I love organization. Everything about feeling like I have my sh*t together — from cleanliness to having a schedule and to-do list. You name it. It really makes life more calm and stress-free for me. But not too long ago I had a moment full of frustration where I realized that I needed to implement a better organizing system for my important documents that need to be kept. Yes, I had already scanned most documents to digital files. From birth certificates, diplomas, auto documents, drivers license, etc. But these documents can’t be just tossed out.
So I went through my milk crate file box one more time to purge anything unnecessary. Next, I went on Pinterest to search for ideas on what to label my tabs with. I decided I only needed about 12 tabs, so the best solution was to downsize from my large crate file organizer down to a small accordion-style file folder.
I knew I didn’t want a plastic one (my hate for plastic is real guys lol). So I managed to find this light grey with gold polka dots cardboard/paper based one for only $6.99. I know that you can pretty much find similar styles at stores with stationary/office supply sections. I loved that it’s lightweight, easy to carry around with me now, and stylish yet functional. The spaces inside were alphabetized and organized into these 13 file tabs:
- Auto
- Award Certificates
- Bank
- Birth Certificate
- Career
- DMV
- Passport
- Passwords
- Prescriptions
- Receipts
- Social Security
- Taxes
- Work
These were just the categories that were most relevant to me. Other important tabs that you can add are marriage certificate, housing, rental property, pet, emergency, etc. What kind of organizing system for documents do you guys have?
(Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored in any way. All items mentioned were bought with my own money.)
The Minimalist Taurus 
I resist being organised 😉 I can only cope with it in small doses. I keep money, ID, & bank cards together with my cheque books (yep I still have them!) in a little drawer. I have a cardboard / paper file like you show – I think it has instruction manuals in – it’s about time I checked. I have a box of important papers like the mortgage & pension but really there’s paperwork all over the house. I am bad with paperwork, & that’s something I was going to do today – your post is so timely! Thanks 🙂
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Checking your folders every now and then helps to keep it under control, I agree 🙂 Thanks for the read and good luck to you!
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I have these papers together but I seem to have so much other stuff I don’t need, but there is that fear that if I throw it out/shred it I will need it )the fear is real). I think if I simply write down those things that I have to have the paper copy of I can then begin to toss the other stuff. Love your folder, pretty, practical and not plastic!
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I did some purging of the documents that I no longer needed, were expired, etc. before I organized them. That might help 🙂 Also, scanning the ones you feel scared to throw out just in case! Thanks for the read.
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Oh that’s so pretty!
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Thanks 🙂
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This is so nice and super handy in case of an emergency. I need to do this!
My partner has a couple of old folders where he shoves all our important documents in no particular order. It’s so unorganized the it just makes me anxious when I need to find something – will be reorganising asap
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Thank you! It really is, you never know when you need to run out the door in case of emergency and grab all your documents in one place. I know that feeling — good luck 🙂
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I have a similar system, though I still find myself sorting through it regularly to make sure nothing is in there that could go out,
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Nice! I do that too, it’s always a constant purge right? lol
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Absolutely!
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It’s good to have everything in one place – I need to redo my system. Good stuff! 🙂
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I agree, especially after being very disorganized with my files…it has given more peace of mind 🙂
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Paper is one area I struggle with. I can never seem to get my piles down for long. We have several pieces of property, farm vehicles, and and a first grader that comes home with maybe 20 papers. Of course I can’t keep them all. I like your format and might give that a try. I think it might be time to purchase a scanner to help eliminate hard copies. There is also a nice app called Tiny Scanner that turns pictures on your phone to a pdf file.
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