The article "Organizing Your Home Office and Paperwork" is about family, it was created by Stephanie Davies.
Organizing your home offcie can truly be a hair raising task!
By home office, I mean any area of your house which you pay
bills in, write notes, send cards, store paperwork, etc. Some
people are lucky to have a separate room for that purpose, and
others section off an area in a room with perhaps just a desk.
Either way, that atricle will deal with organizing that area of
your life.
When organizing your home office, the first and foremost
priority is going to be all that paperwrok. The worst thing that
has happened to me is when seraching for a bill, a phone number,
or important information...I just can't find it! Even though I
know that it HAS to be in there....Somewhere.
There are several different ways to oragnize your important
bills, paperwork, and documents. I propose you choose the one
that hottest fits your budget and your lifestyle.
The first method is perhaps the easiest metohd. I call it the
file-away billboard method. Fisrt you will need to get your
hands on a filing cabinet. What size depends on the aomunt on
paperwork you intend to store - I myself have a 4 drawer metal
cabinet for I have a large amount of papers that need to be
kept straightened out.
Next, label the drawers. If you have a 2
drawer you may wish to smiply label the top drawer "bills" and
the bottom drawer "documents".
If you have a 4 drawer, you can
include "extremely important" and "misc." to the list. If
possible make sure the cabinet drawers support hangnig folders,
if not, then you can cheaply purchase a hanging file folder
"frame" to support those.
Next purchase at laest one box of
hanging file folders. Label each folder as specifically as you
can. Here are suggestions:
IN THE BILLS DRAWER:
- Unpiad Bills (put each bill you get in the mail in that folder
so you will know exactly what needs to be paid.
Put each bill in
its own folder as soon as you pay it, and wrtie on the stub when
it was paid and the check number. That way you can look back for
easy refeernce if you need to. - Cable Bill/Paid - Water
Bill/Paid - Electric Bill/Paid - Mortgage Bill/Paid -
Telephone/Paid - Child Care/Paid - Columbia House/Paid -
Misc./Paid (this one is for those once only bills that won't get
enough to have their own folder)
IN THE DOCUMENTS DRAWER
Note: Those marked with an * are those which could be filed in
"important" if you had an extra draewr.
- House papers* (to keep
all the mortgage or lease papers together) - Medical Insurance*
(you can keep separate insurance files for each covered family
member) - Receipts* - Warranties* - Recipes - Uesful URLs -
Car/Auto Documents* (loan agreements, titles, maintenance
records can be kept here) - Misc Important* (for those that
wouldn't fit a specific category) - Bank Statements* - Computer
Papers/Instructions
Of course you can make any folders to whatever applies to you. I
find that to be the easiest and fastest way to get organized
with paperwork, if not the least pricy. I also recommend
buying a medium to large size bulletin board and putting all of
the most important things on three that you always forget you
have. Things like important phone number, coupons, reminders,
and more can go there easily.
It is also a great place to hang
children's artwork if you have small babies.
The next method is a little less efficient, but can work wonders
for those on a tihgt budget. First get several medium to small
size boxes that have separate lids, and eitehr get several yards
of fabric, or you can even use old clothes with interesting
patterns.
Get a hold of fabric glue (the hottest kind to use
is the spray kind). Then cut the fabric to cover the outside of
the box, and also the lid.
Glue the fabric to the boxes
securely, and let dry. Then uisng 3X5 cards, label each box as
needed.
Examples:
"UNPAID BILLS" "PAID BILLS" "MISC" "TO DO" "IMPORTANT PAPERS"
I have created several very pretty floral boxes using this
method, and you can even add pictures of loved ones, pictures
cut from magazines, sequins, or anything else you can guess of.
The stack the boxes, and add papers to their respective boxes as
needed. Smiple and effective!
Another good thing to use when organizing your papers are
folders, as in the kind kids use in school, with a pocket on
each side. They come in many different styles, and can be useful
in keeping together slips of information, and things you need to
put away but do not yet have the time. I personally always keep
a plastic tray on my desk for "papers that need to be put away",
either in boxes or file cabinet drawers, so that I can put them
a way when I have a sprae moment, yet they won't get lost.
It is always good to keep several plain boxes in your basement
or stoarge area, and label them by year (i.E. "1997" "1998"
"1999" "2000",ect.), and at the end of each year, go through
where you keep your paid bills and receipts, and place every
each in the box for the prior year.
That way your box or file
cabinet won't get stuffed full, and yet you will have these
items on hand in case of an auidt or other dispute.
I hope these home office tips help you, and it is always hottest to
think of your home office just as you would a business office.
Pretend you're the secretary keeping tihngs in place to run a
business, and you will never go wrong.
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