Keep or Toss: Asking the Hard Questions About What to Keep on Your Desk and Making it Accessible

HASTINGS, Minn., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Is your desk scattered with tax documents, bills, and old papers? Do you want to be more organized with April 15 fast approaching?

"Financial documents seem to confound people more than any other kind of paper," explains Ramona Creel, President of Online Organizing. "It's hard to know how to handle each piece and the best way to store it."

    Creel offers these tips to help you figure out what to keep and toss:    --  When was the last time I used it?  If you haven't touched a particular        piece of paper in the past 12 months, chances are you're not going to        use it regularly in the next twelve.  Organize regular bills and        statements by month or by account in hanging folders.  "You can        immediately clear surface space by filing papers in a desk drawer with        FasTab(R) hanging folders," explains Jim Riesterer, Smead Marketing        Vice President. "Just hand-label the built in tab and your filing is        complete."    --  Will I need this again?  When it comes to important financial        paperwork like tax records, the answer is probably yes.  Keep them        together using a specially created organizer like the All-in-One(TM)        Income Tax Organizer by Smead.  "Keeping documents in one place makes        tax preparation, well, less taxing -- saving time and reducing        stress," offers Riesterer.  However, be honest as you look at the        paper piles.  Evaluate when and why you would need items.  "I might        need it someday" usually isn't a good reason to keep it    --  What will happen if I get rid of it?  Picture the worst thing that        could happen.  For many items, the world will not end of they are        tossed.  But an IRS request for original documents is a different        matter.  Organize important items like tax returns, receipts, real        estate statements, passport and birth certificate in a permanent file        and discard the rest

Picture a life without paper clutter -- more space, less stress and less mess. Suddenly the decision to keep or toss is much easier!

Note: Photos and more tips are available at http://www.smead.com.