Monday, January 14, 2013

Organize Starting with Paper Piles!


I am a year late but I am planning to start working on my paper piles.  Actually it looks like iheartorganizing has declared this home office organization month so I'm right on time.  Going to focus on just trying to get paper organized first though.  I plan to utilize some of the ideas I found in the following blog posts (thanks iheartorganizing).  
Step 1
I found the following table:
Keep these documents at home
Documents When to toss them
Bank deposit slips After you reconcile your statements
Banking statements After a calendar year; store with tax returns if they will be used to prove deductions
Brokerage, 401(k), IRA, Keogh, and other investment statements Shred monthly and quarterly statements as new ones arrive; hold on to annual statements until you sell the investments
Credit-card bills After you check and pay them, unless you need them to support tax filings
Employer defined-benefit plan communications Never
Household warranties and receipts After you no longer own the household items
Insurance policies After you renew them
Investment purchase confirmations and 1099s Hold until you sell the securities, then keep with your tax records for an additional seven years
Pay stubs After you reconcile them with your W-2
Receipts After you reconcile them with your credit-card or bank statement unless needed for a warranty
Safe-deposit box inventory Never, but review and update annually
Savings bonds Cash them in when they mature
Social Security statements When you get a new statement, then shred the old one
Tax returns and supporting documents After seven years
Keep these in a safe-deposit box
Documents When to toss them
Birth and death certificates Never
Estate-planning documents Never
Life-insurance policies Never, or when a term policy has ended
Loan documents After you sell your home, automobile, boat, or whatever the loan was for
Marriage licenses and divorce decrees Never
Military discharge papers Never
Social Security cards Never
Vehicle titles After you sell the car, boat, motorcycle, or other vehicle
at Consumer reports(I put it here to avoid issues with dead links that might occur in the future. 

Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5

I plan to post updates as this progresses.  This is part of a bigger effort starting with papers trying to get the whole house looking closer to what I see on iheartorganizing's blog.

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