Getting a Hold of Your Household! Paper Party! Level 3... You are so close! Stick with me and youll be done shortly! Step 10: Remove the items listed below from the piles you have sorted. titles/deeds (including cars, home, property, etc.) birth certificates immunization records life insurance policies wills/last testament/health testament/etc. social security cards passports/military ID/state ID/etc. Step 11: Lets take care of those important papers! Label a manilla envelope with each persons name in the household. Sort through and separate each persons important papers. This would include birth certificates, immunization records, social security cards, etc. Add these to their envelopes. Step 12: Now look through what papers that are left. Label a manilla envelope for each stack. For example, Title or Life Insurance Policies or Wills. Add these items to their envelopes. Step 13: Chose a storage place for these. I HIGHLY recommend one of two options. 1. Store in a fireproof lockbox in the home. If you do this, be sure to scan and store an electronic copy of each. Your electronic storage should be uploaded to cloud storage so its in a safe place in case something does happen to the paper copies. OR, 2. Secure a safety deposit box offsite at your local bank. I still recommend scanning and saving an electronic copy of everything. Keep in mind that there may still be a need for a paper copy of some things in the home so you wont have to go to the bank every time an item is needed. Step 14. Last for this evening, its time to make decisions on how many hanging files are needed and what your filing storage solution needs to be. Start with approximating how many hanging files you need. Keep these things in mind: >each person needs two files ~ one for important information and one to collect drawings, pictures, etc. >AT LEAST 7 years of tax returns and 7 years of a bank statements need to be retained >health insurance policies can be filed together but each person should have their own file filled with EOBs >a separate file should be kept for cars, boats, homes, property, etc. >create these categories for manuals to be stored: large appliances, small appliances, furniture, fixtures, toys, lawn/garden, electronics, and office (add what may be specific for you) If you dont already have file storage, consider how many files youll need before deciding whats best. For filing cabinets, I recommend at least a two or three drawer. This should work for most households. If you have limited space, then consider a smaller filing cabinet and some filing boxes OR use just filing boxes. Here are a few other filing options...ottoman filing storage, small desktop filing boxes, and open plastic filing boxes that roll. Look forward!
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 20:19:55 +0000
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