With the new year kicking off, one typical task for keeping your home organized is starting or refreshing a filing system for documents, papers, bills and other items around your home.
Here are a few tips to help you get started with a filing system that actually works all year long.
1. Invest in a good file cabinet. If you want your filing system to succeed, you can’t spend the year fighting against it because it lives in a sticky or undersized drawer. Invest in a good file cabinet that allows you to use hanging files. Craigslist is a great place to start since you’ll find dozens of sizes, shapes and colors to choose from at decent prices. Expect to pay $30-$100 for a good quality metal cabinet that is sturdy.
2. Get a label maker. Label makers are the bread and butter of the highly organized. When you use a printed label instead of handwriting to mark your files, they are quicker to find and easier to sort. You don’t have to go overboard, but something like the Dymo LabelManager 220P Portable Label Maker
should serve you well for the long haul.