|
Blog: Minimizing Financial Clutter
 52 WEEKS TO FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION: #2 – Purge Your Money Files
Now, before you get scared and run away, I'm not asking you to purge ALL of your files next week – just the files related to money coming in (wages, investment income, etc.) and money going out (your expenses). Pass right on over everything else for now. You are focusing on getting your financial house in order. I'm going to tell you how to do this in 4 easy steps:
Have on hand:
š Expandable-bottom folders (usually brown, but they also come in colors)
š Several "banker's boxes" with lids (either cardboard or plastic)
š Markers (Sharpies and thick markers)
"But…I need to keep some papers…don't I?"
Yes, you do. That's what the supplies are for. There will likely be many things you will need to keep, but you won't want to keep them in your active files. To review the types of things you'll need to keep, go to http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1793. Always check with your accountant or financial advisor regarding your particular circumstances.
4 Steps to Purging Your Financial Files
- One drawer (or box, or pile) at a time, One file folder at a time, One paper at a time. Open the first drawer and pull out the first folder. Look inside. Does it contain money-related papers? If not, put it back in. If it does, take it out of the drawer and…
- Remove tax-related papers from prior years.
Receipts, Pay Stubs, Bank Statements, 1099s: Sort by year the money was earned or spent. Using a Sharpie, label one of the expandable-bottom folders with each year (example: 2007). Put all papers related to a particular year in its expandable folder. If a folder gets full, start a second folder for that year.
Old Tax Returns: Use a separate expandable folder to hold your actual tax returns and label it "Tax Returns: Years ____ through ____"
Old Investment Statements/Purchase & Sell Confirmations: store in an expandable folder (or a 3-ring binder) by account name or number (example: "Vanguard IRA").
- Remove non-tax-related financial papers from prior years.
If They Are… …Then
Non-deductible, routine expense receipts… eliminate all but most recent
Receipts for things you might return… file in active files by date or by store name
Receipts for things under warranty… staple to warranty book; file in active files by type of item (example: "Appliances")
Receipts for items you no longer own… eliminate
Documents for major home improvements… file in active files under "Home Improvements"
Old loan documents (paid-off loans)… remove from active files; store in expandable folder
Property & casualty insurance policies keep most recent policy(ies) in active files; store older ones by policy number in expandable folder(s)
- Put the expandable folders in the banker's boxes. Label the outside of each box with the contents. Store the boxes in a closet or other storage area. You will have one or more boxes for:
š Old Tax Returns
š Tax-Supporting Documents
š Old Investment Statements
š Other Closed Files
posted on: 1/18/2009 11:30:00 AM by Katherine Trezise
category: Finances
Minimizing Financial Clutter: < Previous Post - Next Post >
Blog Central: < Previous Post - Next Post >
 Discuss This Post
There are no comments.
|
|
Minimizing Financial Clutter
by Katherine Trezise
View This Blog
 Subscribe To This Blog
About Katherine:
Katherine Trezise is president of Absolutely Organized, based in Baltimore, MD. She is president-elect of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. Katherine holds a masters degree in business administration, is a Certified Professional Organizer® and a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®. Absolutely Organized specializes in helping people organize their homes, paperwork and financial records to make room in their lives for the things, people and activities that are most important to them.
Katherine's Website:
www.absolutely-organized.com
|
www.OnlineOrganizing.com is a service mark of Bradford, LLC.
