I consider myself fairly organized and good at keeping things in their places but cannot figure out what to do with random papers. I hate having them pile up. We do have a file cabinet and keep things sorted that way for longer term - but what do you do with things you know you need to keep track of for a few weeks/months but don't necessarily need to be filed away? Examples: invitations, sale flyers, renewal notifications, bills not being paid immediately, etc. Help - we are moving and I want to start off on the right foot with organization in the new house.
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It took me a long time to figure out something that works for me: I have a three-tiered document tray. On the top, I store things that need to be dealt with within a week (bills), second tray is stuff to deal with in a few weeks (invitations...), and the third tray is stuff I need to file long-term.
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Magnetic chip clips on the side of the fridge.
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I have a thing like this. Front is for pens, etc, next slot back is for things that need attention soon, next is for things that will wait a little longer. I think it's called a counter top message organizer or something like that.
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For bills, I switched everything I could to paperless. For the one off things, I literally write a check, stamp it and mail it as soon as it comes into the house.
Invitations I also basically RSVP right away and then write the details on a calendar I keep on the fridge.
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Bulletin board. I keep bills, renewal stuff and so on. As for flyers, my husband hates them and will throw them in the recycling, so I've gotten good at reading them when they come in, and clipping or making note of what I need.
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@MrsSRS: We have something similar to this.
It's like a mail sorter - first slot is for bills, second slot is for things that I need a reminder for, third slot is for DH's things that he needs reminders for, and then we have a coupon basket.
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I have a little mail sorter in the kitchen and also at my "desk" in the den/office space. Invitation (and date specific things I tack up on my magnetic board. Check out Container Store! I love love love love love that place!
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We have a small home, but in our office/play room we have an ikea kallax shelving units for the kids books and toys and one of the top baskets is mine and I keep the papers you are talking about in that, along with printer paper, etc. I try to fully clean it out a few times a year. It keeps things readily available, but still tidy and out of the way!
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@snowjewelz: I LOVE container store! It always makes me feel so on top of everything when I buy organizing stuff from there and take it home and use it.
Lots of good ideas here - thanks to all! I feel like I just need to get myself to actually go through items more often and clean out what accumulates there. Our office will be close to the kitchen in the new house so having a paper sorter on the desk in the office will be a good way to keep things out of sight but handy. Office is on a different floor in the current house and it always feels so inconvenient to drag myself there to put things away.
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I do a mix of the above.
I get the mail so that it's sorted immediately (DH will just leave piles otherwise).
I throw away any junk mail. Coupons we might actually use go in one magnet clip on the fridge and are arranged by expiration date so we can see what's about to expire.
Bills go in another magnet clip sorted so the the first due bill is on top.
then we have a mail sorter thingie (I got it at homegoods) that has two shelves that hold letter sized paper. I have a shelf and DH has a shelf. When his shelf gets full, I put everything in a basket and ask him to sort through it. He never gets rid of everything though, so he always has a basket of some sort.
When my shelf gets full, I sort it in to a file carrier thing (I have two things like this - they're Martha Stewart brand and I think I got them at Target - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/102597697732837806/)
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We have a pinboard/bulletin board in the kitchen. If we think it's important enough, we stick it up there. Although, my idea of what's important and DH's are fairly different, lol. I'd pretty much recycle anything except party invites and coupons.
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I have a little metal envelope looking thing that I hang in my kitchen.
http://www.target.com/p/galvanized-mail-holder/-/A-14971969#prodSlot=medium_1_3
I keep bills, invitations, coupons and such in it. I have a little key holder that I got from anthropologie that I hang over the top of it and put all of our keys on it. It works out nice and looks okay.
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@shellio: The mail sorter I got has cubbies that are only a couple inches thick, so I feel like that gets me to go through stuff more often.
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http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/portable-file-tote
Found an actual link for what I use for files. I like that they can be put away easily in a closet, but I can also get them out and move them to wherever I decide to do the actual sorting.
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@MaryM: love that little bag! That's cool.
Besides the file cabinet and family binder for long term stuff, I almost always use a clipboard. I can flick through the pages and put the important one on the top. Easiest and fastest for me because I am Ms. Efficient aka Super Lazy. Did I mention it is also easy to hide?
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15 comments