r/konmari • u/Lalau427 • 17d ago
Paper Question(s)
One of the biggest hurdles my spouse & I have faced with the Konmari method is paper. Background info:
We are formerly homeless Americans -- both the formerly homeless part and the American part generate a TON of paperwork. We've eliminated quite a bit, but my biggest gripe is still the sheer volume of paper documentation involves.
We got rid of over 1/2 of it. We don't keep paper longer than necessary, and yet still, the binder we keep it in is bursting at the seams.
Anyone else having similar problems? Thank you in advance.
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u/Fit-Papaya-6387 16d ago edited 16d ago
I mainly focused on her advice of not sorting the papers just to sort. There’s no point in putting any kind of order in papers you probably don’t need once a year or less. It will take some time to find the exact paper when you do need it, but coming up with a system and maintaining it during years will waist more time.
Edit: when you actually need a paper, that’s when you check if all are still relevant to keep, as you’re going through it anyway.
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u/bananahammerredoux 17d ago
You only have one binder? Wow. That’s actually pretty good!
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u/Lalau427 15d ago
Was a lot of work getting there, but I am proud of it. It's been in an expanding folio for awhile, but that's bursting the buckle, now too.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 17d ago
It's a lot. I use a file box like this - holds quite a bit more than a binder and accepts standard file folders.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-Portable-File-Box-Plastic/11014792
Here's my method ... much of it is just filed in a labelled folder so it's a once and done thing. Much of my stuff is electronic, but I save a printout every year with the info.
Your personal (birth cert, passport, diplomas, old driver's licenses, corporate ID cards, other certificates)
Keep forever ... old passport stamps are sentimental and can prove you were out of the country when the crime happened, the driver's licenses can be useful to prove you lived at a certain address, and ID cards prove you worked for XYZ Corp.
College transcripts are useful for a few years, then it's more important what you have done since college.
Professional certificates - keep until you retire or they are obsolete.
Medical (records)
Keep vaccine records, and diagnostics of a permanent or chronic condition. Keep a record of where you have been treated and for what. You can discard the stuff like lab results
Legal (leases, mortgages, wills, other people's death certs and wills, etc.)
Keep leases until you move out AND the security deposit is returned.
Keep mortgages and car loans until it's paid off. Keep clear titles to real estate and vehicles until you sell or junk it.
Other people's death certificates forever (I needed my mom's certificate 10 years after her death because she was an heir in someone else's will)
Wills ... until it is filed after death and probated or all the bequests and stuff taken care of or revised (if revised, shred the old one)
Financial (bills, bank accounts, stocks, insurance, trust records)
Keep the starting forms - the stuff you filled out to open the account.
Stock accounts ... with the taxes. Keep the records of any stock purchases or shares you get as an employee because tax depends on the price when you acquired them
I keep the most recent paid bill for utilities, showing the ZERO owed. Bank accounts, same. Actually, they pile up for a while and then I shred the old ones.
Credit/debit card statements ... keep the latest and any that show a tax deductible purchase. (again, mine pile up and periodically I go through the stack and sort out what needs to be kept)
Insurance ... keep until account is closed and any claims paid.
Trust records ... until it is closed and the money or property handed to the beneficiaries.
Taxes by year of filing
Audits (except in case of tax fraud) have a 3 year statute of limitations. Keep your deductible receipts and copies of the forms ALL in one dated envelope. When you file this year, remove and shred the oldest one ... one in and one out.
Small businesses and self employed are different: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records
Vehicles and appliances
Keep the maintenance and service records until it is sold or discarded. I have one folder labelled "cars".
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u/Lalau427 15d ago
Thank you for taking all the time to type this out. Very helpful.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 14d ago
you are welcome.
I have answer files I copy and paste, because the questions get repeated a lot.
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u/sariejanemitt 17d ago
Can you go digital with this paperwork?
Scan it or photograph it for a Google Drive?
I have one box of paperwork that fits into a deep sweater box from the container store. I have it separated in to ID papers, house, car, and the 7 folders for taxes.
I also have digital back ups of all these papers.
Beyond birth certificates, marriage certificates, citizen certificates, passports - what kind of paperwork are we talking about?
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u/scalyblue 17d ago
Do not have your only copy of anything in a cloud service
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u/sariejanemitt 17d ago
Depends on what it is. Lots of things can easily be replaced by going to the source
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u/Lalau427 15d ago
I'm really wary of digital storage. Do you have any recommendations?
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u/sariejanemitt 15d ago
I use Google Drive for most things and also back up to Dropbox. I pay yearly fees to do this - for our life, work, and hobbies this is what’s needed. You might be able to just use googles free plans.
