How to organize paperwork: a home filing system that works

There are many areas of your home where you can focus on decluttering. One area that is often overlooked is filing paperwork! If you do not have a system in place to manage the seemingly endless stream of papers that come into your home daily, this can quickly become an overwhelming and daunting task. That is why organizing paperwork should be near the top of your home management list! Getting a handle on paper clutter is one key step in making your home look and feel more organized.

I have found that the best way to organize paperwork for me was to create a system that was easy to implement and easy to use. If it is too difficult or too complicated, you can say good-bye to your system as you will not be able to keep up with it. Fortunately, after your system is in place, you can keep from being overwhelmed by paperwork with maintenance of only 10 minutes per day. Here are some easy steps to follow to file all of the paperwork in your home. *Side Note: You can do this!!!!!!

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Steps to Creating a home filing system:

1. Gather All Paperwork
2. Sort Your Paperwork
3. Get Supplies
4. File and Label
5. Shred/Recycle
6. Maintain Your System (10 minutes a day)

Step One: Gather All Paperwork –

This step is very important. I have moved quite a bit in my life. After each move, I found that I was finding spots to put some papers, but then I kept putting other papers in random spots just because I had so many other things to deal with. This was mistake #1 out of about 500 or so that I have made over the years.

So, to get started, gather all of your paperwork and put it in one area of your home where you can get to work. Gather papers from your bedroom, the kid’s room, the garage, etc. Once you have gathered all of your papers, it is time to move on to the next step.

Step Two: Sort Your Paperwork

Now that everything is in one spot, it is time to sort. I have created categories for papers that have served me well. Hopefully they can work wonders for you also. These are:

• Active – Papers that need my attention within the month – bills, permission slips, etc. These papers are front and center in my Home Management Binder.
• Semi-Active – Papers that I access regularly – Home Maintenance (to do lists, resources, ideas), Family, School and Activity Information (schedules, contact info etc.), Finances (bills to pay, monthly budget etc., These papers I have in different sections of my Home Management Binder.
• Semi-Active – Coupons, receipts, home warranty information and instruction manuals. I keep these in accordion style files and envelopes.
• Filed, easy to access – Papers that I need, but don’t access often – Automotive Records, Medical Records, Veterinary Records, Bank Information, Tax Information, etc. These papers I keep in a filing drawer.
• Long-Term – Papers that are important to save but are rarely accessed – Taxes from prior years, court documents, home purchase documents. These papers I keep in clear plastic tote file boxes.
• Sentimental Papers – Kid’s artwork and school papers, cards, mementos from trips. These papers I also keep in clear plastic tote file boxes.

Organizing paperwork with Binders: Active and Semi-Active Papers –

Papers that need my attention within the month I always keep in my home management binder. This binder is my go-to organizing bible, and I am able to keep track of everything that is time sensitive here. I love that everything is in one place also. You can read about my obsession with home binders here:

Papers that I access regularly (but are not time sensitive) I also keep in this binder. Using a home management binder makes it easy to take pages in and out as needed. Also, everything is in one spot, divided by page dividers, and labeled clearly so anything that needs to be found can be done so easily.

Here are the current sections in my binder –

• Calendar – Monthly and weekly planners, birthday and special occasion lists
• To Do Lists – Daily to do list, goals list, high priority items that need attention
• Meal Planning – Grocery lists and meal planning, family favorite meals list, kitchen inventories, current recipes
• Family/ School Information – Emergency numbers and important numbers, school and sport schedules, teacher contact information, report card/grade information, volunteer information
• Home Maintenance – Cleaning schedules, home service and utility information, seasonal cleaning schedules and seasonal maintenance
• Home Budget – Current month finances, bill payment checklist, yearly budget tracker
• Miscellaneous – Gift lists, books to read, party planning for current month

It is safe to say I am obsessed with my Home Management Binder. I have even started creating functional and fun printable designs in my Etsy shop if you would like your very own. Here is the link:

For things I need to possibly take on the go or move around the house, I use accordion style file folders. I keep my receipts and coupons in small envelope styled folders. My home warranties and instruction manuals I keep in a larger file folder so that I can move it around the house as necessary.

