KonMari Method: Paper (Organizing Bills, Taxes and Statements)

Marie Kondo's book titled "'The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" gives ideas for organizing paperwork into 3 categories. The KonMari Method is good for helping purge and declutter your home, including your paper bills, statements, tax forms etc. Get your paperwork organized to help save money.
A disorganized office or cluttered work space may lead to lost tickets, or misplaced receipts which could lead to needing to re-purchase or accidental double payments for things. How will you fight a bill without proof of payment? Get organized so you can get control.
I give you several different ideas for organizing your paperwork. Folders, bins, binders and more. Plus how I personally organize our bills, taxes, household repair receipts and my "top secret mission". How do you organize your paperwork?
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[@petmomful2260]

I am 65 and I have realized the importance of labeling the files, or binders, or boxes. My daughter's in-laws were both ill and she and her husband had to pay their bills for a while. They had to sort thru a million boxes of paperwork. No one knew where the bills were, or passwords for the computer. They had saved everything for years and years. It was huge burden and struggle. So I have well labeled files, and I purge old papers. I also tell my daughter, and her daughter, where things are that are important so they will have fewer problems when I die. (I don't intend to soon, but I feel better knowing things are sorted out.)

[@vinlago]

I've had to deal with that and try to keep my affairs neat for this reason. I tape a master password in a location where someone I trust knows so if I get hit by a truck or there's an unforeseen event the people close to me can help out. Also see: Swedish death cleaning (method of organizing so after you die your family will not b burdened with a mess)

[@carrielynn4345]

I have used, a 2-drawer filing cabinet, for decades. Each product you've shown us would be eliminated by having a file for each category in a filing cabinet. It also contains and keeps all your household paperwork out-of-sight . I have a correspondence file with stamps, special occasion cards, stationary, business envelopes, address book, a pen or two AND I have even filed spiral notebooks, etc. and they are all at my fingertips. I have files in alphabetical order, but you could also do everyday folders in the top drawer and archived (the forever papers you talk about) folders in the bottom drawer. All in one location. You can also tuck the cabinet anywhere that's convenient such as in a closet, a bedroom, next to a desk, in a storage area, etc. :)

[@curious1366]

Not everyone likes filing cabinets. For me, once its in the file cabinet, its out of sight and out of mind. Also.... making all those tabs and labels is usually my first stumbling block.

[@curious1366]

Also, I would rather store things a little higher off the floor. When I lean forward to go into a file cabinet, its not good for my current back problem.

[@unitedheartsamerica5924]

I am a visual person also.. so for things i have to remember they have to stay out at eye level. 2 drawer for all else could work for me!!!

[@dreamflight6000]

I was born with the "konmari method" in my blood. Wish I could've written those darn books. We'd be chillin on an island if I did. 😊

[@msdanaryan]

+dreamflight6000 I wish you had too!! 🐳🌴

[@Purplesunflower99]

You still can...you just have to want to do it. Your version might just click better with some people. 🙂

[@ThisIsJ.Nicole]

I paused and got scared when she said child abuse for a moment😶....we're good now😏...please continue😊, I'm listening....😉👍. I like the idea of the 'Uncle Dave' folder. I have tons of medical debt forgiveness letters

[@maryzupancic7833]

That's what I'm sayin.. Like a'ight.. child abuse... Sometimes it'll be like that 🤔

[@deedum75]

You just gave me the push I needed to finish my paper organization. shredding was done, just setting up a new plan and you gave me some good ideas for that.thanks

[@jodollman8136]

We've gone through a season of moving A LOT over the past 6 years. All these moves have left me with a ridulous amount of unfiled, disorganized boxes of paperwork. I just never seemed to have the time, energy, or motivation to tackle the mess. The result was taping up the boxes, moving into the new house, throwing them into a closet and ignoring them. Now, we've finally bought a new "forever home." After six months of renovations the house is finally organized, except for these darn boxes and bins of old papers...sigh. The time has come to tackle this beast and (hopefully) set up a system that works for my husband and me long term. Goodness, I'm filled with dread by the thought of starting. It's overwhelming, but I know it will literally be life changing to tidy this up.

