By Marni Jameson / Special to The Seattle Times

If you file it away, you can find it someday.

“Mom, I need my birth certificate” — triggered the lost weekend. The minute my 15-year-old finished driver’s education, that paper…

“Although computers have helped cut down what we need to file, we will always have papers to deal with,” says Kathi Burns, professional organizer and paper-flow expert.
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“Although computers have helped cut down what we need to file, we will always have papers to deal with,” says Kathi Burns, professional organizer and paper-flow expert.

The simple request — “Mom, I need my birth certificate” — triggered the lost weekend. The minute my 15-year-old finished driver’s education, that paper was all that stood between her and her driver’s permit. (Please send any Valium prescriptions you’re not using.)

“Your birth certificate?” I repeat, stalling because thinking about where it might be hurts.

“As in proof I was born,” she says, her tone implying I have the IQ of a flatworm.

My brain rewinds years, to a time before car seats, tooth fairies, 2 a.m. calls to pediatricians and endless drives among Brownies, ballet and barns, and tries to recall where in the universe I stuck that little piece of paper that said I now possessed a live birth that would entangle me in more ways than I could imagine for the rest of my life.

“OK, but you have to help.”

She follows me to the garage. “My birth certificate’s in the garage?”

“It’s not personal. Mine should be in here, too. Somewhere.”

I scan the crammed garage, where the file cabinet landed on moving day five years ago, and has since been buried so deeply we need an archaeologist. “There,” I point.

“Seriously?”

Between us and a two-drawer lateral file lie two bikes, a broken lawn mower, an air compressor, a scooter, four pairs of skis, a set of crutches and a bale of hay. We unearth the cabinet to find it’s locked. “Swell,” I say, “finding Osama bin Laden would be easier than finding the key.”

“I bet other families don’t live this way.”

“I guarantee you, parents of 15-year-olds all over are going through the same thing.”

I spy a sledgehammer.

“Stand back.” I swing it like a wrecking ball into the cabinet’s locked face. It feels good. The lock smashes open. The top drawer rolls out exposing my past: long-expired insurance policies, failed investments, projects from three careers ago, unfinished novels, old résumés, and other papers I once thought important. “Taa-daa!” I pull out a dog-eared file that says “Birth Certificates” and feel something like redemption.

However, the moment forces me to face not only the awful condition of my personal records, but also of my office files. I then do what I always do when facing a domestic crisis: shop! This time I bring home an ugly, four-drawer, upright filing cabinet in vanilla metal.

In my office, I dump contents from all cupboards onto the floor, five years’ worth of resources and articles in every stage of revision and print. After a weekend of sorting and wrecking my nails, I fill four recycle bins, and feel that cleaned-out feeling you get after the stomach flu. I then realize: Unless I want to go through this again (never!), my habits must change.

I call Kathi Burns, owner of addspacetoyourlife.com and a San Diego-based paper-flow expert. I start by whining: “But filing takes so much time!”

“Not filing burns a lot more time,” she says.

“So you think I need to convert?”

“You think you should have to move a lawn mower to get to your birth certificate?”

As we talk, I learn ways to thin my files even more.

“People think when they throw something away, it negates their past. That just isn’t true,” she says, offering these filing tips:

Know your papers. Every paper falls into one of five categories: action (stuff to deal with soon), research and reference (stuff you’ll need later), agreements (insurance policies, contracts), tax-related stuff (receipts, W-2s, returns) and permanent records (birth and marriage certificates; education, medical and property records). Some people use color-coded files for each category, which seems neurotic. I divided categories by file drawer and location.

Create AAA filing systems. Active files for home and work go on your desk. Consider a small, space-saving vertical file. At Hand files of often-needed reference should be in easy reach. Archive files can go in a closet or basement.

Remove and replace. When the new versions of certain documents — insurance policies and Social Security and investment statements — arrive, toss the old.

Thin it. I’m a magazine junkie. Some I plan to read; others contain articles I’ve written. Burns lightened my life with this advice: Tear off the cover, tear out the article you want to save, toss the magazine. Wow. My magazine stack shrunk by 98 percent.

