I’m finally okay to share this video. I went through my papers after my grandpa died since I’m pretty on top of everything else. I’ve been working on minimalism, simplicity, having a kid (they have so much stuff) and moderation for years. It is an ongoing process so don’t feel like you are behind.
I don’t want my husband to have to deal with paperwork or learning what to keep and what to shred. I’ve done record retention and worked with FERPA and HIPPA for years, he has not. He doesn’t do paper, he’s a computer guy. What might we want or need in the future, that’s my area of expertise so I’m making it ready for him.
If you want to keep things like schoolwork, report cards and transcripts, consider keeping the last one. The high school transcript, each college/university transcript, the major awards or recognitions. You don’t need every session’s report card from elementary school. It’s actually really discouraging to go back and read those if you’ve change a lot in a positive way. I’m way more extroverted and outgoing, though I’m still an introvert at heart. I’ll snap out a comment in a room now vs thinking “please don’t even look at me let along call on me.”
Do a quick internet search for how long to keep things like tax returns for how you need and use them.
Shred school and medical papers with your SSN, birthday, full name, etc. to reduce the possibility of identity theft. Most office stores like Office Depot and UPS have shred contracts for secure shredding that includes recycling. Here in Austin we can’t recycle shredding because it jams the single-stream recycling sorting machines. Shredding has to be composted, which works too.
I’ll share a profound piece of advice from Courtney Carver from her new book, Gentle. If you don’t want someone else to read how you felt or what you dealt with, you process it now so they don’t have to. You shred your journals, your recovery/12 Steps work, you restraining orders, etc. You can still know about those life experiences without your family basically reliving or living through those experiences.
Peace, comfort and hope to you in your paperwork journey.
#shredding#paperwork#filing#schoolpapers#SwedishDeathCleaning#grief#declutter