Paperwork accumulates because deciding takes longer than filing, and a few rules remove most of the decisions.
Three Categories
Keep permanently, keep for a period, and deal with now.
Most household paper is the third, and it becomes a pile because it is set down rather than actioned. A single tray for anything requiring action, emptied weekly, removes most of the volume.
The rest divides cleanly.
Store It Properly
Cool, dry and off the floor. Cellars and garages destroy paper through damp, and lofts through temperature swings.
A lidded box in a wardrobe is better than either. Clear bins with labels, of the kind at bino.us.org, let a shelf hold several categories without becoming a single pile.
Keep Permanently
- Birth, marriage and death certificates
- Passports, and citizenship or residency documents
- Property deeds, and mortgage completion documents
- Wills, and anything relating to power of attorney
- Qualifications and professional certificates
- Pension and life insurance policy documents
These belong somewhere fireproof or off-site rather than in a filing box, and scanning them to a backed-up location is worth an evening.
Keep for a Period
Tax records and anything supporting them, for the period your tax authority specifies, which varies by country and is worth checking rather than guessing.
Receipts and warranties for as long as the warranty runs, plus proof of purchase. Bank and utility statements for a shorter period, since most are available online.
Insurance documents while the policy is live and for a period after.
Shred Rather Than Bin
The point that matters. Anything with a name, an address, an account number, a signature or a date of birth is material for identity fraud.
That includes prescription labels, delivery notes, pre-approved credit offers and old bank cards. Cross-cut shredding rather than strip.
Bins are searched, and this is one of the routes identity theft actually uses.
Go Paperless Selectively
Reduces the volume, and it moves the problem to email unless there is a system there too.
A single folder for statements, and an annual download of anything you may need after an account closes.
One Session a Year
Attached to something regular, such as after tax filing.
Tell Somebody Where It Is
Documents nobody can find are documents nobody has.
Back Up the Scans
In two places.