San Diego Professional Organizer | Image Consultant | home organizers | home organization

Tired of Being Buried Under Paperwork?

Kathi Burns — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:52:46 +0000

Hi Kathi,

I enjoyed your presentation at the Women’s SCORE breakfast at Morgan Run about two years ago. I was fascinated with your ideas and have read your book.

I like your advice to skip over the chapters that don’t apply. The clothes closet one didn’t apply to me, but I read the chapter anyway. My closet is organized by color first, and by season second. (My best organization starts upstream at the store.)

Where I struggle is with the pieces of paper. The action pile is the problem. All of the other categories are organized very well. My manuals are on the bottom left of my lateral filing cabinet. When an iron breaks and I buy a new one, I pull out the old directions and put the new directions in the file folder. All the retirement information is in one place. My file cabinets are very organized. Just like my spices turntables – all in alphabetical order.

So, I think there’s hope for me. Four of the five categories of paper are organized well. And have been for 40 years.

But the action papers. I don’t know what to keep and what to throw away. I’ve learned to throw more away sooner because, as you point out, the history is available on the Internet. I do purge my statements folders once each year. And thanks to your presentation, I toss some receipts or statements immediately.

Have you written a new chapter, or are there websites you can recommend, to help me with this final bit of mastering my muck? Here are examples: Do I need to keep paystub statements? How much medical paperwork should I keep? The dental office has my records. The medical clinic has my records. I use Quicken, so as soon as I’ve downloaded the transactions, I verify things and toss the receipt (unless it’s a big purchase and I need to keep the receipt).

I’ve told many friends and colleagues about your presentation and your book. I look forward to hearing back from you about new ways to think.

Thanks,

Hope Campbell
MA in Educational Technology
Author
Instructional Designer
Technical Writer
and tired of being buried under paper

Hi Hope,

Thanks so much for reaching out with your questions. You are not alone and I commend you for the great work you have done so far. Here are a few tips for each of your specific questions:

Do I need to keep paystub statements?

You do not need to keep your pay stubs if you trust that your employer is deducting the right amount and that you will receive an accurate year end document, ie W2 or 1099. If you are on commission, you might want to save each pay stub until you have been fully compensated for your wrok. After this is verfied, you can shred them.

If you receive a regular salary from a reputable company, you can toss or shred your stubs as soon as they arrive. If your pay is automatically deposited, you can also request that you no longer receive a pay stub.

How much medical paperwork should I keep? The dental office has my records. The medical clinic has my records.

You need to keep your medical bills until they are reimbursed or paid.

If you are on an HSA plan, you can use your HSA funds for many expenses not covered by your health insurance plan. Dental and vision care expenditures are common examples. Keep these receipts for these items and then organize and total them each year and file with your tax return receipts. Keeping 2 files will serve you well and keep your expenses separated for tax time, one for odd year, another for even.

There are many points of view about which medical records you should personally keep such as test results and x-rays. Many people feel that they want to keep and track their complete medical history. If this is your case, create a permanent file folder and save only your test results etc. Do not keep bills or other papers here, only test results. If you get an x ray, ask for it to be given to you on a disc so that it will also fit within this file. I personally keep my annual wellness results and also any blood work results and let my doctor save the other documents and x rays. Do whatever falls within your comfort zone.

I use Quicken, so as soon as I’ve downloaded the transactions, I verify things and toss the receipt (unless it’s a big purchase and I need to keep the receipt).

Keep receipts for every expenditure over $75 that appears on your tax return. If you are an employee as opposed to an home-based business. you dont need to keep many receipts as your tax return is simple: medical (as of this date, you can deduct eligible medical expenses to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income), tax docs such as W2 and earned interest and charitable donations are typically the only items that you record to the IRS. These will be the only receipts that you need to keep and archive with your tax return.

All other receipts can be tossed as soon as they are input into Quicken. As an aside, I keep an envelope in my purse for purchases that I might possibly need to return. I toss the grocery receipts into the grocery trashcan as I leave the store or sometimes even tell the check out person to toss them for me! Once a month or so, I go through that envelope and get rid of the receipts for the merchandise that I am satisfied with. This way, I dont bring receipts and extra papers into my house or office that are not relevant to my tax return.

You might also want to watch this quick news braodcast where I provided more tips for managing and eliminating your paperwork.

I hope that this helps you finish your organizing process. Keep up the good work and feel free to connect again if you have more questions!

PS, I love the use of turntables and organizing your spices in alphabetical order, Yay!

Closet Transformation

Kathi Burns — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:00:16 +0000

Situation: This client had a lovely walk in closet that had been built onto her bedroom as an addition. Although it is a large closet, it became disorganized and mismanaged and ended up housing things that did not belong, such as holiday decorations.

The client’s shoe collection ended up on the floor in piles which made it difficult to get into the closet to find what she was looking for.

Challenge: We needed to fit all of her clothes, shoes, jewelry, and handbags into the closet while keeping everything organized and accessible.

Solution: We sorted through all of her clothes and purged the ones that didn’t fit, or no longer fit her lifestyle. We did the same with the shoes and purged all but a few pairs of heels. As we get older, we are less likely to wear heels or uncomfortable shoes, and this was the case with this client. She had clothes in dry cleaner bags, which made them difficult to identify. Dry cleaner bags trap moisture and keep fabric from breathing, so we got rid of the bags. We lined up the clothes by type and moved formal clothes to a closet in another bedroom to make more space for her daily wardrobe. The holiday decorations and other things that did not belong were moved to the garage. We purged so many clothes that she ended up with a whole row of empty space, which will give her plenty of room when she buys something new.

