I’ve had so many requests to show you how I organized our family files! It is simple and not too much work but makes all the difference!!
First, I bought these awesome FOLDERS on Amazon. I originally started out with just two folders, one for important documents and one for taxes, but they quickly became so too big and full so I switched it up and made one file for each family member. It was the best decision and I am obsessed with the system – I know where everything is at all times.
I started by putting the family member’s name on the outside using my best friend, THIS LABEL MAKER (on major sale today too!). The Amazon folder comes with a set of labels that you can write on to slide into each tab, but I printed my labels out on the label maker before sticking them on a tab and putting them into the folder – not necessary but wanted them all to look uniform. (I’m a little crazy! Hahaa)
My favorite label maker
You can organize and make tabs for whatever best suits you and your needs but I’ll list which tabs I put in ours for a reference point.
For example, mine has a BIRTH tab for my birth certificate, SSN, PASSPORT, W NOTES for notes that Will has written me, K NOTES for notes from the kids, PHOTOS for special pictures that I love, SCHOOL holds my diploma and old ID card – anything that I’ve kept from college and wanted to hold on to, CHURCH, HEALTH, etc.
My kid’s are similar, BIRTH, SSN, PASSPORT, etc.
(Side note, it may seem silly to have just one thing in each of those pockets but I have tried it other ways and found this to be the best for me. It’s so easy to open the pocket and pull out the only thing that’s in there when I need it!)
Now for the important docs folder, these are things that pertain mostly to us as a family, or our cars, medical, etc. Again, you can organize and make tabs for what make the most sense for you and your family.
These are the tabs I’ve put in our folder, AUTO which holds our car certificate, MEDICAL, INVESTMENTS, HOME all of the legal paperwork we have for that, LEGAL, CHURCH, POSTCARDS I’ve saved that make me happy, WEDDING invitations I have saved over the years that I’ve loved, and NICE NOTES more notes that I want to keep but ran out of space for in my personal folder. That’s it!
I would suggest taking out all of your files first to help get a better feel for the categories/sections you will need.
All of this information will also be in my ORGANIZING HIGHLIGHT on Instagram, there you can see some of the other fun projects I have done! I am passionate about being organized! Having my home in order and knowing where everything is – BEST FEELING EVER and gives me such peace of mind. I heard about this french phrase from the happier podcast that I love, “mise en place“, which means that everything has a place. I love walking around my house and thinking of that phrase, everything has a place. However, I do allow myself one junk drawer that I use for a couple of miscellaneous items but besides those items…everything else in my house has a place.
My advice is to keep that phrase in mind as you go about your organizing and HAVE FUN, wish I could be there doing it with you because few things make me happier!
-Liv
