I Need Help Organizing Mail and Files

D.,
There is a mom-owned business on this site, Effortless Errands www.effortlesserrands.com , ###-###-####) that does just that type of thing. She is AMAZING! She can go through and organize you and get you a system in place faster than you can imagine. You ought to give her a call and see what she can do to help. She is a life saver!

J.
www.theembroideryco.com

2 moms found this helpful

I love to color-code my files. So, in my filing cabinet, I have my home/church/business files organized by color-coded files, then use subfolders for detailed files.

I also like to keep my current business readily available on my desk. You could, for example, use a blue folder for "work", yellow for "family", and red for "Avon". When I was working in an office, I liked to color-organize by day (Monday was red, Tuesday was orange, etc.), that way I had my days planned out on what I needed to work on those days.

Set aside a few minutes each week to file away your things. You could also ask one of your older children to help with this (for pay or just to learn how to do it). This is good for them to learn for college, too! :)

If you want some personalized help, I would be glad to offer some other pointers. I LOVE organizing, and I know that everyone is different, and our lifestyles are different; so, what works for me may not work for you. But there IS a system out there that will. lol Don't give up! :) Kudos for tackling this!

2 moms found this helpful

I struggle with this, too. I just started something new that really helps me. I pay bills the day they arrive, and then file them in a hanging file folder box. I have one folder for each month-- that way I can just easily drop all of the bills into that one folder. Next year when I hit August, I will pull out anything I need to keep, and purge the rest. I also have seperate hanging file folders for tax receipts, major purchases, home repair, and medical. It is helping me better than any other system I have tried.

Good luck!
A.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi D.,
I believe you're looking for someone to just suggest ideas for you to organize everything yourself. While anyone can do that, many times what works for others doesn't work for you. I'm a Professional Organizer who actually got my start on Mamasource! If you find you would like some help getting organized, let me know. I have several references I can send you as well. You can check out a little about me on my website: www.find-my-desk.com

1 mom found this helpful

Sounds like you need to hire an assistant to come in 1 or 2 times a week to help!!! I know what you mean. I try to "organize" all my stuff, but it is hard when you get behind. I keep end of year stuff for taxes for 5 years in a folder with each year. All other stuff I keep for one tax year cycle. Example...electric bills I have all of 2006 and to date on 2007 and come January of 2008 I will shred 2006. Does that make sense? Then Medical I keep seperate because we use all medical for taxes. As it comes in I enter it into a spread sheet then file it by person in our house. I helped a Mary Kay director twice a week just filing paperwork. Then I worked for an insurance company for almost 5 years and the last 3 there I took the company paperless. I learned a lot from this and it is so much better and easier if you scan everything to keep filed that way...NO PAPER. Then you only keep the paper hard copies that are required. I am starting to do this and then I will file yearly CD's away with my years tax stuff.

Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

Just make use of your filing cabinet. Make a file for everything...that's what I do. The more pressing stuff is on top of my desk in a vertical organizer thing.

Just take a Saturday to do it. Once you do the initial hard part of organizing then maintaining will be easy.

When I set up my file cabinet, this is how I did it:

I made a folder for every bill that I have to pay, a retirement folder, a medical folder, and a tax folder, a paystub folder, a bank folder, and a misc. folder.

When I pay bills, I file the statements and any other relavent paperwork into the file for that bill, and any other relavent paper work goes into the appropriate files as I recieve them. For taxes I have 2 files working: one for past tax returns and one for anything receipt wise that I need to keep for upcoming taxes.

You might want an Avon folder to since you sell it to file any work material. I don't know how Avon paperwork is classified, but you may want more than one file for it.

What matters most is coming up with a filing system that works for YOU and that you can keep up with, not one that works for someone else.

Good Luck!!

You have your hands full!!!

I have a LOT of hair and craft stuff, since I do them both from home, and this is how they are organized...

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w256/LittleLovables/cr...

I know it isn't pretty, but at least it is finally organized. If you get a nice filing cabinet, and reserve a drawer for each seperate area, it's easier to place items and remember where they are. Then, my other items are organized in a very pretty armior in the living room. It is much nicer than a filing cabinet/shelf.

I think the main problem with filing is we tend to keep things we could have thrown away months/years ago!! So the best advice I read in an organizer book was, when you are organizing, if you pick up a piece of paper, put it in the right spot the first time... if you don't really need it, throw it away!! Be brutal!

I have my own business also and it can be overwhelming. If on a budget, then you can get some great books at Half Price Book Store to help you with organization or check out books at your local library. They also have c.d.' and dvd's at a very reasonable price. Most expenses are a tax write off, so I would personally invest in someone coming to your home who is a professional organizer. I have a friend who came in and organized for free - her ideas were absolutely wonderful. It's worth the money to get a professional!!! Keeping it up afterwards though is a challenge :)

A.

Hi D., I was watching the news at the beging of the year and they suggeste this ideal and i have been doing it all this year and it is seems great. You get a 3 ring binder and tabs for all your bills and put them in there 3 hole punched and helps when disbuting bills come along also it really works i keep everything in 1 place and 3 hole punch the important stuff and shread the rest.