Trust technology. Old habits compelled me to keep a hard copy of stuff stored on my computer. But if you have a good backup system, you’re covered. Really.

Ask before you hoard. When tempted to save an article or brochure, ask whether you could easily find more current information online later. If so, let go.

Bust paper before it gets in. Open mail over the trash. Shred credit-card offers, pay stubs and other sensitive documents. File what matters. “Don’t shove papers in a ‘To File’ file,” says Burns. “That’s as bad as a ‘Miscellaneous’ file.”

Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson is the author of “The House Always Wins” (Da Capo), available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You may contact her through www.marnijameson.com.

Dear Kathi,

I recently made a commitment to clear out the enormous amount of papers in my life. Now I need to know which papers to keep and which ones I can toss with abandon. It would be great to have some hard facts about what I need to keep for tax purposes. For instance, how long do I need to keep tax records, home records, and what about all of the stock papers I receive every month?

Abby, San Diego

Abby,

Without a set action plan for paper flow, most of us wallow in bank statements, credit card bills, mutual fund reports and tax returns. Even if filing cabinets are not overflowing, chances are more papers than necessary are saved. Some even prefer to shred nay item that includes their name and address. It is up to you to determine your comfort zone with tossing personal information into the trash.

A general rule of thumb for getting rid of papers is if your name and social security number or bank account information is on the piece of paper, it should be shredded. Every individual has his or her own concern threshold regarding identity theft. Some people prefer to shred any item that includes their name and address. It is up to you to determine your comfort zone whendiscarding personal information.

Here a few tips on fighting document overwhelm:
State and federal income tax returns. Keep at least seven years. Ten years is very conservative. Ordinarily, the IRS has three years to audit your returns. If it suspects you’ve underreported more than 25 percent of your income, it can audit back six years.

Canceled checks. Canceled checks for deductible expenses and charitable contributions should be saved as long as you save tax returns. If you no longer receive canceled checks, keep the bank statements with the relevant items highlighted.

Records of monies spent on home improvement (projects) should be saved as long as you own your home. You may need proof of these expenses to lower the tax on your home when you sell it. File these canceled checks with your permanent home records.

Keep checks from expensive purchases, such as jewelry, appliances or
antiques, as long as you own the items. If they are stolen, or if a warranty
dispute arises, you can use the checks as proof of purchase. You can toss most other canceled checks at the end of the year.

Bank statements. Typically, if they do not include tax-related information,
you do not need to keep them after the next statement arrives. Many people save them interminably. Definitely toss yours after a year if they do not contain tax-related purchases.

Credit card statements. In most cases, you don’t need to save them longer than one month. When you receive a bill, it usually indicates whether your previous payment was received. If that information is correct, you don’t need to save the previous month’s bill. Exceptions: bills that document deductible expenses, such as home-improvement purchases, and for other major purchases, such as appliances and jewelry. If you can’t find the sales slip, your credit card statement will provide proof.

Stock records. Save purchase and sale confirmation records as long as you own the stock, plus six years. You’ll need the price and date you bought or sold the stock to calculate the cost basis of your investments for the IRS. Also save monthly statements showing reinvested dividends, stock splits and other changes in your investments, says Kent Noard, a financial planner. You can discard monthly and quarterly statements if you get a year-end summary statement.

Mutual fund statements. The rules are the same as for stocks. If your mutual fund statements are cumulative, discard the previous statement as soon as you get the current report and at year’s end, you may be able to ditch all but the year-end statement. December is usually separate from year-end. For both mutual funds and stocks, discard all but the most recent shareholder reports.

Pay stubs. Keep them until you get your year-end W2 form. Financial planners also recommend keeping each year’s final earnings statement indefinitely, to give you a handy record of your earnings and deductions.

Home mortgage information. Keep a copy of your mortgage in a safe place as long as you own your home. Mortgage bills, like credit card bills, can be discarded as soon as you get confirmation that your payment has been received. Most mortgage companies provide a year-end summary. Keep these as long as you own your home.

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Thanks for writing and don’t hesitate to write with any other specific questions.

Please submit your questions to: advice@addspacetoyourlife.com

San Diego Professional Organizer