The Ultimate Guide To Decluttering Paper

After years of helping students work through their clutter, I can say with confidence that paper clutter is by far the BIGGEST struggle. The truth is, decluttering paper tends to be tedious and time-consuming (but trust me, it’s so worth it!).

Just a heads up, I do share some affiliate links in this post but only when I feel that it’s really valuable, and, of course, this helps my blog to grow!

The Problem

There’s a reason this is such a pain. Just think of all the ways that paper bombards us:

• Mail: bills, statements, government docs, insurance docs, school updates, local coupons and ads, magazines.
• Important documents: social security cards, birth certificates, licenses.
• Sentimental papers: kids’ drawings and school projects, seasonal cards from loved ones.
• Daily slips: receipts, notes, random phone numbers you jotted down.

Paper comes from all directions! That’s why it’s #1 on my list of decluttering tasks.  So what the heck are you supposed to do with all of this paper?

The Mindset

My mindset on papers is that I don’t like them! I don’t want to mess with them! Personally, I feel safer having my documents uploaded to the cloud. In my post How to Stay Clutter-Free For Good, I talk about how beliefs and habits keep us stuck with clutter. Those influence what types of papers you hold on to. Do you believe it’s irresponsible to not have physical copies of certain documents like tax forms, or medical bills? Do you feel like a bad parent for not keeping ALL of your kids’ artwork?
 We’re never keeping tons of paper just because. It all goes back to the deeper beliefs we have about the world and ourselves. The good news is, we can shift those mindsets and beliefs and really get a handle on decluttering paper in our homes.

#1. First And Foremost, Go Green

The very first step in decluttering paper is to go green. Do this before you file! Most businesses allow and even prefer online billing.

It may take a bit to get online accounts set up if you aren’t used to it but the mental relief and ease will far outweigh any set-up time!

I recommend doing all of your bills in bulk in one sitting so that you know nothing was missed. Here’s how:

1. Collect all paper bills into a pile by your computer (or phone).
2. If you have months of the same bill, then stack bills by sender.
3. Locate the website and account number on the first bill by sender.
4. Find the area to ‘Register/Signup/Create New Account’ and follow the prompts using the account number from your paper bill.
5. Open a spreadsheet or notepad and write usernames and passwords (pro tip here!)
6. Once registered, bookmark the page in your browser. (You can create a folder called ‘bills’ for quick access).
7. Often, when setting up a new online account you’ll be prompted to sign up for paperless statements — click on that option! Otherwise, locate the paperless statement option in your account settings.

Remember, this is ideally about decluttering papers not filing them. In 90% of cases you don’t need more storage you need less stuff and that applies to papers as well!

If you need more help in this area, Abby Larson from Just a girl and her blog is in the middle of launching her new course called Paperless Made Simple for $79, and for the next week — it’ll be going up to $297 after.

#2. Unnecessary Subscriptions

You may want to cancel subscriptions altogether. This can usually be done online through the originating company. It can be time-consuming, but it’s nice when the bulk mail stops cramming in your mailbox.

Usually, you can look at the front and back of the piece of junk mail for an easy way to opt out. If it doesn’t have that, there are two great resources for ditching junk mail: catalog choice and DMA choice. Both of these are opt-out services to unsubscribe from junk mail (magazines, certain ads, etc.).

If you enjoy a subscription, consider keeping one or two at a time
and donating or recycling the rest to keep them from piling up. Let’s face it, you’re probably not going to read the same magazine more than once.

#3. Digitize

The amazing thing about the internet is that it generally alleviates the need for a filing cabinet. It’s true that ALL of my paper documents exist in a single 1/2 inch simple black binder. That doesn’t mean I don’t have documents, it means that the vast majority of my documents are online.

Now, if you’ve been resistant to this, I’d love to encourage you to rethink your stance. Digital files are generally safer than physical copies where anything could happen- from spilling coffee to a chew-happy puppy, to an unfortunate flood or fire.

The only documents that I don’t file digitally are those that REQUIRE a hard copy: social security cards, birth certificates, etc.

You can digitally file all of these documents into your storage option of choice: a folder on your computer, Google Drive (my go-to), Dropbox, etc. I really recommend Google Drive for everything because you can access it from any device and Google isn’t going anywhere.

Scan

If you don’t have a scanner in your home (or even if you do) you might find it easier to use your cell phone to upload your docs as they come in. This is an amazing thing that exists now! You can download an app and use your phone’s camera to snap a pic of the paper. The apps that I recommend right now are Google Drive and Adobe scanner.

If you already have multiple piles of papers accumulated then I recommend carrying the whole stack to a FedEx and speed-scanning them to your email. It’s truly easy and very inexpensive.

File

Once all your papers are digitized, you need to organize them. I will usually create a folder, then a sub-folder within that, and a sub-sub folder within that one. It just makes it really easy if you need a document, you know exactly where to look to find it 🙂 If you want to really get into digital decluttering, I recommend Kath Younger’s free masterclass on how to set up digital systems that will work for you.

#4. Necessary Hard Copies

For hard copy papers that the government still requires (eventually, we’ll catch up to the times), I totally recommend going super simple! I have zero regrets with my simple binder and it slides on my bookshelf without being a space hog.

Within my binder are simple — one manila folder for each person … that’s it! No further segregation is needed because we aren’t keeping enough documents to warrant it.

#5. Sentimental Papers

Think thoughtful occasion cards and pictures, after picture, after picture from your kids (I have a whole article just related to kids’ artwork because it can become a thing).

We use memory boxes here and I highly recommend them! 

These are fairly large decorated boxes that hold valuable things we’ve selected to hold onto over the years. For example, in my and Matt’s memory box, we have some of our favorite wedding cards, our vows, and tons of our favorite handmade cards from the girls that we’ve collected over the years.

I LOVE these boxes because they look nice with the decor, they’re large enough to hold quite a bit, and I don’t have special papers sprinkled around the house.

I’m sure there are other methods of handling sentimental papers but, you know, I like to keep things simple!

Feel free to bookmark this ultimate guide to decluttering papers and go through the steps one at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed! It’s a process. Let me know down in the comments which tip you found the most helpful.