# UGH ... piles of paperwork



## lickcreek (Apr 7, 2006)

Well, this was to be the weekend I tackled the home office. Well, I got through all the farm receipts I could find, and I believe I now have all the figures I need to get our income taxes done. :dance: The only thing I have left to do is file the sales tax for the shop. So that WAS an accomplishment.

The thing is, there is still a mountain in there!!! I really need to get everything put away. I even know why it is such a mess. The file cabinet is full, I can't even pry another piece of paper in there if my life depended on it. But, because there is such a mess on the desk and table (yes, I even had to set up another table just to have room to sort my receipts! :help: ) I can't bring myself to pull anything out of the drawers. It's like I have nowhere to go with it all if I do!

Lame excuse, I know. Hopefully I'll see it in a different light tonight after work, and will find a place to start. Wish me luck.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

*Lickcreek* - Woo hoo! Great news! What progress, huh? Pat yourself on the back and look at what you've finished already! Keep going! :dance: 

I'm jealous... In a good way! Tee hee!


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

How old is the stuff in your file cabinet?

I know for me it seems when I have tons of piles of papers and no room in my file cabinet I am usually behind on cleaning out the old unneeded paperwork in my files!

Anything you no longer own, you don't need paperwork on (I file all warranty and owners manuals, and often forget to throw away the 15 year old paperwork when that particular item dies and gets trashed, or the repair records on a vehicle we no longer own!). And once your monthly bank statement is balanced, you don't need to keep the receipts from that month unless it is needed for something else (for instance, we keep all receipts from home improvements). Bank statements more than 7 years old and old check carbons can be shredded. Utility bills and similar receipts more than 2-3 years old aren't needed either.

Or, you just might need another file cabinet! We started out 17 years ago with very little paperwork that needed keeping. Through the years we have had to purchase extra filing space as our record keeping got bigger (medical stuff for 6 instead of 2, mortgage and homeowner stuff instead of rental agreement, investment info, tractor maintainence records, kids report cards, etc, etc.).


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## lickcreek (Apr 7, 2006)

I am guessing that my file problem is because I did not clean out the file cabinet after last year's taxes. I usually keep last year's receipts plus the current year in the file and box up the year before. (I'm kind of anal in that I like to compare to see how much we are paying this year compared to the year before - I'm sure there is a better way to do this rather than keep all the papers in the file, but for now...) And I'm sure I'm keeping paperwork that I really no longer need. I would really like to remedy that this year.

So, in my drawers are receipts that need to be trashed or filed elsewhere (don't have a good place for that either) and on my desk is probably at least 8-9 months of receipts from payments I made in 2007! :help: So I know I need to start by clearing out the file cabinet.

BUT, I've also been considering using a notebook this year, instead of the file drawer. I can place all paid bills behind a divider for each vendor and have everything for this year all in one place. Papers won't be able to fall out like when they are loose in a folder, and at the end of the year everything that I do not need to keep can easily be removed and trashed (not so many folder to clear out, so maybe I will be more diligent about doing it?! AND I won't be tempted to just keep squeezing more into an already stuffed folder at the end of the year, I'll just start a new notebook.)Then whatever is "keepers" for the year is already in one place, and the notebook can be filed with tax papers, all together nice and neat. Sounds good in theory, anyway.

It's just that I've been using the file cabinet for so long, I am having a hard time convincing myself to change the system. Weighing the pros and cons, though, I can see more advantages to the notebook system. AND, I can get 2007 stuff together without tackling the drawers first, dragging more paperwork out onto an already buried workspace. Then I can set one up for 2008 (almost 1 month behind :shrug: ) and after that clear out the file cabinet.

So, I'm thinking I will attempt this over the weekend. I would like to devote some time during the evenings, but it doesn't seem to be something I can bring myself to do once I get home after work. But, again, I'm compromising with myself, and will try to get housework caught up the next few nights so I won't feel so bad about devoting time to it this weekend. (this seemed to work last week)

So, what do you all think of my new filing scheme?


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

If it seems like it'll work for you, go for it. And I'm glad to hear that the weekend tax paperwork plan worked well for you. 

I use envelopes for each month's receipts and a 13th envelope for tax-deductible receipts. I file the current year's envelopes in a file folder so I can pull them out if needed, but they aren't all over the place the rest of the time. I can usually find what I need later if I know what month an expense was incurred.

On thing I'm going to try doing this year is to use one dedicated credit card for all farm related expenses, one for all health-related expenses not already documented on my paystubs (I charge all my prescriptions at work - a perk of working at a hospital), and one for everything else. That will give me a back-up record for any receipts that get lost along the way.

I don't know if it will work, but I'm going to experiment with it, since I seem to start off each year keeping a record of spending and what's tax-deductible, and then fall off the wagon during the busy summer months, only to have to play catch-up the end of the year.


*Kris in MI* had a good point, and one I wish I'd remembered before I chucked my old receipts from the early 2000s - keep the receipts for home improvement items (not normal maintenance, but improvements) because if you sell, you can offset some of the profits by showing what you've spent on improvements, thereby reducing your capital gains (provided you don't buy another residence in the next 2 years).

Good luck on your weekend project this weekend!


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