Attention Organized People!!! Need Helo!

Just decide that stuff has to go.
I saved a few things from each year, but the rest went out.
Once you start chucking stuff, it will get easier...
I promise.

I am having similar problems with the kids stuff - they bring home SO MUCH from school, and then there are the art projects they do at home....aargh! And the photos and the cards.... I may have to try the scanner idea.

As for the Girl Scout stuff, I'm a leader, too, but I haven't been at it very long, so my ideas are still in the infancy state, but this has saved my sanity this past year, so I hope this stuff works for long-term:
-for all those things we HAVE to save for a long time, like bank statements and whatnot - I scanned them, and then e-mailed them to an e-mail address that belongs to the troop. It is saved on a file there. (This way, no one is responsible for losing it! It's all right there, and my co-leader has a password to that account, too! Any receipts that are for troop business are sent to that address, too.
-for ideas for upcoming meetings, I bought a monthly calendar from the dollar store, that has space on the side where I can write things in. I have been known to staple patches to give out at specific meetings, or other whatnots to the appropriate month, too, as well as paperclipping permission slips or other things that HAVE to be done

As for the junk mail, start calling people. Those coupon book things all have e-mail addresses or phone numbers on them - call and opt out. Also, there are some helpful links here for stopping credit-card solicitations:

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/consumer-issues-id-theft/...

After all that, we STILL have piles of paper. It's getting better, though.

I'm watching this thread, to see what other ideas you get! In the mean time, I'm definitely going to have to fire up the scanner...

I throw them out. I have a few special keepsakes, but these days, people can put a photograph on everything and then it feels harder to throw out. I've decided to keep the best and trash the rest.

Kid art? Go to an art supply store or an office supply place and buy an oversized pocket folder with a big flap at the top and store your kid's keepsake artwork in there. Which reminds me I need to buy one... :)

M.,
I only keep the best projects because even then, there are so many papers. Usually I will keep 1 drawing per child per week on the fridge. I clean out the fridge on Saturdays and that is also when I wipe down the front and take all the papers off and go through them.

There are lots of ways you can keep sentimental items in a way that saves space. You could get 1 milk crate, large tupperware box or filing drawer per child to keep projects. You could also scan them or take a photo of them and keep the pictures on a memory card and even make a photo book of them at the end of the year.

Once you get the paper pile cleaned up, it is a lot easier to just not add to it.

I would start by opening mail over the recycling bin. Ads and junk go straight into recycling. I have put a stop to credit card offers (you can opt out online) which cuts down on mail and is a good way to protect yourself from some fraud due to dumpster diving. Immediately shred anything like credit card offers. Start switching to online statements as well. Set your timer for 20 min per day to work on sorting papers, until you are done, It might take a week or 2, depending on how out of control it is, but once you are done it will be a lot easier to opt to toss things, I promise!

I keep a trash can in the garage next to the door coming into the house. As I walk back from the mailbox through the garage, all junk mailings go into that can. The bills go into my bill basket until payday when I sit down and pay them online. Then they go into a bag to be shredded. I have opted for the "paperless billing" from a lot of companies too. I once heard of the OHIO system for dealing with paper clutter. OHIO stands for Only Handle It Once. The idea is deal with it then dispose of it.

The cards and birth announcements can go on a bulletin board to be displayed. As new ones come in, the oldest gets tossed.

Children's art is always a tricky one. I got my girls each a frame where they could display their favorite picture in the kitchen. They were in charge of rotating it and were surprisingly less sentimental about it than I was. I also made the laundry room their art studio. They could decorate the walls with their art using museum putty to hold it up. I loved it because I could be surrounded by their art but could also close the door on it when necessary.

As for Girl Scout ideas, get a Pinterest and stop printing things. Scanners are also great for reducing papers.

The bottom line is:
you gotta periodically throw things away.
If you prefer not to...THEN you need a place for it.
A place, for everything or every category.
ie: file cabinets, plastic bins, rolling carts, baskets, etc.
AND you need to have a place... to keep/store these things too.
BUT also, a large part of keeping "neat" is that: EACH person in the house... HAS to also, put things away, where it belongs.
And if this happens, then "clutter" will not be so cluttered.
Because, everything is in its place.
But you gotta have a place for it, in the first place.
And if you don't have the space for it or the organizers, then you need to throw.stuff.away.

To begin getting "organized" you gotta just do it. Jump in and do it. Initially it will take HOURS. Days. Weeks. But if you do it, consistently... then it WILL get organized. And you would have put everything, in its place. All like things, should be put in a certain place/container/bin/file cabinet etc. Then once that is done, then it will just be... upkeep or your system.

First stop using your kitchen desk for all the paperwork. Maybe use it to display few photos etc. instead. It is very convenient to drop everything on the kitchen desk or counter, but that exactly what makes the house get cluttered.

There are many ways to get rid of all the clutter -

Use your online calendar for upcoming events (lots of free ones outlook, google, yahoo etc).

If you want everything in once place - Cozi planner is good for planning events, it has a calendar ,a journal for writing down ideas, lists for groceries etc. So you can reduce a lot of paper by using an app like this, you can access it on your smartphone as well. And it can be shared by everyone in your family - so for a family event everyone can get reminders on their email.

Get an account with Pinterest - great for getting ideas and saving the ones you find interesting. I totally recommend this!

Buy a scanner and scan all the artwork and make photobooks(my project for this summer) For now, I have bought folders(plastic zippered ones with multiple pockets inside) and have all the artwork in there - one folder for each year.I am yet to sort through them, but I know all of the artwork is in a particular folder and not lying all around the house. If you have more than 1 kid, have one folder per kid. After they are displayed, they go into that folder until you have time to sort and decide what to keep.

