January is coming to a quick end, can you believe it?! And we have been very busy creating a paper system that will work for us through the rest of the year! Totally a reason to celebrate!
So what did we do to get there? Just in case you are joining the party late...
Step 1: We sorted through our stacks and piles of papers and decided what to keep and shred.
Step 2: We created a filing system for our new stacks!
And found a way to tuck away those awkward sized papers...
Step 3: We found a filing system for our receipts.
Step 4: We chatted about maintaining the system throughout the year!
Step 5: We utilized the power of technology and switched to paperless whenever possible.
Step 6: We got those little pesky papers that we all adore, called coupons, in organized order!
I don't know about you, but such a weight is lifted when a project of this magnitude is deemed complete! Which is why it's time to let loose and party!!
I have been anxiously awaiting this moment for the whole month! And it's finally here! Grab a button to add to your posts, and link up below! {Please let me know if my button doesn't work, after blogging for what seems like forever, I am still new at some of this stuff! Thanks!}
Thanks so much everyone, for making our first monthly challenge such a success! I had so much great feedback that individuals would like to continue these challenges, so next month we are doing another. Get ready to get all those photo's in order, because we are talking all things photography in February!
I joined the party a little late, but was very inspired and ended up coming up with a new mail system that will (hopefully) work for us! I also reorganized our family binder into better categories and I now actually use it!! lol! And I was also inspired to make cute labels for my children's craft supplies and toys! :-) So thank you for the wonderful inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteOH GOOD GRIEF. I've been watching this challenge and haven't participated, yet. I think I'll tackle the paper this weekend (sigh!). You just inspire me TOO MUCH! Hope to come back and link up!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say Thank You for this series of posts! I've saved every bill and bank statement I've ever had because I didn't know what could be thrown away. I finally cleaned out my files this week. My husband laughed as I shredded bills from almost 5 years ago and paystubs from 10 years ago. Although, I haven't tackled the bank statements just yet. And I think next week I'll work on setting some accounts up to be paperless so I don't have to do as much filing in the future :)
ReplyDeleteI have done most all of the challenge (though my files are definitely not as cute as yours) but I didn't blog about. Do I get to celebrate too, anyway?
ReplyDeleteOf course you do Cathy!! The act of taking steps to simplify and streamline your life is what it's all about, big or small projects are all worth celebrating over!! Congrats!!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Jen
Mine isn't even as close to being as pretty as yours... but it's done, way better than before, AND causes less anxiety so I linked up :)
ReplyDeleteCelebrating over here....well not 100%. ;)
ReplyDeleteYesterday we had about a foot of snow (NY), so I stay home yesterday and spent half my day shoveling and the other half in my home office going through paperwork. :D
I have a tall 3 drawer file cabinet. Two of the drawers just had stuff and paperwork thrown in and not organized at all. I took all of the stuff out and made piles, then shredded some. My back couldn't take anymore at that point, so I stopped. But I have already made my labels for my folders and found a great way to keep my receipts & coupons (I bought the same little plastic envelopes from Target that you did). I will blog about it soon. I already took before pictures and once I'm done I will take the after pictures.
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to your next months photo challenge. :D
Very nice. I'm a recent follower of the blog and I'm loving it. I look forward to future challenges!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog about half way through the month and have fallen. in. LOVE!! I totally heart organizing too! And your style is so similar to mine!! I think we could be BFF! haha...anyways I'm currently working on my paper system and am hoping to blog about it when I'm through. My blog is very new although I've been lurking around blogland for awhile! Hopefully I can link up before the party closes!
ReplyDeleteAh! The beast that is paper organizing! Thank you for making it feel so manageable and stylish at the same time!
ReplyDeleteI was given a "Stylish Blogger award"/ shout out and asked to pass it on to blogs that I delight in. I love your beautiful solutions to creating an organized and lovely home! So I included you in the blogroll.
Thanks for your sharing! I linked your blog in this post "awarding" you for your fabulousness!
http://bgettinghot.blogspot.com/2011/01/look-ma-part-ii.html
Bethany
Whoohoooooo!!!!!!!! <3 Mine is way too small to show off! but congrats ladies!
ReplyDeletexoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
Thanks for the inspiration with this task! I am only new to your site, but I have basically taken us from a bulky filing cabinet to a pretty storage box! (The filing cabinet is on ebay as we speak). All the rest of my paperwork is stored on Dropbox and all my ideas are stored on Evernote. My life has changed and i feel so much lighter! I cannot rave about Dropbox and Evernote highly enough. These programs along with blogs like this, have changed my life! THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteI hope you are going to include digital organizing of pictures!
ReplyDeleteOh I can't WAIT for February - my photos need desperate organising!!
ReplyDeleteI might get my Mum in this as well... she still has our childhood photos in magnetic albums - GRR!!!
I may have missed this, but as I was going through my filing cabinet, I came across a lot of things that take up a lot of space and was wondering how you deal with these. I'm talking about the overflow of owners manuals for the tractor, fridge, DW, all that good stuff. By the way, I may have mentioned this before, but 4 and 5 year olds are very good at the shredding thing - supervised, of course ;).
ReplyDeleteHi Courntey!
ReplyDeleteWe purchased the two pack of these boxes: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80115484
We keep them in our storage room. We use one for archived old paperwork that we keep for "just in case" purposes and the other to house all of the product manuals.
Hope that helps!
xoxo,
Jen
i'm so bummed i didn't see this project from the beginning...we're redo-ing our office area and that'll be a great time for me to do all this fantistic organizing! i'm excited to get started! AND i'm glad to see next month is photography...you're a rockstar, girl...can't wait to see what you'll come up with.
ReplyDeleteahh... just saw your link. I think with the start of the year we are on the same wave length! lol
ReplyDeleteI am working on the office myself this month... I will definitely be checking out your paper organizing tips! I'd love for you to link up your link party to my link list! (also would love if you wanted to link up any of your office tips to my organizing mission monday link party.
I'll be back in a few to link up a post.
Came back and linked up a couple of my posts. Thanks, I have had fun looking at the others posts.
ReplyDeleteHi! I just found your blog and well, what should I say... It's exactly the kind of blog I always looked for! I love organization (maybe even more that I would ever admit, I might be an organization junkie :D) and so this blog is perfect for me. I hope there will be a second challenge soon :)
ReplyDeletethank you so much jen! this challenge has truely changed my horrible bill paying ways. i cannot wait for next months challenge!
ReplyDeleteI know I'm really late, but I tackled Project Paper today in combination with Abowlfulloflemon's 21 day challenge day 2!
ReplyDeletehttp://reallifehomelife.blogspot.com/2011/07/21-day-challenge-day-2-computer-desk.html