How Long To Keep Documents

On the heels of finishing our Admin Makeover, I thought I'd share the guidelines I use to keep our filing under control, since it can be a little tricky to figure out how long to keep documents and when to throw them out. 

Toss After One Year

• Most utility bills
• Employment benefit information
• Most sales receipts (excluding those for itemized deductions and big ticket purchases)

Toss After Three Years

• Explanation of health insurance benefits (as long as claims are settled)
• Insurance policies (as long as you have no claims still in process)
• Bank and credit card statements (if you don't itemize deductions)

Toss After Five Years

• Mortgage statements (as long as your year-end statements clearly show the total amount you've paid in interest and property taxes over the course of the year)

Retain for Seven Years

• Tax returns and tax forms (W-2, 1099, etc.)
• Bank and credit card statements (if you do itemize deductions)
• Pay stubs
• Canceled checks and receipts for any tax-deductible expenses (annual mortgage interest and property taxes, deductible business expenses, child-care bills, out-of-pocket medical costs)
• Select phone and utility bills (to prove residence)

Keep Indefinitely

• Confirmation slips that list the purchase price of any investments you own
• Home-improvement records (for as long as you own the home)
• Receipts for big ticket items (where replacement cost exceeds the deductible on your homeowners' or renters' insurance policy)
• Beneficiary designations
• Medical records

Other Tips

• It's really easy to go paperless for almost everything now - switching your bank and credit card statements to online (paperless) delivery reduces household mess, is environmentally friendly and makes it easier to find documents quickly. Many companies also offer incentives for going paperless (Wells Fargo, for example, paid us $10 for switching to online-only bank statements)
• Think about investing in a scanner and scanning all the documents you need to keep - once they're scanned and saved, shred the originals for even better home office organization.

Of course, this all assumes you live in the States. I only worked in the UK for a short while (between graduating and emigrating) and I can't remember enough about taxes there to be able to create a comparable list for my British readers. Still, this might give you an idea of what to think about when you're deciding how to reduce your paper clutter.


And while we're on the subject of organised work spaces, here are a few beauties that have inspired me lately...

{Better Homes & Gardens}

{Dwellings by Devore}

{Better Homes & Gardens}

{House of Turquoise}

{Country Living via Pinterest}

{Source unknown via Emily Ann Interiors}

Admin Makeover

I mentioned not very recently that I had spent a really loooong time reorganizing our files (here). Well, it took 19 hours, but it's (nearly) finished!


This was what I was working with when I started...

It was organized but there was too much stuff, so I went through each file and threw a lot of it away. Need I remind you that this was only about two thirds of the rubbish?

It can be a bit hard to figure out what to hold on to - I'll post the guide lines I go by in the next couple of days.

After all that, I made a list of all the categories our documents fell into. I figured out, with a bit of rearranging, that I could get 13 binders down to 7, consisting of:

• Checking & savings accounts
• Credit cards
• Loans, tax & miscellaneous financial
• Our old condo (which we're renting out)
• Health
• Utilities/household
• Employment & education

I toddled off to Target and bought five 2" binders and two 1.5" binders at a total of about $28. I picked the cheapest white ones there, which had plastic pockets on the sleeves, and cut out scrap book paper to fit. Because we're in the process of moving our office into the living room, I picked colors that would go with the decor in there (pink and duck egg blue, although they look a bit funky in this pic).

 

I labelled them temporarily while I filled them with all the documents. I use dividers in each one, so they're all nice and neat.

Then I made labels for the sleeves. I printed them on turquoise paper, neatly ripped the edges and mounted them using Elmer's glue (or PVA glue) onto textured card.

I mounted the new labels on the outside of the sleeves, thinking it would be easy to replace and update them without damaging the scrapbook paper. I used adhesive foam circles (similar to mounting tape) to add some depth.

Now that they're all done, though, I'm not entirely loving the labels. I thought about reprinting them and sticking them directly on the scrapbook paper inside the sleeves, but then I would have to replace the whole sleeve if I needed to update the labels. Instead, I'm going to save my pennies for a Silhouette machine, so I can make uber pretty labels - a bit like these (both from The DIY ShowOff - click the link to see more of Roeshel's Silhouette projects)...

So even though it's not completely finished, it's a whole lot better than what I started with. Want a recap? Here's the before...

And the after (apologies for the terrible pictures - there is no natural light in that room)...

I'll update if and when I get my Silhouette. Maybe I'll put it on my Christmas list and see what happens...here's hoping!

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Nursery Ideas

I just had a bit of a Pinterest blitz, reorganizing my Pinboards and creating a couple of new ones - Baby Girl Nursery, Big Boy Room, Autumn Decor, Winter Decor and Spring Decor. (If you follow me on Pinterest, apologies for probably clogging up your feed!)

