3 Keys Thursday: Tax Time

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

I spent hours on Saturday organizing my notes and receipts for taxes. While my Type A organizer friends are already getting their refund checks, I'm still dragging my feet, finding plenty of other things that are more exciting than getting my tax paperwork together.

In some ways, though, it wasn't really that bad. Having learned my lesson after the disaster that was tax planning 2013, I came up with a system that I (mostly) use which minimized the amount of time I had to spend tracking things down. I only ran into trouble when -- you guessed it -- my system was incomplete or I'd put off doing something that could now no longer be avoided.

How did your tax system work this year? If it needs a few tweaks, consider these three tips.

• Be true to your styles. You knew I was going to say that, didn't you? Whether it's file folders, an accordion folder, an app or shoe boxes labeled by category, pick something easy to use. Otherwise, the system will break down long before you need to sit down and pull everything together. 

• Categorize. Again, whether it's file folders, an accordion folder or shoe boxes labeled by category, keeping things separated by category all year long makes it much easier to summarize   things in an organized, manageable fashion. Even if you cram and jam everything into shoe boxes, using separate shoe boxes makes the eventual sorting process much easier.

• Print it out. PayPal's monthly statements made my record-keeping so much easier. The one change I will make for next year is printing them out sooner -- monthly or quarterly -- so they're already in my files when I need them. Printing as you go also saves you from unexpected problems -- like the receipt that I could no longer produce because an email issue earlier this year resulted in the loss of a block of emails that included that receipt.

Cohdra via Morguefile

I'm happy to report that the system I developed in response to the marathon tax paperwork session of 2013 is working well, and that Saturday's session wasn't nearly as painful as I expected it to be. With a few tweaks, 2016 will be even better. 

Organization Extra: Let it Go!

Last night, I had my post for today ready to go -- that was the first part of the plan. The second part was that I'd get up, type up my blog and post it.

Photo: Ladyheart via Morguefile

In reality, Mother Nature dumped two feet of snow (and still counting) on us. As I lay in bed this morning, contemplating the day ahead, I decided that today was the day to tackle my student files. I figured I'd sort through everything, purge what I could (anything more than a year old) and get on with my day. Logical, really, as the office re-organization I undertook over break now meant I had specific homes for lots of previously homeless, drifting papers.

More than three hours, a full trash bag of shredding and a 6" stack of recyclable paper later, I'm finally sitting at my laptop, writing this -- entirely different -- blog.

For me, having the guideline of what to keep and what to toss was the motivation for undertaking a project that left me feeling not only accomplished, but also lighter (as a result of everything I got rid of). There's room in my file drawers, and I have a system that means I can safely drop things in the file folders and run onto the next thing, in keeping with my default organizational style.

Funny, actually, since file cabinets are rarely my choice of container. In this case, however, they're the perfect tool, despite my I need to see it personal style, because I'm using them for archived information. I don't need to access these papers often, if at all, but I can't yet get rid of them, so  a file cabinet with color-coded, labeled files is the perfect place for them. When it comes to day-to-day paperwork, however, file cabinets remain a disaster waiting to happen -- for me, anyway.

Looking to lighten your own files, but have no idea what to keep and what to toss? If you're confused, you're not alone. According to Consumer Reports, about half of us have no idea what to keep and for how long.

If you, like me, are motivated by guidelines that allow you to lighten your load in a guilt-free fashion, check out the IRS guidelines for tax-related paperwork here and other paperwork keep or toss guidelines from Consumer Reports here.

Whether you're shoveling snow or papers this weekend, stay warm and safe.