I’ve been dragging my feet, but we’ve finally done it! With the start of 2010, we’ve gone digital with our paperwork. Since getting mail is going to be sporadic on the trip, we converted to online statements, but that really didn’t solve the problem. We needed to figure out what to do with them since printing and filing them in cabinets, as usual, won’t be an option. (I’ve got enough “necessities” to bring along with all the daughter’s water and dolls! See previous blog.)
Problem solved! We save them as a pdf in a folder on our computer, and by not printing them at all, we really are saving a tree!
Additionally, every receipt (well, at least the important ones that need to be kept), every warranty, every tax document is saved as a pdf, as well. The others deemed unimportant just get verified against the online statement and are shredded and tossed.
At first, I was hesitant about this: All the extra work, wouldn’t it just be a hassle?? But now that I’m getting in the groove of it, it’s really quite simple. It sure beats sorting thru stacks of papers and spending hours filing, only to have some papers inevitably “disappear” just when you need them.
I had to learn a few things about encryption and offsite backups, but it was well worth ditching the bankers box of paperwork.
Yet another “check” for the trip! (digital "check", not on paper, of course)
-the mom (the practical one)
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