Filing System 101

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October 29, 2014

When I decided to revamp our home office, organizing our paper clutter was a project I wanted to get done ASAP. Whenever I needed to locate an important health care document or paperwork for my car, it took a while to find. That’s because we had three places that it could be. I had a binder of miscellaneous paperwork, while Bryan had not one but two lock boxes full. Even though our office isn’t close to being finished, getting our paper organized was a top priority.  

Filing System 101 at simply-nicole.com

Here’s what I used:

  • Brother PT-1290 label maker
  • Smead Hanging File Folders – These come 25 per box. I bought two.
  • Sterilite File Box – I can’t seem to find this online, but I purchased it at Target. You can find it in the aisle with the file folders as well as in the aisle with the other plastic bins.

I absolutely love this file box, because it can easily be picked up and moved if needed unlike a stationary file cabinet. Plus, it was much more affordable ($11!). 

Filing System 101 at simply-nicole.com

The first thing I did after buying my supplies was take our paperwork and dump it all over the floor. In all honesty, I did just that. I dumped out all the papers in our living room and took a deep breath. After realizing that I could be in over my head, I started labeled each document with a sticky note. After I went through each piece of paper and decided whether to keep or trash, I grouped them into categories. Once I had all the categories, I assigned each a color. I find that when paper is color-coded, it’s much easier to find and it’s just overall prettier to look at. 

  • Red: Medical
  • Yellow: Credit Cards & Student Loans
  • Orange: Apartment & Auto
  • Green: Income & Taxes
  • Blue: Misc. (We have two random folders in here: receipts for any large purchases and recipes that I haven’t organized yet)

Filing System 101 at simply-nicole.com

 Red:

  • Medical Benefits
  • Medical Visits for Bryan
  • Medical Visits for Nicole

Yellow:

  • Credit Card
  • Jewelry Loan
  • Student Loans (3)

Orange:

  • Apartment Lease
  • CRV Contract
  • CRV Maintenance
  • Pilot Contract
  • Pilot Maintenance
  • Civic Contract (old car)
  • Civic Accident Reports (yeah…)
  • Turnpike EZPass Details
  • AT&T Bills (the most recent month’s bill)
  • Comcast Bills (the most recent month’s bill)

Green:

  • Tax Documents (2010 and up)
  • Full-time Employment Contract for Bryan
  • Full-time Employment Contract for Nicole 
  • Unemployment Files (all details from when I was unemployed last fall)
  • Retirement

Blue:

  • Receipts from Large Purchases
  • Recipes (that haven’t been organized yet)

Filing System 101 at simply-nicole.com

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Comments ▼

Great system, Nicole! Thanks so much for sharing at Think and Make Thursday!

Love this! I love to be organized and this post calls out to the OCD side of me. lol

Great system! I love the color coded files. We have about 6 boxes worth of files (that’s what happens when you get older and have two kids LOL), but I need to get them more organized.