Organize Your Personal Information

If you are anything like me, you have a stack of papers in the corner of some drawer because you know you need to save them, but don’t have a system for filing them. This stack of papers is driving me crazy, so it is time to do something about it!!

As you know, I have deemed 2017 the year of organization (see Organize Your House: 12 Month Challenge)! This March, I organized all of our personal files/important information. Instead of having passports hidden in drawers and documents thrown here and there, why not get everything in one very organized place?! This project only took me one rainy afternoon to finish, and I had a huge sigh of relief after!

What You Need:

  • Plastic Filing Bins
  • Hanging File Folders
  • Interior File Folders
  • Labels

Get Started:

First you need to choose how you are going to store your documents. I used a simple plastic filing bin, mostly because we already had it and I wanted it to be portable (in case of an emergency). But you can also use a filing cabinet, filing boxes, or even binders.

Next you need to find a multi-color pack of file folders. There were several places I could have purchased hanging file folders and interior file folders, but there was a big sale going on at The Container Store, so that is where I purchased mine! They had several color options and are also very sturdy, so I loved that!

The final step to setting up your filing system organization is to print your category labels. I printed on 3-tab size white (Avery 8366) labels to place at the top of each folder to separate the categories.

I have divided the categories below into color coded zones. Each category has a hanging folder which is then divided into more specific interior folders, making it much easier to find what you need when the time comes!

  1. Yellow – Personal
  2. Purple – Medical
  3. Orange – Taxes
  4. Red – Financial
  5. Blue – Home
  6. Green – Auto
  7. Gray – Pets

Personal
• Personal Documents – Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, Passport, Copy of Driver’s License
• Marriage License/Documents

Medical
• Health Insurance Information
• Previous Medical Documents

Taxes
• Pay Stubs
• Deductions/Donations
• Expenses
• Previous Tax Returns

Financial
• Checking Account Information – Extra Check Books
• Savings Account Information
• Credit Card Information (one file per card)
• Retirement Information

Home
• Loan/Mortgage
• Property Tax Information
• Improvements
• Warranties/Manuals
• Utilities (one file per utility)
• Cable/Internet Bills

Auto
• Car Documents – Titles, Registration, Payments (one file per car)
• Car Insurance
• Services

Pets
• Registration Papers (one file per pet)
• Medical Records (one file per pet)

If you can’t think of a reason to keep it, throw it out!! I had an entire trash bag full of junk I was keeping for no reason. I hope this helps you get your office space a little more organized! Good luck! And I would love to hear how your filing goes!

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