As for cards , I have a box where I collect all the important ones which I want to keep. Rest go in the trash. I really don't keep others pictures. Once they are displayed n new ones come in, older ones get trashed. If you are so sensitive about throwing cards, maybe scan them too and save in a seperate folder. Or if its so important to you, you could make a scrapbook or digital photbook.

I have a big box for mails. I have stopped bringing junk mail inside the house. I sort and throw away the junk mail immediately. Rest goes in the box in my husband's home office. Earlier I used to keep them on the kitchen desk/counter, and the house would look so cluttered. My husband goes through them and pays bills etc and shreds everything right away.

Small steps. Just choose a small area to work on and once it's clean and cleared off, it's off limits to future clutter.

I have a file cabinet, too and like using accordian files in various sizes that let me drop receipts and paper into them. When I have to go look for something, I know it's in there somewhere.

I've started scanning and photographing stuff, then storing it on a portable hard drive. 2 external hard drives, actually. I keep one in my safe deposit box, and one in my file cabinet. All my videos and photos are on it, as well as scanned legal documents, my journal etc. The one in my file cab is current. Every few months I exchange it for the one in my safe D box and bring that one up to date.

I used a holding bin (box) for stuff that I had difficulty throwing out. Once a year I went through it and tossed most of it. But there were always a few items I'd decide to keep after all. It gave me a second chance to look things over and also made it easier to throw things in the box rather than keep them on the counter or in my files when I knew that eventually they needed to be tossed.

I like to keep 'stuff', but I also try to have an organization system for it so it's not lying all over the place. I have a picture album where I put picture card and baby announcements from people. And I have a 3-ring binder for each kid with page protectors in it, so any paper-based projects that I want to keep long-term can go in there. Everything else goes on display on the fridge for a few days, then gets replaced by something new. For other kids on art projects my kids do, I try to encourage them to be something that doesn't sit on a counter. For example, when they want to paint, I have them paint flat rocks that I use as stepping stones in my garden. Or they can put their projects on their dresser in their room, not on my kitchen desk. Important mail that needs filed goes onto the steps to go up to the office the next time I go up.

Bills have a special place on the corner of the desk and I don't put anything on top of them.

Paper recycling bag (a paper bag from the grocery store) is under the desk and junk mail and envelopes go directly into it.

My system isn't terrific, I consider it a success if I can keep the clutter to the small kitchen desk, and it stays off of the other counters and the island. And I really clean out everything on the desk about once a month.

Paper sticks to me, too! I will be watching your answers.

As I age and go back through things I thought I HAD to keep, they are less special and I can throw things out more. But I have yrs of stuff I am going through. Get a hold on it now!

Photo cards, Cut the pic out, and put it in a photo box.

Art work, I give mine to my MIL, she will decide what to binder and what to toss.

Bills, keep only 3 month toss the resst or shred. (yeah ,i have 3 boxes to shred these days).

I am getting better at this decluttering thing, but certinaly not perfect.

I have a photo album I put pics of kids I get in cards. Christmas cards and birthday cards I throw out as soon as I open them. Announcements go immediately in the trash.
I take pictures of special pieces of art then the picture will go in my kids yearly album.
Get a binder for Girl Scout craft ideas. Everything must go in the binder.

When the kids were younger and did lots of art projects I would hang them all up on a bulletin board, then when the board was full I would take a picture and throw it all out.

I can totally relate to your dilemna ! Get a plastic shoebox for the cards you can't part witjh and purchade some notebook binders (1 for each child) & protective plastic sheets for those art masterpieces. I have learned to do this, and my mother did the notebook thing for me as a child, I didn't even know it existed until I was grown, what a priceless treasure and something that your children will be able to share with their children ! As far as the hard part about organizing your file file, you 'll realize what's even harder is looking for something in that file cabinet and you can't find cause it was just put in there without the organization it needs, organizing pays off in more ways than one ! Just do a little each day and if you have older children ,(those that know their alpabet ) they can assist you too ,by putting the papers in organized piles by alphabet ! It's not as hard as you think and the sense of accomplishment afterwards is great ! Good Luck and plug away at it , C. S.

I love everyone's ideas.
Some things I will add:
-I've purchased a shadow box hinged frame. You open the cover & display one piece of current artwork that you just love. Then change them out. You can get one per child.
-I have kept cards I receive by tearing off the part w/the greeting. Everyone writes on that side. I throw that part out. I then keep the cute front w/the cute saying or funny part of the card into a box in the desk. Then I mail these out as postcards. Cheaper stamps & cheaper than buying cards.
-I keep the photo Christmas cards everyone sends every year in a box in
the credenza. These are my "photo albums".
-I used shoebox size plastic bins for a lot of things & label the outside.
Keep them in the garage or laundry room.
-I try to file paperwork as soon as I get it.
-I keep bills/paperwork only for the amount of time I need to keep it then it
gets shredded or burnt in the fireplace.
-Go through your file cabinet. I bet there are file folders in there that you
no longer need & can get rid of.
-I keep one big desk calendar to keep track of all my appointments, birthdays, bills due, classes the kids signed up for so we can all see it in
a prominent place. Then I keep an additional pocket calendar in my purse to jot things down when I need it.

Start using your computer for meeting ideas and events. I use my Outlook calendar all the time and Microsoft Office. This way I just have files on the computer and not piles on my desk.

I also have most of my bills sent via email so no more paper bills. This helps when we are traveling as well, I don't need someone to check our mailbox every day. You can also get a shredder and use that once you pay the bill.

Pictures sent I usually keep in a file and some of my daughter art projects, cards and things like that I toss. There will always be some things you don’t want to part with so file those.