This post is so overdue. Sunny, I'm so sorry I haven't replied to your question from back in June until now...
Sunny left a comment and wrote; QUESTION: I have a place for mail when it comes in - and I recycle the junk mail. But can you walk us through how you handle mail, bills,etc. and how you store your paperwork - maybe how you decide what goes where?
The reason for my lateness is actually partly because my mail system works so well :). So everytime I've thought about writing about it I realise all the mail is already opened and sorted and there are no photos to be taken that day. Then I forgot it until the next time and next time and time just passed...
Today the mail box was stuffed so I took the opportunity to take some photos. My neighbour across the street looked at me with a raised eyebrow and if she didn't think we were weird already, she does now.
As soon as I get through the door I place the pile on the counter between the hallway and livingroom...
...and immediately sort it. One pile is to be opened and filed. One to be read/checked and then tossed. One to be tossed straight away. And one to be saved.
This is where the mail goes which has been opened. We each have a slot and there's one for bills.
Under the coffetable top there's a little shelf. I put the things I want to read or check there. They are mostly catalogs, newspapers and magazines. I never let his pile get very high. I usually deal with what's in it within a week and toss the things I've read and checked and don't want to keep. If there are keepers, usually the magazines, they go in the magazine piles just behind.
Junk mail goes in the wastepaper basket right next to the front door. I usually empty it once a week while decluttering.
Catalogs I want to save for reference are kept in a little drawer in the dining area. The fact that it's so small is a good thing because I can immediately weed out the previous issue and replace it and I never have old ones because I wouldn't be able to shut the drawer. The catalogs I keep are IKEA (don't worry Angie, I'm sending you a copy :), Clas Ohlson, Jula, Kjell & Company, Panduro and some US catalogs too, like Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma and Restoration Hardware.
After emptying out the wastepaper basket by the door the newsprint and other paper goes in a recycling bin under the sink in the kitchen. Due to our local recycling program I throw some of this in the trash after a while but the newsprint I now shread and use in the warm compost.
That's basically it. It only takes a couple of minutes every day to sort and toss and I never have piles of mail lying around. Gotta love that!
