No matter what country you live in "paper" is the biggest clutter problem. Most of my organizing clients have "Tackle Paper Piles" as their number one item on their list of things to organize.
Here are some ideas to stop the madness of paper piles.
It take a few weeks or months to stop the junk mail, but here are some things to do to start now.
RECYCLE: Don't take the paper into your house. Put a recycle bin close to where you enter your door after you've picked up your mail. Recycle, recycle, recycle! (Don't recycle any papers that have personal information on them.) Which brings me to my second point: A shred pile.
SHRED: Make a "To Be Shred" pile. (This is a great little job for your older children to do for you) Shred anything that has your social security number, credit information, anything that is personal information. Make sure this pile doesn't get ignored very long, or you'll have a big job ahead of you.
STOP CATALOGUES: The best way to stop unwanted catalogues is to call the company direct and make sure you have the address label with you. They may ask you information from that label to stop the catalogue.
USE A SERVICE:
www.catalogchoice.org
www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action
GET A FREE CREDIT REPORT: This helps you to see what credit cards you have that you do not use. Some credit card companies sell your information to other businesses that will send you unwanted mail.
www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/freereports/index.shtml
OTHER PAPERS: (Receipts, legal documents) Here is an IRS website to help explain what and how long you should keep records.
www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98513,00.html
Happy Recycling!
