Friday Five

You wouldn't expect it with only two people, but paperwork is a BIG problem in our house.  Or, should I say, it used to be. I have a few ways that I personally like to deal with it.

My mom couponed this little guy [it's pink...girl?] from Target a while back.  It's $10 but I believe she got it for around $4.

It's not beautiful but I don't display it and I l-o-v-e it.  It's sturdy and portable but I especially like the top....

Here I can keep all my tools-labels, pens, stickers, scissors, paper clips etc.  It's nice to have everything I need all in one place :)

This file box is actually designed for hanging folders.  I had some already but I think those are just kind of ugly and it seems like papers always fall out...

[lame!]

I found these adorable folders from Walmart for just .$95 and my wheels got to turning...

I simply pulled the hanging part out of the ugly folder and slid it in the crease of my new pocket folder.  This turned my cute [& cheap] folder into a hanging folder with pockets. 

You could also just glue the hanging-stick-thingy (WHAT is that called??) to the outside top of the folder.

These double pocket hanging folders make sorting paperwork much easier for me.  For example--since we're not married we still have separate insurance.  His insurance information goes on the left (he's left handed) and mine goes on the right (I'm right handed).  It's one insurance folder but it stays separate AND nothing falls out  :)

Another example is the utilities folder...water bills go on the left and electricity bills go on the right.  

I also made labels [shocking!] for each folder.  Like with my freezer labels, I just printed and laminated them, then taped them to the back of the folder :)

If I wanted to spend a little extra on this project, I might have gone with these-dry erase hanging folder labels, but for now, I love my system! 

So how do I keep up with it? 

Every Friday after work I do what I call the "Friday Five" [I'm big into alliteration as you will learn!].  I take all the paperwork from the week, sort it and file it.  It literally takes less than five minutes and then I can start my weekend carefree!  

So how do you sort your paperwork? Have you gone electronic? It's something we're really thinking about but I'm just too chicken!  

Most importantly, do you think those hanging folders are as UGLY as I do?

Thanks for stopping by!

xo,

courtney