Ideas to Deal with all Those Papers

This is our first line of defense when it comes to paperwork.  Otherwise known as the entryway paper command center.  The largest basket is recycling.  The majority of the paper that enters our house, goes straight into that basket.  The second shorter basket is where all papers should be placed for myself to go through and organize.  Except it's usually up to me to round up papers from on top of the desk, in the kitchen, practically anywhere else and get them into this basket.  It's a work in progress for the family.

At first pass, I try to use the file folder to organize bills/paperwork that actually need to have something done to them, or need to be saved.  The file folder will then make it's way upstairs to the home office when I have the time to follow through on the paying bills and filing things.  In all honesty I usually save the filing and just tackle it once a year.  Or, since I already showed you the embarrassing state of my home office, I should admit it's probably more like every couple of years.  The bills unfortunately have to be tackled monthly.

But what about all the school paperwork that comes home?  That piece gets trickier.  I've heard the statement asking why we go to the trouble to save our kids papers, test scores, etc only to have them at best, quickly look at them once when they are 18 and then throw them away.  I totally agree with this statement.  Yet I can't quite throw everything away.

In our house we have a holding drawer for all school work that could potentially get saved.  And if I left it up to the kids, the majority of things would get saved.

This is also the drawer that unfinished school work/homework and important date papers go.  So we definitely go through it quite a bit.  Once we have fully agreed a project, test score, or report should be saved, it gets moved to a folder in the filing box.

I made file folder for each child labeled with their name and current grade.  I attached a picture from either their school photo proofs, or the wallet size pictures that you never know what to do with.

It makes their folder special to go back and not only see the types of things they were working on during that grade, but also seeing a smiling picture of them at that age.  At the end of their school career they will each get a folder case with their papers in them.

Then it will be up to them to decide what to do with it.