I think your stackers can be a good thing for you, but I do think you need some sort of "deep storage," and it does NOT have to be there. it might be easier if it were, but oh well. You live in the real world. So you'll need to find some other place to keep papers that are longer term, not needed for reference, but needed to access now and then. So use the file box or tote, and go get it when it's "paperwork processing time." And what goes in there is stuff you don't intend to refer to in the next four months. Stuff you *will* refer to can stay in the stackers. As I mentioned before, I think if you live with it for a while, your eyes open to what's working (which you have), you'll figure out for your own situation what's just permanently floating in the stackers and should get filed away (or tossed) You say you have more kitchen storage, which is great, but maybe spend a half a cabinet on a file box for stuff that's not in action at the moment? Insurance forms (unless you can download), etc.? I think a long-term, ONGOING project like the Girl Scout project *belongs* in the stacker. You need to look at it, put stuff with it, etc., every week or so, maybe even more often, so of course it goes in a high-profile spot. But paid bills don't go there. (some people even TOSS their paid bills) Personally I would--do--stick the report cards in deep, deep storage. "Heirlooms & Mementoes" storage, deep in the closet. I don't refer to them again, but if I needed them for some reason (not sure why--not even applying for a new school would require them), I could dig them out. I agree w/ you about your need to get tougher--I think most of us have a procrastination problem (well, mayb enot Ginger, LOL, but *most* of us). I have only JUST this year gotten good w/ schoolwork papers. I toss 'em pretty rapidly. Fortunately, my son's teacher has a "sign and return" stamp, so I know which ones she wants back; the rest go in the trash. I figure, if I haven't had time to discuss them w/ the kids in the 2 days following when the papers came home, it'll be too late to make much of a difference. I'm lucky, in that there's not usually much to say--"oh, I see you skipped over that one; watch more carefully" is about it--bcs they usually understand their schoolwork. They get sloppy, but I don't need to spend much time on that. I try to review the schoolwork briefly when I'm doing the school forms (the ones that you won't let leave the backpack? wise you! I got that concept last year, an am enjoying it this year), and try to deal w/ them the same way. It would be harder if I needed to review stuff with them--if they were struggling w/ the concepts. I used to try, to reinforce by reviewing, and finally just gave up--I never had time to, and decided that, since the kids were basically doing fine, I didn't need to be their tutor, too. It has saved me no end of time and guilt. I think if DD was having trouble w/ fractions, for example, and I wanted to sit w/ her for 15 or 20 minutes to coach, I'd have a tougher time, but I might still not want to keep the paper. Or, maybe that would be the ONE paper I kept, and the rest got tossed. I have gotten absolutely RUTHLESS about paper. I had a basket that was collecting paperwork I needed to "do something with" or "might do something with." And it just ended up really dragging down the house. Ostensibly it was for bills to pay, but other stuff went there, too, and it was just a huge mess. I went through it in early Dec. when my mom was here, and was amazed at how useless all that stuff was. I throw SO much out now. (I know what you mean about keeping your hands out of each other's paperwork, but are you SURE your DH couldn't give you one of his 4 drawers? Not for frequently used stuff--your stackers should help w/ that--but for deeper filing? You really need some place, and I bet he's got stuff that could go--4 drawers is an awful lot. Think about it, send up a trial balloon. You wouldn't have to OPEN the other drawers, so your hands would still be off his paperwork...)

Brenda, I wonder if you can get someone to help you automate the backing up process? Our Norton Utilities runs as part of the shut-down process every time. Or, simply try to make it part of your own human "shut down" routine--you never leave the computer for the day until you've backed up. In my job (magazine edit), I'm supposed to run a spell check every time before I print a story. I always forget--until the "print" menu pops up. I gave up feeling stupid, and decided that I would USE THE PRINT MENU AS MY CUE. So, when I get the print menu, I always say, "oops, spell check," click "cancel," and run the check. When you go to shut down, do you get a "are you sure you want to shut down?" sort of message? Then you could click "cancel," drag your hard-drive icon onto your backup, and THEN shut down again. Someone here once strongly recommended buying a separate external hard drive to use as backup--you don't need to label it, file it, worry about someone overwriting on it, etc. And the chances of BOTH hard drives (internal & external) going bad is pretty small. Sounded good to me; if I were in your shoes, that's probably what I'd do.