[@franciscazabala4588]

It must be A reason you have kept these papers, as I do as well. It is hard to get rid of papers, we think we will use one day. Purchasing A scanner it is A good tool to hire somebody to come to your home and organize them in A USB or flash drive. Also, you could storage them in A email folder by category and have unlimited Access to it, every time yo want. I suggest the hiring person should be A mom who requires flexible work schedule, because her multitasking activities with a large and extensive life work history.

[@donnawoodford6641]

I use a binder with clear sleeves, and that eliminates the need to punch holes. The sleeves are storage pockets that already have holes. One sleeve, a protective cover, can hold bank statement and you can see page one at a glance, and pull out for details. On the backside you can insert credit card statement, one month one sleeve. This method works for me.

[@jennlatte7519]

My thoughts exactly, got the idea from another video

[@fredswartley9778]

Filing cabinet works great for organizing papers!

[@lindag5076]

I like the vacation folder, I use a monthly folder and put the reservations in the month of the trip.

[@muckymucks]

Preaching Marie Kondo a year before she became a household name. Cool.

[@NanaRae2Three]

OMGosh! All those physical papers would drive me nuts. Scan those puppies and organize them in folders (free) on your computer. Digital copies of most everything is now accepted. Very few things require you actually keep hard copies.

[@donnabuckner2689]

I LOVE the Uncle Dave folder! That is awesome!

[@acajudi100]

I just use a ziplock bag for each month, and I am mostly electronic. Put your paper in a bleach, Dawn, and hot water bucket, tub, sink etc, in the morning it is pulp.toss.

[@margiegabriel518]

thanks this is also a good way to clean your mop bucket monthly!

[@rachidao8822]

Haha so clean the mop and shred/melt paper.

[@ThisIsJ.Nicole]

My 3 boys would find this activity fun

[@SilviaHonores]

I’m just watching this video... super helpful! Thanks!

[@funtimeslucky2959]

Thank you for your great videos :)

[@pocahangun]

Very nice video! Watching it in 2019 and I really love it! Thanks a lot for sharing ♥ Much love from Mauritius Island

[@DollarDude]

I'm a paperless digital guy to the bone, but I still found this fascinating. Awesome!

[@petmomful2260]

I am curious how you store and back up your photos.

[@sonia1082]

Dollar Dude Can you please make a video about going paperless. I would like to learn it.

[@hardeepbansi5952]

great idea about keeping house repairs / work receipts. definitely comes in handy. thanks for the tip 👍

[@sabrinag6394]

Great ideas, I use sorta of an office in a box but its a mess. Along with my whole office. Keeping Receipts for us is really important. I have one box of receipts for Business expense and one for home. We need both at tax time. Not saving them in the past caused a lot grief. Between not being able to return items and writing off things. I love electronic statements.

[@laineygann7713]

Doing the Konmari paper declutter, I followed her method -- I eliminated all six file cabinet drawers full of papers; went to recycling/or shred. Now I have one small plastic box to hold about a dozen file folders for the "must keep" documents. My accountant told me she keeps literally everything on her server so I don't need any of past tax returns. Yay. Konmari is really helpful but the secret was to do it in the first go.

[@unitedheartsamerica5924]

Lainey Gann - WOW YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!!

[@desertrat5543]

This was great. I need to update my paper organization. I've been using a binder with clear sleeves. But I think it'd be great for me to have a couple of folders for the short term things!

[@desertrat5543]

This also has me realizing how many things I should be saving over time! Yikes!! haha

[@AlienTurkey7]

Great video

[@astacy62]

Great ideas...👌👌👌

[@etiksriwahyuni5120]

Wow that is very helpful… thx u dear 🙏

[@springtime1009]

I have been watching your videos for a while and I just subscribed your channel.

[@msdanaryan]

+Spring Time Thank you! ☺️

[@huffster6344]

I make a lot of notes on papers similar to your calendars. I make it a habit of transferring that info to my electronic journal to eliminate the paperwork. On a separate note, if long term papers have vital info that would be difficult to replace, maybe consider a small fire safe to protect it. Keep up the good work.

