Organizing Your Important Documents

Continuing with our tackling paper theme this month, today I will focus on what to do with important papers (the ones you HAVE to keep around).

• Invest in a fireproof, lockable box large enough to hold legal sized documents. This box is for those documents that would be difficult and time consuming to replace such as birth certificates, marriage certificates and your will. You should also scan these documents and keep a back-up copy on a flash drive or CD and store this in a separate place.


• The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) can audit you for up to seven years so tax returns for the last six years need to be stored. That doesn’t mean they have to take up space in a file cabinet. Invest in a banker’s box (you can find these at your local office supply store) or plastic file box (with lid) and store by year. Once in a protected file container you can stash these returns anywhere, whether the attic, basement or closet.


• It is also important to keep a paper copy of your current insurance policies for homeowners, automobile, health insurance, etc.


• Don’t forget to invest in a quality shredder for those “important” papers that you do not need.
  

Any questions about what to do with important documents? Please feel free to ask away in the comments!

Happy Organizing!

Melissa


Posted by Melissa of Multitasking Mama

Featured Weekly on Pink Lemonade Online Magazine