I was mainly compiling ideas for the nursery, which were scattered over a few different boards. Now they're all in Baby Girl Nursery. It looked like a girl at our 12 week ultrasound, so that's what I'm going on for now. (That said, quite a few of these ideas could easily be adapted for a boy, so it would be easy to create a new board if it turned out to be another little man.) Take a look...

I was looking at my original idea board again, and a few key pieces aren't available anymore, like that wonderfully stripey rug - cry!

And anyway, the walls aren't going to be painted, so I'm going to have to come up with other ideas to get the same look with the griege walls we already have. Not as hard as it might sound - here are a few ideas (thanks to Pinterest again)...

What about an entire wall covered in scrapbook paper?

{Source}

Or the wall panels I mentioned in Wednesday's post.

Or I could get the same effect as this spotty wall by pinning fabric up...

It wouldn't necessarily have to be spots - maybe one of these beauties would work too, trimmed with ribbon and attached with decorative nails...

With no windows, I have to get pattern in there somewhere! There is some beautiful bedding out there too, like this, from etsy.

And there's always colorful art - I love these photos...

And these DIY art ideas...

I am giddy over this pillow cover from etsy seller warmnfuzzies...

I've also decided to sell the bookcase (seen in the original idea board), since it's a small room (9'5"x8'10"), and the bookcase is quite imposing. I want to replace it with some shelving and maybe cute storage like this for a few bedtime books...

Oh, and did I mention the budget for this room? It's about the same as the room itself - pretty teeny - about $400 (thanks to a very generous member of my family, who wishes to remain nameless), and preferably less than that. We have the crib, dresser and glider already, so that just has to cover:
- Rug
- Artwork
- Wall decor (e.g. fabric)
- Bedding (crib sheets & skirt, since that's all we really need)
- Lighting
- Shelving/storage
- Paint? (I might paint the crib...not sure yet)
- Bassinet (which will go in our bedroom to begin with)
See, not that much really. I'm going to utilize Craigslist and Ikea for a few bits, and DIY some of it too, obviously. I'm pretty sure it can be done!

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Things I'm Coveting

So it seems I was being overly optimistic when I said I was feeling better. My morning sickness has decreased, but it's very far from gone, so there are still no new projects from me for now. That said, I have got lots of ideas, and I've spotted a lot of pretty things lately.

I am in love with these gorgeous side tables from Ikea (Isala in grey, $179).

I think one or two would be a lovely addition to our living room (see more of that on the home tour). I'd get them instead of the $80 Target Drum tables I originally wanted...

...I still love the shape, but I'm not sure how stable they would be around little people. And I can't find them on their website anymore, so I might have missed the boat on those anyway.

Speaking of Ikea, I've come across a couple of gorgeous hacks lately. The first was featured on Ikea Hackers recently - a cute bench/ottoman made from a little Lack:

I want to make one for our master bedroom - we have no seating in there right now and it's small enough that I'm sure I could squeeze it in somewhere!

Secondly, I love pretty much everything about Overlays. If you're not aware of them, they're fretwork panels that you can add to plain Ikea pieces (or anything else, for that matter) for a dash of awesome. I'm thinking about buying a Malm (shown below, upper left and lower right) just so I can Overlay it!

I've also seen a lot of lovely stuff on Pinterest that I want to try out for myself. Here are a few favorites...

{Drawer pulls as earring holders - originally from Better Homes & Gardens}

{Apples as tea light holders would make a great Thanksgiving centerpiece}

{I could totally DIY a magnet board like this, although this one is available on etsy}

And I have also been cataloging nursery ideas on Pinterest...

{Flower hand prints}

{Wall panels from Rosenberry Rooms}

{Pretty lantern DIY}

{Wooden bird houses add interest to a wall decal - originally from RateMySpace}

And about the nursery... only five weeks until we find out whether baby number two is a boy or a girl - eeep! I've decided I'm not going to paint that room (seen on our home tour in a very unfinished state), so whatever the sex, the design will have to work with the existing griege walls. It's going to be a bit of a challenge for me, but it'll give me the chance to practice what I preach and try out one of my ideas for rental walls. I've come across a few more recently (found via Pinterest)...

{Burlap stuck to walls with trim and nail heads from Kara's Cottage -
could be done with a pretty patterned fabric too}

{Wallpapered wood panels hung on plain walls can be taken with you when you move.
I don't think that's what they did here - these look permanent - but you get the idea}

And, in addition to the Rosenberry Rooms wall panels shown above, I came across these much cheaper ones at the Container Store recently ($9.99 for a set of four):

Finally, our living room is undergoing a bit of change. We've moved the office area in there, and I want to create a gallery wall with some shelving, so I'm gathering ideas for that. I'm also thinking about new pillows - I spotted these beauties from etsy seller PopOColor. Beautiful, no?

{Duralee Robin Egg Blue}

{Kravet Pink Embroidered Trellis on Linen}