[@choosetoshine2610]

Good content. New subbie.

[@Cheriahdoll]

Your voice is so easy to listen to. I learn a lot from your videos. When you discussed keeping home repair papers, it reminded me that we do buy new cars (shame on us) and my husband enjoys buying and fixing up classic muscle cars. We keep folders for each car that holds receipts for parts, services etc that we've done w them. Do you have any tips for children's art work?

[@cheryl1205]

The mesh thing I've called 'magazine holder' even tho I don't do magazines, haha. the other accordion file folder. My sister makes the magazine holder thing out of cereal boxes she covers w contact paper.

[@lex6819]

I only keep calendars that have collectible artwork (I've seen used calendars by some of the artists I collect sell on eBay or Amazon for hundreds of dollars, when I bought them for $12 in the year they were printed). They spark joy, and they don't take up a lot of space, since they're just flat wall calendars.

[@WendyValencia]

Woah!!! Who knew that I already folllwed the konmari paper method. Almost exactly what I already do! Great video! Random statement of the day! You are so close to 20,000!!! Yeah!!!!!

[@myownIDENTITY2016]

Hi Dana...new here sort of 😊. I'm a binder girl myself, I love my binders 😍. I recently shared my bill binder and how I go about organizing it...being that I run a home daycare pretty much all documents (bill statements, receipts, taxes etc...get's scanned in). I kinda have a love affair with paper. 😄. Btw I so love your Ikea desk set up...I need all those cubbies in my life too 😊. Thanks for sharing your method & tips.

[@msdanaryan]

+myownIDENTITY Hi!! I'm an IKEA junkie and I loooooove my desk. The bookcase hooked up to the desk is awesome! 😁💕

[@heygirl6243]

K Hmm maybe.

[@hllb]

I scanned my calendars and made them in to pdf on the computer

[@franciscazabala4588]

If you ever want to charge for tutoring in how to make A PDF or how to scan paper work, please advise. It is good to learn

[@rachidao8822]

Where you keep the white bins when you have home repair services?

[@knucklessonic1067]

Hr block told me u need to keep 3yrs of tax documents

[@rileyzoe1]

First of all, I love you & your channel! I love listening to you! I apologize if this has been answered already but what do you think about filing cabinets? I just can't seem to get organized with such a big area to keep papers!!

[@TM15HAKRN]

Ys A Herculean task...But Swear Watching...organisation videos Easier than doing it oneself.....😇

[@elastingirl]

6:45 magazine folder :)

[@petmomful2260]

I am going thru my office this week and discarding a lot of paper, so I enjoyed your video. But if you keep all that stuff you are keeping, is that really the KonMari method? It seems to me that she really advocates getting rid of just about everything. Paper is really hard for me, cause I just don't know what to keep sometimes. My daughter's in-laws recently got really ill and she and her husband had to take over their financial life. It was very difficult for them because they had hoarded so much paperwork. I am determined to streamline my stuff for my children's sake.

[@latinesheay2615]

nice info.. also I convert my files into digitized form, and use "FolderChanger" to organize them .. google it, it helps

[@joycelynroe1117]

k

[@unitedheartsamerica5924]

First video I watched from you! I so much enjoyed! You spoke from the perspective of I have just conquered this problem and You can too! I related really well to all of the challenges you addressed. Oh girlfriends, if you could see how many boxes and file cabinets of paper I have (20 years worth) you would either laugh your ass off or faint! So for me, yes, I would looooove to get it down to 1 box? ( not sure yet I believe thats possible) but that is what I will be going for! Any suggestions on how to hit this head on? What I am doing now is getting my “today” life organized. Current bills, what I need in next few months. I have one file for 2020 for anything else. For the old stuff, I thought I should gather all boxes/containers to one room. Count them and take a photo. Then divide up into sessions to review / trash / whatever.. sound like a good plan? Comments welcome!!

[@linas7383]

My question is, what should i thrown that will not use at future

[@susyshepard320]

If someone is going to have a "show" to help other people it would be a good idea to learn the names of the items you're talking about beforehand. Would make the "show" look more professional. Good luck with your project.

[@erichepperle7085]

Who is "Uncle Dave"?

