Important papers

What do we save, what do we toss.

Important papers
Oh my! I have lots of important papers. Oh Yes here’s our tax returns back to 1989. Whoops here’s one for 1985! I wonder where I put ’86, ’87 and “88? I know we’re told to keep these for 7 years but we keep them longer because… just because. Oh and we also keep warranties. In no particular order. We just stuff them into the warranty folder. So we have warranties on a toaster, electric knife, three clock radios, a weedwacker and a dehumidifier we no longer have. We keep them because…just because.

I also have all my sons’ report cards and awards back to kindergarten. I was always so proud of Chris’s grades. He was especially talented in math. It seemed Tim was always earning some award for Student of the Week or most improved FOP third baseman or such. Matt was so well liked. Even in his first grade, on the four page, teacher written yearbook with the 4 crayoned drawings of each season little Garrett wrote “I lik u”. I keep these because…of course, because!

I’m not a saver or packrat; at various times in the year I go through a period of cleansing. Based on the rule if you haven’t used it, worn it or eaten it in the last year, throw it out and I do…except!

There are those important papers. The anniversary cards from my husband, the valentine card my best friend and I have traded back and forth for the last 25 years (that $1.95 card has gone a long way), the books we love but will probably never read again. Oh and how could I throw out my cookbooks and recipes? I don’t even particularly like to cook but I save recipes like I’m planning to take over Rachel Ray’s show.

So I’ve adjusted my world for these important papers. I buy paper containers to save my important papers in; banker boxes with file folders for the taxes and warranties, pretty boxes for the cards, memory boxes for my sons’ memorabilia and cardboard trays for recipes and cookbooks.

And to keep track of all these boxes, files, and folders I have a list of what is in each one which I store with my important papers because…just because.