The difference between papers that we absolutely must keep or we risk serving time for income tax irregularities and the papers that are clogging our filing arteries is a blurry distinction for most of us. “Better safe than sorry,” we’ve been taught. Some types of papers that can be discarded are: 䊳
Duplicate material (why do we always make more copies than we need?)
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Outdated information and expired warranties
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Early versions of a finished project that no longer serve any purpose
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Information that you know you can find online
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Company reports that can be obtained from another department if necessary
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Pages and pages that you’re saving because there’s an address you might want—input the address into your computer and toss the papers
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Information that you found online and printed out; toss it—you can always find it online again
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Material that you know you have on your hard drive (which is also backed up)
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Articles about something that once interested you, but that you’re unlikely to pursue any time soon; in any case, it will be old by then
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Letters that say nothing but “thanks for your letter” or something equally unimportant
Some types of papers that should be kept are: 䊳
Records (birth, adoption, military service, marriage, divorce, citizenship, death)
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Things that are irreplaceable or would be time-consuming to replace (social security card, newspaper clipping of your parents’ wedding)
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Evidence of ownership (car title, house deed, patents, copyrights) How to Organize Your Papers
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