[@lindasegraves3376]

Dana, Can you please answer this question? Is it a (must) that I must shred involuntary mail credit card applications? Dr. bills with our name on it but no social security #., do I have to shred it? In other words what must I absolutely shred? I am going through to many shredders. I appreciate your time to answer this. Thank you and I Love our video's.

[@christinef7739]

I see that no one answered you so I'll try. With those credit card applications I shred the part that has my name/address and just toss the rest away. You can also rip it in half the long way so no one can fill it out. With most other stuff I only shred the part that has identifying info (usually it's the top section) and put the rest in my recycle bin. Anything that has numbers (SS #, drivers license #, etc.) and birth date I'll shred (just the section with that info.) So you don't have to shred the entire paper which should help your shredder's life :-)

[@HeatherLikesArt]

@@christinef7739 yes, that's exactly what I do. I tear things off and shred just the relevant parts of the sheet of paper. My reason is so the shredder bin doesn't fill up as quickly. I didn't think of it as saving my shredder's lifespan . So that's a bonus for me.

[@curious1366]

If my name, address etc is preprinted on an order form, I shred it... If you just trash it, someone can fill it out, send it in and have the item delivered to their address with the bill coming to me. I worry a lot about someone stealing my identification information!

[@tinarousselle741]

For the long term storage ( the extremely important papers, it's safer to put them in a Safety Deposit Box at a bank just in case of a fire, the papers could get lost and burned if there was a house fire and I found out from a Volunteer Firefighter that papers make the fire a lot worse when there's is a 🔥. Just looking out for everyone's safety.

[@michelelara5982]

We have a muti file folder for our medical insurance, marriage license, birth certificate, passports.. a folder for taxes, a folder for prenatal costs, I'm currently pregnant... our doggy folder with AKC papers, and vet/vaccination info. Also, a new folder for my husband's eye prescriptions, exams, and screenings.

[@funtimeslucky2959]

why dont you keep anything in a safe?

[@sue4341]

I think everyone should get a copy of there credit report from all three credit bureaus. It will help with a lot of things. I had something on my credit report that shouldn't have been there. There was a fake medical bill..on my report that was from a medical collection company. It turned out that this company was known for making fraudulent claims to try and collect money for medical bills that were already paid.

[@sophiadrummond4155]

I have a 2 drawer filing cabinet with files for everything. Top drawer is kid related. I have 3 (grown now) children. Each has a file with their name on it and in it their birth certificate and social security card. School related, bank accounts, medical. Bottom drawer is mine. I have files for everything. Car, home, utilities (separately), warranties, home insurance, life insurance, loans (old), taxes. Monthly utility bills, after its paid, goes into file, then at end of year I can go back figure up the average and tweek my monthly budget amount if i need to whether its decrease, increase, or remain the same. Also, i spend one morning in January cleaning out these files, shredding if needed or determining if i need to keep for longer. Taxes and bank statements I place into a yellow storage envelope with the year on it for long term storage.

[@pipersecretp3]

Mesh magazine holders

[@beccismith4454]

I appreciate this inspiring video, I have begun doing papers can marry style. For me little things like articles that would be interesting, different areas of interest of mine, interesting things to do and places to see in my area, miscellaneous flyers and business cards… It’s getting easier to throw away, and I am pairing down! Any inspiration you have would be great :-) One note, as I understand kon Mari, She encourages standing things up whenever possible. A couple of your options were lying down. If it works for you, great!

[@Abundanthealthcoach]

Anyone have any good experiences w scanning services? I have 8 boxes of old paper-tax stuff- personal stuff - School stuff

[@siobhanmulvey]

do folks folks storage their tax docs digitally now? I have 7 years of tx docs digitally and in paper and really really want to shred the paper and be close to paperless. I this foolish?

[@monicacollins8289]

Seems like she needs a filing cabinet for all those boxes of folders. On wheels of course.

[@qoqopepper]

Red wire mesh magazine holder; red beans & ricely yours, accordian folder

[@user-qx5xz8kw9m]

19ñ de caminhão pra pra pra mim é o que ❤

[@jmmbarkovich8734]

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