I also have a questions for you I am 31 weeks expecting twin boys and have a 1 1/2 yr,10 yr old and 19 yr old. i was really thinking about finding work at home but good paying work at home my ex sister in law used to do medical transcpitionist at home. How did you get started in that and how would somebody like me research that and is there still a demand in that type of work?

Thanks

L.

I have found the only way a system will continue to work is to organize it according to the way my mind works. In your request you mentioned work, family, Avon. That shows you've already started. Begin by making 3 piles on the floor: Work pile, Family pile, Avon pile. If you see need for a 4th or 5th pile, fine.

Once you have everything in those piles, sit down and tackle your favorite pile first. Have a large trashcan or shredder ready. Separate that pile according to how your mind separates that subject. For example, the Family pile might be separated into one pile for each family member, one pile for the house, one for the pets, one for indoor household items, one for outdoor household items. Important identity documents should stay together, such as "Birth Certificates-Family" and "Passports-Family"... Go ahead and put the individual piles in labelled files. If the filefolder gets too fat, use more than one filefolder for now. Then put the files in a fresh empty file drawer. You can retrieve the file later if you need to do stuff in that file. Ikea makes a skinny metal cabinet that has 6 drawers perfect for separating stuff that needs attention before filing. As for household bills, I like to put them in two piles: Paid and Unpaid.

Your kids would probably be a big help to you in this sorting of piles - and it would teach them how to get organized in their lives too. If the task is too daunting afterall, message me...I know someone local who could get you organized in one day for a few hundred dollars.

A.

Hi D.,

My suggestion is O.H.I.O. (Only Handle It Once). When you get the mail sort through it and have a place for everything...bills that need to be paid, items that need to be filed, etc. I have a filing cabinet in our office w/hanging folders. I have a folder for just about everything, including our dog. I am an Arbonne consultant, so I understand having material for your Avon business. I also have a separate smaller filing bin (a little container) that houses all of my Arbonne material. It might take a few hours to sort through the original piles that you have, but once you have a place for everything, then you can use the O.H.I.O. rule. It works great!

I hope that helps!

D. S
www.makana.myarbonne.com

What I do is take a box (you can use the kind 8 1/2 by 11 paper comes in, I did that originally, & then bought a nice looking wood/trunk like box) and I have created folder files with categories for each type of paperwork/bill that I have (medical, utility, credit card.....) and keep these files lined up in the box. When a bill comes in, or I have a receipt, I initially put them in a basket. When I pay bills, I take them out of the basket, along with any receipts or other things I have put in there, and sort them into their appropriate folders. This means you have a lot less mess/diorganization, & come tax season, you have a lot less to do. At the begining of each year, I put those folders into a cardbaord box and create new folders with the same headings & start again with the new year. I use the files to do my taxes and then store them in the attic. The trick is not to let the receipts, paperwork...in the basket build to high before you get to filing them away in their folders.
This works for me & as a busy working mom, with a home office, I couldn't manage it any other way.
Good luck,
S.

Check out this mom and professional organizer: http://www.organizedbysandy.com/

Sandy was wonderful in helping me get all our files/office in order for school, home accounts, my personal business, and many more. She also helped me organize/plan my craft room and kids play room.

Sandy is a great assest and was timely in her arrivals and on task with reasonable quotes and such. Give her a call and ask for an estimate.

Please let her know I sent you her way.

Sincerely,
D.
Mohr

Sounds like you have been given multiple ideas on your organization problem! Hope they help you and your wonderfully busy life! I am asking as Loretta did, how does one get into the transcript work (from home)? I have a beautiful 2 1/2 year old boy and two days a week he goes to Mother's Day out, from 9 am to 2 pm. I have been looking into ways to supplement our household income but alot of these "at home" jobs I have found to be a scam or alot of start up money. I am not the Avon, Mary Kay, Arbonne etc. person...great companies, just not looking for that type of business. Thank you in advance for any info you can send my way. I know you are VERY busy....thank you very much!!
C.
Fort Worth, Tx.

try getting one of thosefiles folders that expand and contract one for each of the mother and mother in laws if your keep track of their bills one for your avon and one for your transcrpiting. i love them its like have a file cabnet with out having one.

I read about this idea in a parenting magazine. I tried it and so far really love it. I bought a rectangular container for upright files and put file folders inside. I labeled each folder for bills, info to save, coupons, etc. It looks nice enough to leave out and not too big. Now when I get the mail, I can put each thing directly into the folder and finally got rid of all of my "piles".

I highly recommend Simply Organized by Sandy (SOS). This is exactly what she does. She'll have you organized in no time and provide a system for you to stay organized.

Before becoming a professional organizer she was a corporate professional in the biotech industry and a mother herself. She also supports Women in Business as a member of the Network of Enterprising Women (www.ntxnew.org). You can link to her website from the NEW site. Here's her information:

Simply Organized by Sandy
Sandy Jones
###-###-####

Good luck

K.