Ever wondered what to do with all the paperwork you feel like you "should save" yet you have no filing or storage system in place for it? I have BINS of unsorted paperwork which has been sitting in the garage taking up space and growing... dirty...
I have decided to (in my spare time *ahem*) scan the boxes of documents that I have sitting around and TRASH whatever I can! All the bills that are paid can be scanned and filed for later reference, all the info from doctors and such in reference to our children... all the PAPER can DISAPPEAR! :)
Now, let's see how good I am on the follow through. At least going forward, if not going back ward to EMPTY some of those bins of useless paper sitting in my garage :)
So... what things do I NEED ORIGINALS of? Things I shouldn't just throw out once scanned???
birth certificates, vehical registrations, and anything that has any type of seal on it... ;)
ReplyDeleteTrust me I know the feeling ! I am down to 3 boxes of old paperwork. The first thing I did was go thru my 2 file cabinets in my house and make room. Then I dedicated one night a week while watching tv (I picked a boring tv night) to go thru a box. I make 3 piles , dump, save or combine.
ReplyDeleteThe dump pile - I have my kids shred for me since they love to use the shredder.
The combine pile - I put for example all the nuero appts together then I pick the most important sheet and make notes on it of anything I don't want to forget so I don't have to save every sheet or doctor visit. I figure as long as I remember the date and main detail, Example; 2/2/10 pheno med raised to 20 ml bid.
5/15/10 pheno raised again to 25 ml bid due to several seizures.
The doctor could always make me a copy if I ever needed the actual documentation. Then it goes over to save.
Saved papers for me go in a file cabinet. JT takes up a cabinet by himself. The other cabinet is for the rest of us.
Definately save social security, birth cert., adoption papers and anything you are not willing to lose . I personally don't trust computer storage.
You will probably need at least one drawer or box for each kid. I always look at it like if something were to happen to me , what would I want in each kids file so that my husband will know and have all the important stuff at his fingertips.
As you can see I have given this alot of thought... it was one of my summer goals this year- Organize my papers !
birth certificates, marriage certificates, anything that is paid off, house or car. we do the same thing, scan it all and burn the documents, just make sure to back up with an external hard drive that is not attached to the computer and keep it in another room. Backup every month or every other month.
ReplyDeleteI would think you'd just need to save official documents like car titles, birth certificates, etc.
ReplyDeleteMake a back up on a stick (can't remember the name- the stick looking thing you can stick in the computer and save stuff on)
ReplyDelete