Filing, Filing, Filing
A few weeks ago, when I posted about my filing cleanup, a few of you wanted to know about the filing system I use. It all starts with these plastic file boxes and the regular green hanging file folders (and a package of colored ones for me, but those are not necessary). I keep records for both myself personally (personal and my small business), for my dad, and for the business I manage in one plastic file box. I print labels for each file folder, including one for each month of the year, one for taxes, accounting printouts, taxes, and any other categories I need to track. (often I use a red folder for taxes, a yellow for important documents, etc., something to easily set it apart from other files so I can quickly add documents).
The box lives right by my desk and as I need to file something, it goes right into the correct file. Typically, the current month is at the front and I move the months back as they are over. Filing things instantly is the best way to do it, there’s never any stack that needs filing. In some cases, I have files within the files. For my blog, I keep a regular file folder (non-hanging) inside the current month’s folder. Any necessary receipt for it gets put directly in this folder, it is then moved into the following month’s folder when that month starts. When the year is over, the box goes into the garage and a new one is started. When taxes need to be done, I simply have to grab my tax folder and all the necessary information is in that folder. It’s very rare that I have to search for an important paper or receipt that my accountant needs for my taxes.
I also keep a set of files that get moved from last years box to this year, things like insurance, car files, medical files, retirement accounts, etc. I also keep the previous year’s tax folder with return as well, in case I need to reference it.
After spending a day cleaning up old files, I decided that starting this year I was going to ruthless about what things I saved. My personal files are organized in such a way that I can simply empty out the monthly file folders after a few years, all important information is kept in the tax folder or the files that get moved each year.
Even though I keep very little nowadays in the way of filed papers, I’m hoping to cut down on it even more. This system makes it easy to deal with papers after a few years, anything that’s important is set aside throughout the year. When I didn’t have to keep business records, I used a pocket file box for each year. It worked beautifully, I even colored my labels to match.
Do you have a good filing system in place? What’s your biggest struggle with filing & paperwork? For those of you wondering about my system, do you have any specific questions?
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Knock, Knock, Knock
We’ve been having fairly warm weather, which means the snow has melted off leaving some bare ground. I think this time of year is rather ugly, but the birds get really excited. They spend their days scratching around on any thawed portion of earth they can find. Once they’re done with that they come hang out on the stoop waiting for me to give them some food.
I’d rather they not do this, as they leave little gifts all over the front walkways. This weekend I plan on putting up a few electric fences to not only keep them contained, but to protect them from the foxes that will start trying to nab them here soon.
What’s happening on your front porch this week?
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Ding, Ding, Ding…
For my birthday this past summer, a friend gave me this lovely wind chime for the garden. It’s made from vintage silverware, silver plated silverware, which always makes a lovely sound. I was worried it would be a bit bright and harsh, but it actually sounds lovely.
It’s right by the front door, hanging in the old apple tree. I can hear it when I come and go. My grandmother always had a big windchime in her garden, the kind with the giant pipes that played low melodious notes. Every time I hear one I think of her. Someday, I may get one like that.
Do you have wind chimes in the garden? Do you like them?
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Tap, Tap, Tap…
When we lived in Ohio, Valentine’s day was always the day we tapped our maple trees. We’d put in one tap and wait until it started flowing, then we’d tap the rest of the maple trees. Typically, I tap the trees in late February here in Maine. When Mr Chiots looked at the forecast, he said it looked like perfect sugaring weather.
I decided to tap one tree to monitor the flow, as soon as I started drilling the hole the sap started flowing.
I ended up putting in 8 taps yesterday, all but one was flowing. I may add more tomorrow, but I may stop at 8. Coincidentally, Valentine’s Day is also the day I fertilize all my indoor citrus trees as well. I find setting major holidays as dates to do certain chores works very well for me.
Is maple syrup produced in your area? Do you have set holidays when you do certain chores?
If you’d like to read more about small scale maple sugaring, I highly recommend this book: Backyard Sugarin’: A Complete How-To Guide (4th Edition)
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Couch Potatoes
The Winter Olympics have been on for the past few nights, which means we’ve been parked on the couch watching them. We’re not big fans of the summer games, but the winter ones always suck us in.
The Nordic events always draw us in, we watch them all in their entirety. We’re not big fans of the popular sports like figure skating. Generally, we don’t watch sports, but boy the winter games find us spending most evenings on the couch watching. It’s a good thing they only come once every four years.
What’s your favorite Winter Olympic sport to watch?
