File Organization Made Easy
- Color-code your file folders. Pick a color you associate with each category of files. Here are the colors Cynthia suggests:
- Green for finances.
- Blue for education and career.
- Red for home and family.
- Orange for health and fitness.
- Purple for hobbies.
- Alphabetize the files in each category. For example, in the finances category the files would auto, banking, credit, etc.
- Purge the files you no longer need. There are record retention guidelines that will tell you how long you should keep your files. Talk with your accountant or attorney to learn more about the guidelines.
- Shred all documents before throwing them away to avoid identity theft.
- Consider signing up for online banking to keep the files you have to organize to a minimum and to eliminate the paper trail that increases the chances of having your identity stolen.