Project Simplify: Paper Clutter

Last week's problem area to work on was paper clutter.  Just the idea nearly put me into premature labor, but that just means that I was really in need of focus in that area.  When I began this project, I put all my random stacks of paper into one large stack which measured almost 2 feet high.  Eeeek!  Of course, I was too embarrassed to take a photo of that.  I began by simply making stacks: garbage, to look at more closely, bills to be paid, books, recipes, and other.

It is unbelievable how many pieces of paper I had that really could just be junked.  This may make me sound like a bad mom, but there were so many papers the kids had drawn and colored on that found their home in the circular file.  Not to mention some advertisements, magazines, flyers, old newsletters, expired coupons and whatever else my husband or cleaning lady would add to the stack in the corner of my counter.  I even had this clutter of stuff on my counter that I thought I needed.  Turned out, it was mostly junk.

What did I save?  Pictures and my tax information.  That's about it.  There were 4 pieces of mail that required my response.  Blah!  How did I set those aside and forget about them?  3 of them were health insurance related and it made me realize something: our health insurance industry really needs an overhaul.  One form was from our new carrier, trying to figure out if we had any additional insurance or Medicare.  Ummm...we are paying our premium, so don't your worry about it.  Pay the darn bills!  Another form requested information as to the nature of a visit my husband had to the emergency department, just so they could see if they could sue or get money from another party.  I get it. Really, I do.  But, let's be honest.  If someone else were responsible, do they really thing that we would have paid our deductible ourselves?!  We would have reported the issue at the ED, not waited forever to let someone know.  The last one was just a "how'd we do" survey.  Really, P would never take time to fill that out, so I did for him.  I highly question the accuracy, but, oh well ;)

Here is what remains of my stack:

What's in it now?  A couple of coupons, a form I need to complete which requires research and phone calls, and my documents to complete our 2010 taxes.  Hopefully, this stack will disappear this week.  Fingers are crossed!

The next Project Simplify hotspot? Kids clothes and toys. Perfect!  I've started that and the weather looks like its going to change from winter next week, so this could work.  I'll just have to save 2 or 3 wintery outfits for each kid since, well, northeastern PA is cold until about June.  Yep, you better believe it.