Organize and Declutter Your Paper – Hug Your Home Challenge – Week Nine!

Feb 25, 2019 | Blog, Hug Your Home Challenge, Organizing Tips

Paper is one of the biggest clutter issues facing families today. Mail, bills, letters from school, schedules and junk mail pile and scatter over surfaces making them messy and nonfunctional. I can’t tell you how many people dream of more usable counter space, only to be wasting what they have on paper clutter. If you struggle with endless piles of paper, you are not alone!

For this week’s #hugyourhome challenge, we are setting up some simple paper organizing systems that will eliminate paper clutter for good.

There are 4 systems that EVERY home needs when dealing with paper. Watch my latest video to learn more about these systems and how they can help you maintain your paper for good. Download your free printable checklist HERE:

I also made you a printable so that you can easily see the difference between a SHORT and a LONG TERM paper filing system and you know exactly what papers you can discard! Download your free paperwork printable HERE.

Every year at tax time, I sort through my short term file folder and purge and shred anything that I no longer need. Only those papers I am keeping for seven years or longer are stored in my LONG TERM filing system.

We are a family of five, running TWO businesses and ALL of our Long Term files (including taxes, contracts, mortgage papers, insurance, vehicle information and more) fit into one small filing drawer. Here is the truth: You are keeping WAY more paper than you need to!

So let’s make a pact, a paper minimalism pact. Commit to only keeping really important papers in your Long Term paper system and keep your other paper in accordian file folders, baskets or binders…with the promise to go through and purge them once a year.