In that never ending quest to get organized, here are 10 helpful ways I’ve been able to banish paper clutter in my house. It’s not magic, you still need to do some work, but it’s made a tremendous difference!
1. Scan it - Except for last 7 years of taxes, and insurance and ID cards, everything else can be scanned in. There are tons of apps out there for this now. Below are a few I use right from my phone:
- TurboScan - bills, prescriptions, faxes, anything else that I need to keep track of
- CamCard – scans business cards and puts them int your address book.
2. Shred It - Again unless it’s the last 7 years of taxes or an insurance or ID card get rid of it. (Yes, including bills). Practically all of your bills can be accessed on line, if you really must keep a bill scan it and then shred it.
3. Pay bills online - I pay all of my bills through my bank or through the companies themselves. I can also access most of this stuff through my phone if necessary. Or print out a bill if I need it.
4. Get off of mailing lists - This takes a bit of work, but there’s a few ways to reduce junk mail by getting your name off of the lists that are generated by direct marketing companies.
- Don’t send in the warranty card. If you really want that extended warranty, sign up at the store or online. Don’t use those little postcard things.
- Go to https://www.dmachoice.org/ and get your name removed from direct marketing sites
- Go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t which is run by the credit reporting agencies and get your name off of the list.
5. Get a digital receipt - Don’t get a receipt at ATMs or gas stations. Instead link your credit card, gas card or have your bank or credit card send you a text when it is used so that you can see the transaction instantly without the clutter. These days anyone with one of those little mobile credit card readers or app can email or text you a copy of your receipt.
6. Read Digital Periodicals - Almost every major magaxzine and newspaper can be read online at this point. And there are a bunch of aggregate services like Readly, Zinio and Magzus which will even let you read some issues for free without a subscription!
7. Use Shoeboxed for your receipts – I literally cannot function properly at this point. Basically, Shoeboxed like the opposite of one of those monthly box subscriptions. They send you a “magical blue envelope” (no seriously, that’s what it’s called), you fill it with all of your receipts and drop it in the mail (postage is free). Shoeboxed scans, organizes, labels and makes a pdf of everything for you. You can specify if you want the originals back, or if you want them destroyed. (I get mine destroyed). You can access the receipts anytime online. A basic subscription is free.
8. Take digital notes - I use Evernote, because it makes all of my notes searchable from within the app (and I can file away scanned items here). You can also use Google Docs, Word or even the note taking or text app on your phone, tablet, or computer to take notes. That way you don’t leave pieces of paper all over the place with notes that you don’t remember taking scrawled across them.
9. Use Digital Picture Frames - You’ve got digital pictures right? You constantly post to Facebook and Instagram right? Well download those memories and load them up on a digital picture frame and send that as a gift as opposed to trying to figure out how to print them all out to send to grandma.
10. Don’t let the mail make it to the kitchen table - You know it will start to pile up there. Get a folder, box or magazine file and put it on a little table near your front door with a recycle bin next to it. That way you can drop all the mail there when you come in and you can dump the junk mail seconds after it’s out of the mailbox.
• How do you banish paper clutter in your house?
