Simple ways to organize important papers
August 4th, 2008 / 3 Comments
Walk through the front door of my house and you will see that I am obviously not an organized person.
We have stacks of stuff on every horizontal surface, including the floor…
“Mom, where is my report card from last year?”
“Mom, where is my vaccination record?”
“Mom, when was the last time I had an eye exam?
How I can teach my kids to organize their important papers?
A friend of mine suggested a very good system. When her daughter was in the first grade, she set up a file system for her:
1. One folder for Medical Records.
2. One folder for School Records.
3. One folder for Financial Records.
Her daughter is to keep this simple filing system herself. Every time she goes for a medical visit, she puts the receipt into the Medical Records file. All her official school records goes into the School Records file.
What goes into the Financial Records file? If you’ve opened a savings account or a college fund account, monthly statements can go into that file.
I check it once a month to make sure it’s kept up, and clean it up once a year. You’ll need to expand the space as needed.
Each of your children should have their own 3-file system. This will teach them to maintain their own important papers, takes the burden off the parent, and we will know where to find those records when we need it.
Do you have any other ideas?
Comments
OMG – I love LOVE love this idea!!
I have a file for them in the office, which I maintain myself. But of course, why not teach them the value or learning this organizational skill early on?
Thanks for sharing, lady – will definitely be putting this into action. 🙂
Definitely rather have the kids learn to organize themselves. I can’t keep my own stuff straight.
Love the idea. I’m not too organized but getting better. I’m sure the concept would have taken hold sooner had I been involved earlier on. My mom was extremely organized so she took care of everything.
That said, I think I may want to keep the financial records separate, especially as they pertain to college savings etc. I’m undecided as to the amount of visibility I want to those records until the time comes. A personal saving would be another matter however.
Thanks!
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