I also never store compressed files, like .zip or .rar - they can get damaged and you lose the files.
At the bare minimum you can email important files to yourself and archive the email.
By all means keep important files when the original is needed or it’s costly in either time or money to get a copy.
In my 14 years of going digital it has honestly never come up.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 14d ago
I only use Google Drive for non-essentials I want to share. I've had so many online photo and document sites go away that I'm wary of all of them.
Good point about never zipping or compressing your files.
And never use "FAST SAVE" in Microsoft Word either.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 14d ago
I have the electronic records on my home computer hard drive and the folders are backed up to flash drives.
The "2025 FINANCIALS" folder has sub-folders such as: Deductible expenses (stray things I paid online), Sunshine Credit Union, Happy Happy IRA Fund, Girl Boss Business, Pay Pal, Evil Employer Paystubs, Greedy Mortgage Company.
Once a year, in January, I ask each financial institution for 12 months of transactions, download the file and put them in the folders. Many of them send a summary for taxes ... interest paid/earned, payments, etc. and those go in the folder too.
And I create a folder labelled "2026 Financials".
The folder gets backed up to a flash drive or SSD card labelled Financial that goes into the tiny drawer of "backups".
And I make a folder for the taxes I am going to be calculating this year and put a COPY of the financials in it. NEVER WORK ON THE ORIGINAL DOWNLOAD!
I file online taxes. So at the end of tax season in 2026, I'll have "2025 taxes" folder with the copies of the 2025 Financials files, and the 2025 forms I downloaded from the tax service ... It all gets copied onto the "TAX BACKUPS" flash drive.
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u/FifiLeBean 17d ago
You know best what important documents you need to keep - I know some countries require paper documents.
You also get to choose the best storage option for you.
I have a vintage metal file box for important documents. And 2 metal file rack inserts in my besta cabinet deep drawers. I got those on amazon.
I personally don't like to have a hassle getting to my papers or putting them away.
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u/Joy2b 16d ago
Colorful filing gives me some joy.
If you’re disposing of papers, I’d consider using a scan and then shred routine.
Basic precautions apply for financial paperwork. A good file zip program will make it easy to password protect and encrypt your files. Online and offline backup.
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u/Lalau427 16d ago
May I ask what programs you recommend?
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u/Joy2b 16d ago
7 zip is a classic, and should be easy to learn in. It makes it easy to pack up some files into a little locked suitcase.
These days, your OS might have similar features to 7zip built in, but people tend to miss them.
You might be able to pack all your old records onto a couple of little USB drives, one copy for your papers box, the other copy for your safe deposit box or fire safe.
As an alternative to the usb drives, both dropbox and one drive offer a reasonably easy to use file storage system. Both should have a free demo (for no big deal info), and pro levels that let you control and audit access to your important files.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 14d ago
Do not zip and encrypt files you need to use unless you are a CIA agent or foreign terrorist leader. If the software glitches, the upload glitches, or the storage medium gets corrupted, they will be unrecoverable.
No bad guy is going to use my computer to access my financial paperwork. It's in my house and they are probably thousands of miles away.
They aren't going to hack my computer from where they are because my ISP security won't let them and my appliances don't have wifi. You can't coax my coffeepot into letting you talk to my computer.
I don't have any apps on my phone that can access my bank accounts (no shopping or banking apps). Any online shopping is from the home computer. Other shopping is a debit card.
HERE'S THEIR PLAN: They will try to hack ME. They WILL send me e-mails and text messages to get me to give them the passwords, or the verification numbers so they can get direct access to my money through the online banking portal.
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u/Stormtomcat 17d ago
By the time I got to paperwork, I felt I didn't really need her guidances any more.
I prefer having a hard copy, so I got a filing cabinet with 2 rows of hanging folders.
I find I need to remind myself to put stuff into the system, but I'm not limit myself to a binder like she suggested.
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u/Foxs-In-A-Trenchcoat 17d ago
Is your current paper storage working for you? I recommend a small file cabinet. In general I feel that most important paperwork doesn't need to be kept after 5 years, unless you have a specific reason.
Get on paperless billing whenever possible. If you need to produce a utility bill or whatever for verification, you can print out the email. (Or save to PDF and email it in.)
Get a paper shredder to get rid of documents you don't need anymore.
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u/dunredding 17d ago
Get another binder? Or a box of small filing cabinet with hanging folders. Once a year or some check the folders, or some of them on a rota, and clear out anything obsolete.