You might do some research on inks too. I got a rude awakening when I printed my wife's Red Hat logo on magnetic paper and placed on our fridge door. In 3 months or so it has faded really badly yet I was using HP inks in my HP Photosmart 7760 printer. I suspect you would find it cheaper to use a photo printing service and possibly find their inks to be of a higher standard than those packaged for consumers. Others may well have a comment on this point. I rarely print photos, being quite happy to store them on my computer.

I would have the same layout as tag_singer's; across from the toilet and sitting in the corner. It would be closest to the left hand wall though, while hers is on the right. From what I can tell, TP holders go on either side, just depending upon the layout of the bathroom. The problem now is that the current TP holder literally prevents me from putting any type of trash container there except the tiniest one, since the holder sticks out from the side of the cabinet and you can't fit a wastebasket in there. Even when the wastebasket is facing the other way, it makes it pretty tough to get the hand towel in there, so many of them end up on the floor. I am planning a shower a couple of weeks from now, and 35 or so ladies will be here....the current wastebasket will likely need to be emptied after an hour or so, LOL. I am laughing at myself here....never thought I would put so much thought into such a small detail!!

Hello Mystique, This is my first post, though I've lurked off and on for a few years. I've managed the paperwork for my parents, for the family farm, and for myself for many years. It's sometimes been overwhelming so I've come up with a few strategies to minimize the stress. For family personal expenses, I have a file for bills paid by a certain checking account, with the oldest bill on the bottom, the last on top. Once, I attempted to keep different folders for different types of expenses even if paid by a single account: Big mistake for me. So easy to misfile and so hard to reconcile at the end of the year. For me, it's been much easier to just have one folder per account per time period. I do take one extra step though. I am careful to notate my check register, and I input the information into a spreadsheet later on. That way, I can sort it by check number, type of expense, date, or any other criteria. I don't make online payments, but the same principle would apply. If it gets drawn out of checking, I'd list it in the spreadsheet. And I compare it all with the bank statements. At the end of the year, I double check it, and then e-mail it to a tax preparer and he determines tax consequences, if any. Excel has an auto-fill feature, that makes this data entry easier than it sounds. If you do it this way, it's easy to find a record of a payment, without handling the paper too much. Another reason I try to keep the folders of paid bills uncomplicated and chronological is that these have an expiration dates. Having things scattered about will make record destruction more of an ordeal. So in answer to your question about a credit card statement being with school stuff, I wouldn't do that. I'd keep it in a the file with all the other bills you paid with that checking account, including medical. Otherwise, what would you do when a credit card statement reflects both a school loan, medical bill and an appliance? Contemplating such an issue might make you put it in some "to decide later" file, instead of putting it in a very simple place like your "paid bills" folder right away. Besides, most billing issues in my experience have to do with claims that a check did not arrive, not that a credit card company didn't pay. And most of these issues turn up within a month or two of payment which is another reason chronological filing works well for bills. The whole point of a filing system is so that you can find things as painlessly as possible. With the register inputted into the computer, you will even know how much of the loan you've paid off in a certain period, without touching the paper repeatedly. But you can also find papers quickly if the loan company year end statement doesn't match your record of payments. For appliances, my father had a trick of marking appliances with a purchase date in the back. If it breaks down, you know where to find the bill in the "paid bills" folders. (I think the idea of putting it with the manual is a great idea, but I haven't tried it.) I don't pick and choose what to keep and what to destroy as far as paid bills go. I save all the statements with check numbers and dates written on them....but only for a certain amount of time. For paid off loans, as others strongly recommend, I'd keep the letter that states that the loan is paid off, and the statement that releases any collateral, in a folder called "loans (paid off.)" For my mother's Explanation of Benefits papers, because of the volume, I have a folder per year, in chronological order. (But no bills live here. Those are with all the other paid bills.) It's a record of doctor visits and prescriptions. This type of stuff seems overwhelming, but is not so bad, if it's chronological, pruned of unnecessary newsletters and old booklets, and living in clean, p-touch labeled folders. But I don't think EOBs have a tax consequence. The bills and the health premiums are what might matter, and those I keep with all the other bills. I consider EOB and prescription records only a type of medical history. I choose to keep them so I can tell how long my mother's been taking a medication, when she had a certain procedure done, etc. Your filing system is your personal creation. It doesn't have to conform to any of these ideas, only to the way that you think. I hope this is helpful.

Rueben mentions crooked cuts. For me, the answer is a T-square, which you can buy where they sell art supplies. The 36" long T-square is the most useful. I just line the "T" part up with the side of the paper, and draw my square line with a sharpie. I just put new cabinets during the remodel of my family home. I got molded (?) glass panels with a striking bamboo design in the upper cabinets. I saw light coming through one cabinet door before they were installed and thought the glass was even more beautiful with light behind it. I had low profile, strip LED lights installed in the top of each cabinet. But when I p ut the supplied wood shelves in, the shelves below were very dark. So I ordered some 3/8" thick plexiglas cut to size. I bought the clear shelf liner with the little grooves. Since it is clear, the light goes right through the shelves and the cabinets and glass look beautiful. I used the rubbery mesh liner for the bottom shelves. I'm having trouble, too. They bunch up and get out of place when I move anything. That's why I got onto this thread--to see if there's a good way to hold the stuff in place.