Dealing with the Paper Piles

Dealing with the Paper Piles

Are piles of papers taking over your home? It’s easy to second-guess yourself when trying to decide what to keep and what to shred.

Here are some guidelines to help you make those decisions.
Keep for 1 month
Withdrawal and deposit slips, after checking against your monthly
statement.
Bills you paid that you are not writing off on your taxes, after checking against your current bill.
Keep for 3 Months
Receipts for minor purchases such as clothing. Most stores have a 90-day or less return policy.
Keep for 1 Year
Paycheck stubs.
Monthly statements for your bank, credit card, brokerage, mutual fund, and retirement accounts.
Keep for 7 Years
W2s, 1099’s, donation receipts, receipts of personal and business deductions, and any other materials used in your tax return.) Year-end statements for bank, credit card, brokerage, mutual fund, and retirement accounts.
Keep Indefinitely
Tax returns.
Receipts for major purchases such as appliances.
Real estate and residence records.
Wills and trusts.
Shred It
Shred everything that has your personal information on it, such as utility bills, monthly statements, paycheck stubs, year-end statements that are 8 or more years old, and checkbook carbon copies.

Do you struggle with getting and staying organized?

my basic homeAre you afraid to start an organizing project just to be overwhelmed or lose motivation in the middle, to be left with even more chaos? You are not alone. That’s the fear of most people who don’t have time to allot to a big organizing project.

The new My Basic HOME is your Home Organizing Maintenance Exercise subscription service.

Your guide to better-organized spaces and the accountability to maintain them, delivered as a text message JUST FOR YOU! Get a message each weekday to prompt you into action. Get the support you need with expert advice from the Basic Organization team and other subscribers in a private Facebook group.

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Janet Schiesl

Janet Schiesl

Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.

She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.

Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

Janet Schiesl

Janet Schiesl

Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.

She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.

Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

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