As Good Housekeeping’s Household Advice Editor, you’d expect a neat and decluttered home. And I do my best! Each pair of shoes has a place on the rack, every coat has its hook and even my socks are rolled and divided in my drawers.
But one area I really struggle with – my kryptonite – is paperwork. It comes through the door daily and mounts up on the cabinet. I keep up with payments and appointments thanks to my hallway mail organiser, but once I'm finished with them, I still end up keeping the papers, just in case.
The problem with this habit is that the papers slowly stack up until I was literally cramming and slamming them into my drawers. I knew this monster needed to be faced; I last dealt with it after university, which is over 10 years ago… Here are the crucial lessons I learned from the process.
1. Categorise
Always start by categorising your paperwork. Make up piles for bills, insurance, pensions, health care, pet documents, the lot. If you spot any obvious bits for shredding, such as old doctor’s appointments or expired memberships, create a separate shredding pile too (leave a good amount of space for this one). My shredding pile got stacked so high, I used an empty box to make sure they couldn’t get mixed back in.
It might look like you’re making a mess at this point, but you’re breaking up the work and in doing this, separating it into bitesize portions rather than tackling everything at once. Try to start with categories you feel are easier to sort through; I didn’t have many pet documents and a lot of my motor statements were from previous cars I’d owned, so I knew they could go. Work from easier to harder categories to keep yourself motivated – this is one of the many decluttering rules I swear by.
2. Ask for help
Yes, I wasn’t alone. My mum came to the rescue as I was a little unsure of my decisions on what to shred. And thank goodness she did as I was about to shred some important life insurance documents I was missing from the pile.
I admit, I had previously combed through my paperwork to remove the obvious shredding candidates, but we had to go through the 'to-be shredded' pile again anyway to double check what had been sanctioned, so I still count this as one afternoon’s worth of work! It was a learning point not to make speedy and impatient decisions on what to shred.
It helps to have a second set of eyes, particularly if you’re dealing with lots of paperwork and lots of dates. Plus, a second person can reassure you and add perspective if you’re keeping endless amounts of paper ‘just in case’.
3. Watch out for duplicates
After I’d categorised my paperwork, I noticed there were quite a few duplicate letters; perhaps they’d sent out two and I’d just filed them on separate days? In any case, there was no point in keeping additional copies, so these were an easy win for the shred pile.
I also found old insurance policies, which I initially intended to keep, but then realised it had since expired and renewed – you only need to keep active insurance policies. I even found a three-month kitten insurance trial, and considering my cat’s now about to turn seven, that’s long expired! Expiry dates can make the decision for you on what to keep and what to shred.
If your home is filled with duplicates, it's worth trying the duplicate detox decluttering method.
4. Fill the gaps
You might be making more work for yourself, but it’s an important step. If you notice key documents are missing from your piles, organising can prompt you to act and fill the gaps.
The main reason I decided to sort through my paperwork (other than it being a complete mess) was because I wanted to find and combine all my old workplace pensions, so I needed to sieve through my paperwork to find old correspondence. One pension had very little info and others I wasn’t sure if I’d already closed, so I had to piece together what I had to give to my financial adviser.
Another piece of missing paperwork was one of my life insurance policies, but I had the introductory letter. So, all I had to do was reset passwords, access my online account and that gave me access to what I needed. I now feel like I’ve got a much better grip over my financial admin!
5. Don’t shred all at once
While shredding at the end of the process might seem the right order of things – it almost feels celebratory and gives you a sense of closure – if you’ve got a lot to shred, it causes a sticking point, literally. My shredder kept overheating and sticking, so I had no choice but to leave it to cool down for a couple of hours before returning to it. While this gave me the opportunity for coffee breaks, it was a nuisance.
I admittedly had to shred a chunk once per night over the next couple of days. So, next time I will shred as I go and pace the machine. I will also look more closely at what I’m shredding as, thinking back, I don’t think everything needed such treatment; terms and conditions, policy documents (which were available online) and receipts for instance. Also, next time I will watch the thickness of what I shred; I was getting impatient and feeding it far more than it could handle, causing jams and delays. To sum up, you need a delicate balance of getting the most out of each shred, without overloading it, so it will last as long as possible and give you the most efficient shredding!
6. Digitise what you can
If you’re really snowed under with your paperwork, you can digitise documents you want to keep, but don’t feel you need a physical copy of. For instance, I had apartment advice literature from when I moved into my flat as well as old features I’d torn out from Good Housekeeping over the years. Just don't scan and shred any of the essential documents listed at the end of this feature!
If you want to put a stop to the overhaul of paperwork, you can also make the switch to digital correspondence. This is ideal for bills as well as your TV licence and insurance, but make sure you make a note when payments are due. You can always print out a copy if needed for proof of address.
7. Keep up the system
It took the entire afternoon to sort through, and I’ve learned my lessons. Between the stacks of paperwork spread across my carpet, the head-scratching as I squinted at dates and the endless shredding, I’ve vowed to keep up with my paperwork going ahead; it will no longer be one of the things to declutter from my hallway. I will shred unneeded documents as I go (and only those that contain personal information), only keep those that are necessary filed away in their relevant categories, and set an annual date to revisit my files and remove the dated documents (you could use sticky notes to easily find those that will expire by next year).
I’ve used labelled files to keep my categories together and my shredder now stays out of the cupboard, by my desk, to encourage regular shredding.
Of course, you need to keep all the essentials:
- Birth, adoption, death, marriage, civil partnership and divorce certificates
- Passports
- National insurance number
- Mortgage documents/house deeds/rental agreement
- Photocard driving licence
- V5C car logbook
- Car insurance, road tax and MOT certificate
- P60s
- Insurance contracts
- NHS medical certificate and records
- Pension policy statements
- Wills and powers of attorney
- Pet vaccination and medical records
- Exam results and qualification certificates
- Tax office documents
Bank statements are good to keep for one to two years in case you need to verify your income, then these can be shredded. As for payslips, HMRC recommends keeping for 22 months after the end of the tax year in which they were issued, then they’re good to go in the shredder. Old passports should also be shredded, as can the paper counterpart of your driving licence, unless you live in Northern Ireland.
If you’re self-employed, you may need to keep records for longer, check with HMRC to confirm.