Not to sound like a broken record, but thanks again so much for all the advice. It's much appreciated and it's good to have neutral opinions out there on this type of a potential transaction. I'm certainly not sick of the advice! =) Nostalgia aside, this house certainly falls into the specifications of what we were looking at (before it was listed). In fact, when it first came on the market we were a little blown away by the listing price because most others had been shooting for the moon in this area and were stagnating on the market (with the few well-priced ones going very quickly). But at that time we said we could never live in the same neighborhood as my parents! It went off the market under contract and more houses came on at values we still didn't feel were appropriate. The houses we've visited in our price range up to this point have not pleased us. The ones that have pleased us have been either above our price range or else stretching it. Oddly enough, this is the first house we've looked at where we're actually happy with the value and how it's maintained. It just happens to be in the neighborhood I grew up in. Of course we're worried about borrowing more than we should. If we do buy this house and put 20% down after a little negotiating, we could have a mortgage that is around 2 to 2.5 times our gross annual income. The monthly payment would definitely be achievable and would allow us to funnel extra money into our retirement accounts and children. So financially, this seems a good decision for us. When the contract fell through and the house came back on the market, we sat down and re-evaluated whether or not living near my parents was really as bad as we made it out to be the first time. Oddly enough, it was actually my spouse who was the one who started seriously considering the house, not me! I do trust the sellers that the first contract fell through based on the guy's credit score. Based on the things their family has done for mine in the past, they wouldn't come out and lie to us. In fact, my mom learned the details before they even knew we were seriously interested. The guy who initially put in a contract brought his family over with him multiple times and even had his boys picking out rooms. We saw them over there once when we were at my parents' house and my parents saw them on separate occasions. The guy apparently loved the house and what items did come up in the original inspection were supposedly minor things. A couple of other neighbors in the cul-de-sac are potentially looking to sell and were quite pleased with all the traffic this house got when it was first on the market. The traffic still seems heavy from what we've heard from my parents and other neighbors which makes us think that we're not alone in thinking the house is attractively priced. I think Dave1MN2 hit the nail on the head regarding the comment about protecting the money we've saved and what to do if negotiations start to go south - i.e. say the family relationship is too important to stress with this deal. I guess we should take a calm, collected approach with this and think everything through, and check out buyer's agents. And on that note (if any of you have even read this far - sorry for the book!), would it be the end of the world if we used the same agent that is selling the house? I guess the reality is we should keep ourselves emotionally indifferent and not get attached to the possibility of getting the house. With the current market conditions, it seems if we don't pursue this, prices will only go down with time and maybe we'll find another house for a better value later this year!

I am an attorney and handle probate sales. I really would be happier if buyers used certain realtors who have some clue how probate sales go. There is nothing worse than buyers getting an arrogant "know it all" realtor who actually does not know what they are doing in an area that is a little different. If the bank officer wants to sell the property (and they are anxious to do it) then directing you to somebody who will sell that property and knows how to do a bank sale seems sensible. An outside realtor might just direct you to one of their own listings and the bank would lose a sale. Yes, they are giving you inside information as to what they will accept--other sellers who are anxious will do the same thing. I don't understand the problem; the bank isn't supposed to pretend to be coy--a real estate owned property is a black mark against the bank. They made a mistake lending money --they want to sell usually. I have never received kick backs from anybody I deal with--escrow companies, etc. but its so much more work dealing with people who claim they know how to do certain types of sales and do not. Usually about 1 day before the close--suddenly they realize that a city needs to do an inspection, the lender needs a second set of Certified Probate Letters, etc. We call & write often --do you need anything? but it doesn't help if you are dealing with a "know it all".