Organizing Easy to Access Papers with Categories-

To organize papers that I need to keep, but don’t access regularly, I use a small filing drawer in my desk. Here are the filing categories I have found cover everything not mentioned above:

• Automotive Information – Car Information, Maintenance Receipts, Warranty Information
• Automotive Insurance
• Bank Information – I do not keep any statements as these are all on-line at my banking institutions. Here I keep important account information (but not passwords)
• Christmas – Activities, baking, gift lists, recipes, menus,
• Finances – Net worth documents, previous monthly budget reports (current month is in my home management binder), investments and 401K information
• Health Insurance – Extra copies of insurance cards, claims, co-pay inofrmation
• Healthcare – Doctor’s visits, Rx Information, Dental, Vision Information
• Homeowners Association – By-laws, current newsletters and information
• Homeowner’s Insurance – Policy Information
• Household – 6 months prior copies of home bills, maintenance receipts, decor and furniture ideas or purchases (long-term)
• Inspiration – A file of found qoutes and articles to read and reference if I am needing something uplifting
• Official Records – Birth Certificates, Social Security cards, copies of driver’s license
• Party Planning – a place where I keep phone numbers, resources, notes on previous parties I have had or ideas for parties I would like to have
• Taxes for Current Year – Tax documents, charity receipts for current year. I keep all of my tax return records from prior years in portable file boxes (I will expand on this later)
• Travel – Ideas, itineraries from prior trips, wish lists
• Veterinary Records – Records for my 5 pups

Organizing Long Term Papers and Sentimental Papers

To organize papers that I rarely access, I use clear plastic filing boxes from Iris to keep everything sealed and easily accessed if needed.

I also use these boxes to store my kiddos artwork and school papers. Here is a handy article I have written you if you need help organizing this category:

These files boxes are the perfect size as they are easy to store and never get too heavy, so they are easy to move. Here are the ones I have:

• Artwork and school papers for each child
• Taxes – Prior years
• Real Estate Documents
• Divorce/Court Documents

I have these file boxes stores inside in a storage area that I can access, but I don’t need them out because I access them less than the papers mentioned above.

Step Three: Get Supplies To Organize Paperwork-

I don’t have a home office, so I am not able to keep all of my documents in the same place. This just meant I had to be a little creative in terms of where I was going to be filing paperwork, and where I would realistically be able to keep it.

Now that you have an idea of how much paperwork you will need to file, it is time for some fun….getting the supplies! It is important that you get all of the filing supplies you will need so that you can start getting your paperwork in order immediately. I share my absolute favorite resources from Amazon below.

Step Four: File and Label –

You have gathered, sorted, and gotten your supplies. We are coming into the home stretch! Now it is time to organize your papers by putting those papers in their place. I have mentioned above where I keep my papers, but that is based on my own space availability and limitations. Your area may look different. Just keep in mind when you are filing your papers to make sure you consider how often you will need to access them. This will save you a lot of time later on!

I chose to use my label maker to label everything, as I am obsessively attached to it. Make sure you have everything labeled so that any and all papers that you may need in the future are in file folders that are clearly labeled! Again, this will be a huge time saver in the future.

Step Five: Declutter Paperwork: Shred/recycle –

Hopefully now you have sorted and filed, you have purged some papers that can be discarded. Any item that has personal information on it, I always shred. If it is a catalog, junk mail, etc, I recycle those. Make sure to get rid of any papers that serve no purpose or that are easily accessed on-line.

A tip about Organizing mail

Bonus tip: You can reduce the mail you get sent in the first place!

I hate getting junk mail. Here are three resources to contact if you would like to limit the amount of mail you receive. Click on the buttons below and they will take you to the appropriate webpages to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

As mail comes in, I quickly open and sort it according to my categories above. I always get rid of the envelope and extra inserts immediately. Keep the most important items, and shred or recycle the rest! Hopefully by opting to put a stop to some of the junk mail you receive, you can make your life easier!

It is important that now that you have your paperwork system set-up, you keep up! It is so easy to put this off, but it can become overwhelming very quickly. The best part is, you can manage your system every day in under 10 minutes if you devote that time to it. Decluttering and organizing paperwork doesn’t have to be difficult!

Well, there you have it! I have found the above steps really work for me, and it has been the best way to organize paper files in my home. I am hopeful you can use some or all of the tips above to start tackling any and all paper clutter you have. Happy organizing!