Organizing My Mail

Hi A.F.
1. OPen.
2. Discard what is not needed.
3. put on fridge what needs paying or in envelope next to desk.
4. look at envelope every week at same time.
5. magazines in special place.

HTH. Jilly

I keep it simple. I use one of those photo/memory storage boxes that you can find at the craft store. Most of the time it sits open on the table (the lid will fit on the bottom). I also keep a little Sharpie marker in there. I take a quick look at the due dates, write it on the outside in big numbers (7-28) and quickly file them in order--takes just a couple of minutes. Once a week, I figure out what can be paid immediately and pay it and what needs to wait until the next paycheck. If you need to clear it off for some reason, you can just stick the lid on and place it out of the way without worrying about losing something.

Back in the days when I had a little more disposable income (and disposable time)...lol...I would pay bills as soon as they came in. I NEVER had to worry about anything being late and it kept me from overspending when it looked like I had some extra cash. Of course, unexpected expenses would come up but then I could float something from savigs...always sure to replace it first thing with the next paycheck. These days I am on a stricter and tighter budget, but this is definitely the way I liked to do it.

P.S. On the first method, always do a quick check for accuracy when you go through them each week. Make sure they are labeled and filed in the correct order.

Are you getting a lot of junk mail? If so, there is a website for the Direct Marketing Association http://www.the-dma.org/index.php I am assuming this is a free service, although I did not register for an account and go through to the end of the process. It sounds to me like you can opt out of mail that you are receiving that you do not want or need.
As to your other mail, I am assuming that a lot of the things you are having to deal with are bills that come due at a certain day of the month. Why not start a suspense file? Get a explandable file folder, you can number the days 1 - 31 or you could get a smaller one and break it down into the weeks of the month. When a bill, or something else that requires your attention on a particular date, comes in the mail...put it into the file under the date that you need to take care of it. Each day ( Or week if you are using that system) simply take care of the mail that is in that days ( or weeks' ) file. My husband has used this system for years and years, he is uber-organized and this system is exactly what he needs!!!

I open my mail on the porch next to the recycling bin. I'm guessing 80% ends up in there. I'm a HUGE fan of on-line billing and bill pay thru my bank. My house is too small to be lazy about going thru mail and allowing it to accumulate and take up precious space.

It also makes me crazy to have piles of ANYTHING in my house. The three year olds toys is all I can handle. :)

Well I discard any "junk" mail or place in a box next to our shredder for things that should be shredded. Other items such as bills I open up and then I have a sorter numbered from 1-31 and place the bill in the slot by its due date. Then when it is time to pay bills I already know which ones to pay. I picked mine up from ABC distributing but I think I have seen similiar items at Wal-mart and such.

I used to subscribe to magazines and catalogs. I canceled those because you can check anything like that out from the library. You can shop for almost anything on the internet so really no need to receive catalogs in the mail anymore. I go thru my mail the minute I receive it and discard the 'junk'. For bills, most of mine are on auto bill pay and I signed up for email notifications of some things instead of receiving a paper copy in the mail. For the few that aren't set up like this, the day I receive them I write the check, stamp the envelope and get it ready to mail. I write the due date on the back of the envelope then have a small sorter on the desk and I put them in order of the date I need to drop them in the mail. For the important stuff: insurance, warranties, etc. I have a small expandable file folder with month tabs I got at Walmart or Officemax and I file those by month the instant I receive them.

I open my mail immediately. Junk mail and advertisement is not useful to me go to the recyclables; the bills to pay go to a wall organizer (a nice and sturdy organizer with divisions hung from the wall) that I have in the kitchen, the place I can see my bills without forgetting them! The rest goes to my file folders.

Web Bill pay is my friend! I get paid bi-weekly so I pay my bills bi-weekly i.e electric averages $200 a month so bi-weekly we pay $100 and go paperless. I can look up the bill online, notifications for some bills go to my bank account, always have a credit towards my electric bill in case of emergencies, and I don't have to deal with mail! Junk mail gets tossed into the recycle bin immediately along with the envelopes from anything we receive. What’s left gets tacked to the bulletin board in the kitchen to look at later (it’s hung above the sink so while I do dishes, cook dinner ect I go through the mail) once done it goes in my purse so I am forced to shred it when I get to work