If you are like me, you haven’t gone completely paperless in your home. It seems at times that I am overrun with paper. As soon as I get rid of a stack, a new one forms in it’s place. It a never ending cycle and for some of us, we aren’t sure how to deal with it.
Whether it is the endless junk mail that appears in your mailbox each day, or the school papers ad announcements and other vital paperwork you have lying around, odds are you have more paper than you know what to do with. While you may be feeling like there is not an end in sight, there are some key tips that can help you tackle the paper clutter once and for all.
Just say no to junk mail. Between the store catalogs, credit card offers and other useless paper that shows up in your mailbox each day, odds are you receive more useless junk than actual mail. To cut down on the paper spam, opt out of receiving catalogs and credit card offers.
A popular site that exists is stopthejunkmail.com. This site allows you to opt out of receiving credit card offers. Catalogs can be handled in a similar fashion. All you need to do is a quick internet search for “opt out of catalogs”. Whether you chose one option or both, they will help you drastically cut down on the amount of junk mail you receive, leaving you with less to deal with on a daily basis.
Sort and categorize important documents. Depending on the type of paperwork you have, you will want to sort them into like categories. Bills in one, bank statements in another, school papers in another until you have everything categorized. From there you will need to determine what paperwork needs to be kept and what should be trashed.
Keep in mind anything with your personal information on it should be shredded to avoid the possibility of identity theft. User guides should only be kept if you still have the item and it is still in good working order. However, some user manuals are available online.
File documents in their proper locations. Important documents should be stored in a safe, fire-resistant location. Other documents like user guides and other financial information should be stored in a central location that is easy to get to and sort through when needed. Filing cabinets work best for financial papers because you can allocate a folder for each type of bill and can sort through them when needed. I store user guides in a 3″ binder and place each guide in a sheet protector. All of my user guides are kept in one place and can be easily accessible when you need it.
Do you have any tips to tackling paper clutter? Comment below and let us know your secret.