Since we’re talking about mail:
What do I do with my old bills/insurance statements/etc? I have executive dysfunction and I just can’t find a simple method that works for me. It all ends up in a pile and every few months I pitch the whole thing and promise myself to do better next time. Perhaps there’s an app, website, or program I should just digitize them into?
I was in the same boat and wound up buying a scanner and installing Paperless. Scanner sends the files to my network drop box, Paperless picks them up from the drop box and digitizes them. I finally got rid of like an entire garbage bag of old pay stubs and stuff that I had been hoarding.
I have a filing cabinet with one drawer for hanging folders. Everything gets sorted and put in there. When a folder gets too fluffy I will pull it out and shred old stuff.
I could probably get rid of a lot but this method does come in handy occasionally. Most recently were my 2023 taxes which I filed in July (I had an extension). I yanked the 2023 file and immediately had 90% of my donations and medical expenses.
If you need it, put it in a folder and store it somewhere safe. But you really don’t need 99% of it.
I have a safe with some cash and two folders:
- important, official documents - birth certificate, passport, etc
- potentially important financial stuff - tax returns, mortgage papers, etc
I definitely need the first, I will probably never need the second.