The client kept many shoes in shoeboxes so she could easily identify them, and the shoes that she wears most often were moved to a hanging shoe organizer. We also utilized a built in bench in the closet for the shoes she wears most often.

We moved her jewelry and handbags to allow more space to get into the closet, and hung her jewelry on a hanging organizer on the wall. Her belts are all hung together, and everything is categorized and easily accessible. Now this client can shop her closet and find what she needs.

Recycle Old Toothbrushes

Kathi Burns — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:00:23 +0000

When you come across old toothbrushes, do not put these into the trash. They also, can be recycled. Although they seem small and irrelevant, there are over 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are tossed into landfills every year.

If you want to learn more about how to get organized and live a healthier life, click here to watch part one of my video tip series on Be Well Buzz. You will discover why clutter can zap your energy. You will then probably get motivated to clear your clutter so that you can enter our drawing for the grand prize ~ a FREE subscription to the Home Organizing Made Simple online course!

Conserve Ink and Print Faster

Kathi Burns — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:57:17 +0000

I just discovered a way to conserve ink in my printer. I use an HP officejet all-in-one which is the best printer I have ever owned. It is a true workhorse. I stumbled upon a new setting that I had noticed under print presets: Plain paper, fast draft , black and white which I now use as my default setting. Not only does it convert everything into black and white, it spits out my print jobs so quickly, they fly out of the feeder and I have to catch them on the way out! This setting will save me a boatload of time and ink and reduce my impact on the environment.

I also use a 3 tray paper cabinet under my printer so that I can recycle old printed paper to reuse later. The top tray has new paper, middle specialty paper and the bottom recycled.

What to do with Laptop & Cellphone Batteries

Kathi Burns — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:00:38 +0000

Laptop, Cell phone and MP3 batteries should be recycled.These types of batteries contain potentially toxic heavy metals sealed up inside, and if thrown out with the regular garbage can jeopardize the environmental integrity of both landfills and incinerator emissions. Some Goodwill locations will accept these items. Find your closest Goodwill recycle station here

Call2Recycle provides recycling for these old batteries and more. To find a collection location in your community, visit call2recycle.org and enter your zip code.

What to do with Dead Batteries

Kathi Burns — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:03 +0000

If you hesistate to toss your batteries in to the trash, you are thinking ‘green’. The challenge that I see with many of my clients is that they dont want to toss thier old batteries into the trash but they dont have any idea what to do with them.

Here is one strategy: Store your old batteries in a container and when it’s full, take them to your local Staples.

If you have any really old batteries made before 1997, please do not ever put them straight into the trash. 1997 is when Congress mandated a widespread mercury phase-out in batteries of all types. All of these older batteries may contain as much as 10 times the mercury of newer versions.

Regardless of their age, even the newer batteries still contain trace amounts of mercury and other potentially toxic stuff so they should also be recycled.

You can also get more bang for your buck and reduce battery waste by using rechargable batteries.

Recycle your Old Ink Cartridges

Kathi Burns — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 09:00:16 +0000

Don’t toss them into the trash!

Did you know that USPS provides free mail in envelopes for your ink cartridges and cell phones? Customers can get free mail-back envelopes for recycling inkjet cartridges, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and other small electronics.

Or if you want to make a bit of money, take them to Staples and they will give you a $2 gift voucher for every cartridge you return.

Recycle your Old Cellphones

Kathi Burns — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:00:28 +0000

Go ahead and clean out your junk drawers and all of the other places where you have old phones and small electronics stashed. Once you have them gathered together, you can recycle them easily at your local post office. You can ship them off to be recycled at no charge through the USPS and you might even make a bit of money. MaxBack has partnered with USPS to buy back electronics. Check out their website to learn more.

You might not be aware of this nifty fact. Any cell phone that is charged is capable of dialing 9-11. Even without service, every phone within the US can dial this emergency number. So, another option for your old cell phones is to give them to your local women’s shelter. Women in crisis are given these cell phones so that they will have the ability to call for help if they need to, even without a mobile phone subscription service.

This is a much better use of your old phone than sitting in your junk drawer, dont you think?

Where to Recycle Your Old Electronics

Kathi Burns — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:00:36 +0000

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (visit site), electronic waste can contain “hazardous materials, such as lead, mercury, and hexavalent chromium, in circuit boards, batteries, and color cathode ray tubes (CRTs).”

The EPA also says that electronic waste has valuable materials, which “conserves natural resources and avoids the air and water pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, that are caused by manufacturing new products.”

A great way to get rid of your old dinosaur televisions and other electronics is to use a company called Ecollective

Ecollective has hundreds of convenient drop-off locations where you can recycle your unwanted and obsolete electronics. By choosing to recycle your e-waste at an ecollective location you can feel safe knowing that your data is destroyed and that all of your e-waste is recycled properly. It’s simple – just enter your zip code on their site, find your closest ecollective location and take it back for good.

Recycle your Television

Kathi Burns — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:00:19 +0000

There are over 99 million tv’s in the US alone and only 14% of our disposed e-waste is recycled. That number needs to improve don’t you think? Do your part and take your old tv’s to Goodwill. They have a program called ReConnect that is sponsored by Dell Computers so they will take and then recycle your old giant electronics. Find your closest Goodwill recycle station here