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This site aims to help people to organize their life in a simple and cheap way.

How to sort papers?

The paper sorting and archiving can be done quite simply using 3 paper binders well subdivided:

The "Invoices" binder stores the document you receive each month (e.g. bills, pay slips, and so on).
All the documents stored in this folder can be moved to an archive box labeled "Invoices YYYY" at the end of the year.

The "Contracts" binder stores the documents that are contractually important (e.g. work contract, insurance contract).
All the documents stored in this folder are kept until the contract ends or is modified.

The "Manuals and warranties" folder is used to store the documents needed to use and repair your goods (e.g. TV manual and proofs of payment - cashier tickets).
These documents are to be kept until the end of warranty.

About partitioning

Techniques

The secret of efficiency: the folder partitioning.

The first page of the binder simply describes its contents.

The main sections of the binder are easily accessible with numbered tab dividers, each division being subdivided with colored paper. Each subdivision must be labeled with its full indexing number to be easily browsable.

Partitioning example

For instance, the "Invoice binder" described below presents in its first page the following table of contents:

Table of content sample

The two first tab dividers are used to find the Banking (1) and Insurance (2) sections

The subdivisions ("bank account 1", "bank account 2", "credits") are separated using colored paper, each paper being labeled by its index ("1.1-Bank account 1", "1.2-Bank account 2", "1.3-Credits")

At last, the sub-sub sections can be stored using one or several transparent sheet protectors grouping papers related to the same subject (e.g. one for the contract, one for the administrative documents and one or several for the mails). If needed, the transparent sheet protectors can be labeled using stickers or simply separated with a colored sheet of paper inserted in a sheet protector.

The subdivisions of the folders are given here for Contracts sorting and filing and here for invoices sorting and filing

Templates are provided as well:
Contracts sorting and filing (MS-Word file)
Contracts sorting and filing (PDF file)
Invoices sorting and filing (MS-Word file)
Invoices sorting and filing (PDF file)

Ready to use binder partition

The chapter below present three folder partitions that could be used to sort your papers.

The "Contract Folder" subdivisions

  1. Banking
    1. Bank account 1
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Bank account 2
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    3. Credits
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
  2. Insurance
    1. Car insurance
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Home insurance
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    3. Family insurance
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
  3. Health
    1. Health care Contracts
    2. Administrative documents
    3. Mail exchanges
    4. Medical elements (prescriptions, analysis, …)
  4. Children
    1. School
      1. Administrative documents
      2. Mail exchanges
      3. Certificates
      4. Scores
    2. Other
      1. Administrative documents
      2. Mail exchanges
  5. Work
    1. Company
      1. Contract
      2. Missions and amendments
      3. Administrative documents
      4. Mail exchanges
      5. Certificates
    2. Shares
    3. Retirement
  6. Home
    1. Location
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Maintenance
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
  7. Car
    1. Credit
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Maintenance
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
  8. Services
    1. Fixed phone
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Mobile phone
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    3. Internet
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    4. Facilities (Electricity / Water / Gas)
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
  9. Legal paper
    1. General
      1. Contracts
      2. Administrative documents
      3. Mail exchanges
    2. Family Member 1
      1. Birth certificate
      2. School results
      3. ID and administrative documents
      4. Mail exchanges
    3. Family Member 2
      1. Birth certificate
      2. School results
      3. ID and administrative documents
      4. Mail exchanges
  10. Taxes and government
    1. Administrative documents
    2. Mail exchanges

The "Invoice Folder" subdivisions

  1. Banking
    1. Bank account 1
    2. Bank account 2
    3. Credits
  2. Insurance
    1. Car insurance
    2. Home insurance
    3. Family insurance
  3. Health reimbursements
  4. Children bills
  5. Work
    1. Pay slips
    2. Others
  6. Home
    1. Location
    2. Maintenance Bills
    3. Phone Bills
    4. Internet Bills
    5. Facilities (Electricity / Water / Gas) bills
  7. Car
  8. Others

The "Manuals and warranties" subdivisions

  1. Manuals
  2. Warranties