
Notes and Reminders
Disorganized people seem to make a lot of random notes using little slips of paper, envelopes, paper napkins, whatever, which get misplaced easily. On the other hand, organized people have a systematic note-keeping system to remember random information, what they want to buy, where they need to go, and so on.
Here are some ideas on how to be more organized with notes and reminders:
Subscriptions
Magazines you have subscribed to but haven’t finished reading yet, whether personal or professional, are a great source of stress. They keep piling up. Apparently you don’t feel that they are worth your time to read, so you need to discard them.
Here’s how:
There is no law that says you must take subscriptions of any magazines or newspapers. If you stop your subscriptions, will you really suffer significant loss? Or will their absence be beneficial to you once you get over the shock of not having them around?
Appliance Manuals
You will find appliance manuals in various places as you organize. What will you do with them? There are several ways to keep appliance manuals.
UNDER THE APPLIANCE
One of the best things I have ever done organizationally is to place the manuals under appropriate appliances, especially those that require frequent reference to directions, such as a sewing machine, computer, printer, fax machine, VCR, any appliance that sits on a table, desk, countertop, or the like. All such appliance manuals may be needed for technical assistance.
FILE FOLDER(S)
Storing the manual under the appliance will obviously not work well for large appliances, like stoves or refrigerators. Nor will it work for small electronics, like a handheld calculator, recorder, or CD player. For these, place the manual with the receipt in a folder. The Bare Bones Way is to place all of the guarantees or manuals in one folder.
Another good way is to have a separate folder for each room of the house. Keep all of the room files together in a file cabinet. When you buy an appliance or electronic equipment, staple the receipt to the manual, and place it in the file folder for the room in which the item is located.
The reason for putting the paperwork for appliances in a room folder, rather than in one large folder, is because it simplifies looking for the manual when you are under pressure to find the paperwork. Pressure makes us nervous and it is harder to find needed information. Putting information in smaller, clearly designated groupings makes it easier to find.
NOTEBOOK
Occasionally people use a notebook with plastic sleeves to slip manuals into. Then they label the outside of the notebook and put it on a shelf. This requires more work to set up and use but still is appealing to some.
Tax Papers
Plan for your taxes at the beginning of the year and work that plan all yearlong. Find an easily accessible place for an expandable file envelope. Label the divisions in a way that meets your needs. Write the year on it. Slam-dunk all receipts and information that you will need when you file your tax return into that envelope without fail. Get outside help for doing your income taxes when necessary and ask for the accountant’s tips on how to keep organized during the year.
Much difference of opinion exists about how long you need to keep records for legal purposes. Ask somebody whose opinion you respect. You might use as a guide that you need to keep personal tax records for three years under normal circumstances or up to six years if your income has been underreported by 25 percent. Double-check this information with an appropriate professional.
School Papers
Mothers of school-aged kids face the daily chore of handling papes the kids bring home. Such papers fall into various categories and require different methods of handling. The way to decide how to handle them is by looking at what we need them for.
Decision Time—Choose Your Top 20 Percent of Paperwork
Paper is ubiquitous. Paper problems are myriad. To begin to get your mountain of paper under control, focus on just one or two areas. This chapter has hit some of the most prevalent paper-handling problems. You may want to begin with some of these. In the list below, put a 1 beside the two areas you feel will bring you the most relief if they are changed. After you have chosen two, write beside them what you will do to begin to get this area under control. Work on accomplishing these objectives. Come back to the others, if you wish, after you have done the first two.
____ Bills. I will:
____ Receipts. I will:
____ Files and filing cabinets. I will:
____ Banking. I will:
____ Business cards. I will:
____ Greeting cards. I will:
____ News clippings. I will:
____ Junk mail. I will:
____ Notes and reminders. I will:
____ Subscriptions. I will:
____ Appliance manuals. I will:
____ Tax papers. I will:
____ School papers. I will: