Mail storage & organization...

[Myira]

What do you use in your home for unsorted mail and then how do you organize it once sorted? We have nothing in place and its a royal mess. It gets tossed around in drawers and really easy to lose important stuff.

I'd really like some ideas to make this an easy neat process that DH will stick to.

TIA.

[wendibird22]

We have a desk in our living/great room that has a drawer with hanging folders. The mail comes into the house and immediately gets sorted into junk (goes right back out to the recycle bin) and keep. We have file folders for medical (to save recent copies of receipts in case our benefits co ask for them), bills (things to be paid), daycare (copies of forms, etc), and then I have a folder and DH has a folder. DH is completely responsible for his personal mail (his work association, pay stubs, etc). I do the bill paying so it is easy for me to grab the bills folder when I sit at the desk to do online banking. DH lets his folder sit FOREVER but at least it is all contained and out of site. Anything that requires longer term saving does upstairs for long term filing (we have a filing cabinet in our "office"). Once the kids are school aged I'm sure I'll add folders for each of them to keep their school stuff organized.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We use 4 of the large magazine files right in the middle of our kitchen/dining area. They are labeled (big labels) for - recycling, DH, me, and magazines/catalogs. The bills all go into DH's file since he does the bills. I love that it is right in the middle of the house and easily accessible. Nearby, we have a desk apprentice with lots of hanging folders to manage all the other papers we need to keep for a bit - receipts, schedules, lists, etc.

[mezzona]

junk mail gets recycled right away. all envelopes are opened and envelopes recycled. papers to be filed go in a "to be filed" folder. actionable items get scheduled in calendar and the paper goes into an inbox type of thing but it is really a holding area until it is dealt with.

if for some reason the mail cannot be sorted right away, we put it on the kitchen counter, which is a very conspicuous spot in the center of our house. we try to deal with mail right away because as you pointed out, it can get out of hand quickly and cause all kinds of hassle if we lose or forget about something important.