Day 24. Organizing Family Paperwork and Mail

Day 24 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

---

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of mail, important documents, papers, and items that you feel like you should keep from you, and your family? Half of my mess that I can’t get rid of are papers that can’t get thrown out!

When you have children, these papers and documents increase tenfold. It’s time to organize these papers, and get your documents under control. You will need to have some type of filing or organizing system in place. I have a clunky old file cabinet that seconds as an end table. It no longer matches my décor, and with our new couch it no longer fits in it’s space. It was time for me to revamp my filing system for our family to something easier to manage, and more organized!

Organization, and having a system in place is key to having well managed documentation storage. My current system was not organized, or well managed.

---

What to clean:

• Mail piles
• Paperwork piles
• Family documents
• File cabinet/system

---

Supplies needed:

• File cabinet/paperwork storage
• File folders
• Manila folders
• Recommended:
  • Sterilite Portable File Box ‘paid link’, hanging file folders, manila folders, DYMO Label Maker
• Alternative:
  • Any file storage system that works for you, there are some really nice Decorative Filing Ideas ‘paid link’ on Amazon.

---

Organizing Mail/Paperwork

In order to organize your paperwork, you have to be in the mindset to make decision on what to keep and what to get rid of. You cannot keep everything, or you will never have organization or space! Organizing your family paperwork can be very simple, if you have the right tools. I have decided to make family keepsake boxes for each member of the family (although my husband and I will likely share one).

Step 1: Gather your supplies needed for organizing your paperwork. If you already have a filing system in place, great work, you will just need to organize any outlying papers and documents. If you do not have a filing system in place, determine what system you would like to use. Have you decided to use my keepsake box system? Fantastic, you will need portable file boxes, hanging file folders, manila folders and a pen/marker or label maker. I prefer the label maker because everything looks so neat and clean compared to my sloppy handwriting!

Step 2: Go through your mail, papers and documents. Determine what items need to be kept, and what can be disposed of. Dispose of the items that you no longer need, and sort the items you will be keeping. Sorting items is dependent on how you will be filing. I have organized my children’s keepsake boxes by school grade, as most of their documents I want to keep will come during their school years. I also have a pre-K folder, and an important documents folder for their vital records.

Step 3: Create your keepsake box, or put away your papers in your filing system according to your preferences.

---

Creating A Keepsake Box

If you have children, you are probably aware that there are so many memories they create that are so hard to get rid of. Knowing that we can’t keep them ALL, it’s nice to have a place to hold onto those really special ones. Kids also accumulate metals, awards, report cards, and so many other items that are great to hold onto.

Keepsake boxes allow you to organize and keep track of important documents, along with all those precious memories.

Step 1: You should already have your supplies gathered from step one above, so now it’s time to determine how you will organize your keepsake box. Organizing your keepsake box depends on what works for you. Organizing mine, I separated things by school year. My hanging file folders are my main points, and my manila folders inside each hanging file folder are my related items. You can think of it this way: my hanging file folders are my categories or headings, and my manila folders inside are the sub-categories or sub-headings.

---

Paperwork Organization Examples:

• Pre-K (this was mainly just pictures and crafts that I held onto)
• Kindergarten
  • Pictures/Yearbook (school pictures, sports pictures)
  • Report Cards (report cards, progress reports, classroom reviews)
  • Awards (certificates, metals, awards received)
• 1st Grade
  • Coming soon (come on guys… he’s only 5 right now)
• Important Documents
  • Vital Records
  • Court Documents
  • Passport
• Baby book (his baby book fits in this box right in the back for easy storage)

---

Step 2: After sorting your papers, documents, and other items, it’s now time to determine your categories/labels. Figure out what will work best for you to remember and understand. Label your file folders and manila folders according to your selected categories.

Step 3: Place your items inside their coordinating folders, and place the folders into the box in an order that makes sense to you. Make sure you are able to read your folder labels, and the folders are not overfilled.

Step 4: Make the box yours!!! Your keepsake box doesn’t have to be a plain black file box, you can decorate it, paint it, do whatever you want to it. Or… it can also be a plain black file box. The box pictured is my son’s keepsake box, so I am waiting for him to be able to make it what he wants once he gets a little older. Currently, I have just labeled it, “Braxton’s Keepsake Box”. I really love these Sterilite boxes because they have an easy access section on the lid top that can store small items like pins, or something you need to access quickly if needed.

---

Household Keepsake Box

A household keepsake box is a great way for organizing family paperwork that is important to you and your significant other, as well as to the household as a whole. For a household keepsake box, you will follow the same steps as listed above, but your categories will likely be different.

Household Paperwork Organization Examples:

• Tax Documents
  • Year 1 (this year would be labeled 2023)
  • Year 2
  • …
  • Year 10
• Titles
  • Vehicle Titles
  • Recreational items Titles (ATV’s, UTV’s, Campers, Jet Ski’s, etc.)
  • House Title/Deed
  • Property Deeds
• Insurance
  • Home Insurance
  • Vehicle Insurance
  • Health Insurance
• Personal File (Your Name)
  • Vital Records
  • Diploma
  • Passport
  • Degree’s
  • Licenses/Certifications
  • Accomplishments
• Warranties
  • Warranty programs
  • Car Warranties
  • Appliance Warranties
• Manuals (you don’t really need subcategories if you don’t want them, but you can store manuals for future reference if needed)

---

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 23. Wash Throw Blankets and Pillows here.

Check out Day 25. Clean Your Washer and Dryer here.

If you would like to see the remainder of this 30 day cleaning guide posts, please enter your email below and you will receive email notifications for future posts.