How to Organize a Filing Cabinet and Your Files

No matter if you are planning on organizing the files in a filing cabinet or in a filing box the same rules apply. At the front of the most accessable drawer of the filing cabinet or the front of the filing box that you use put a few empty folders, this way if you need to make a new folder you can easily do so with out having to hunt for a blank folder or be tempted to throw the paperwork in with some other folder that may or may not be closely related.

Keep the names on the folder short, this will save you time reading and if you decide to write the name of the folder at the top of a piece of paper so you can file it quicker at the end of the month it will save you time writing. An example like Bank Statements 2008, Electric Bill, Cable, etc. Sort the folders however you like, whether that be alphebetical or by the time of the month that you will recieve a document that needs to be filed away. How to Organize Bills can offer more information for sorting and organizing your bill statements.

Don't have a folder hold more than a years worth of documents in it. It is important to keep your files in order but you don't have to have them all together. Old bankstatements don't need to be as accessable as monthly bill statements. In the front of the box have the files that consist of monthy bill statement. In the middle keep things that are not as current but are things that you will be adding to on a somewhat regular basis, this includes monthly bank statements, health insurance policies, etc. At the back of the list have the folders that contain the current years Tax Return information, you can keep the previous years in a separate space.