We start new receipt files for the NEW year, then bundle & file the old receipts. I have a 50% off coupon for an item under $30 @ Ace Hardware, that expires Dec 31. I plan on buying a HUGE package of toilet paper that will last about 6 months! Then my coupons for 2025 will be used up. I went through the pantry & checked for expiration dates, all good! I've already made an appointment to have our taxes done in March of next year. I checked our insurance to make sure they have the square footage, number of fireplaces...etc....correct. Every year something on the policies has been changed. I've done that and made the phone call for corrections. The policy comes due in January. I'm as ready for 2026 as I can be.

A month or so ago I was going through a storage area looking for my parent's old slides that my brother claimed I still had. Never found the slides but I did find 4 boxes containing old records from the 1990's that I still had for some reason.

I burned all of that last week. So I guess the answer is no, I do not do an annual purge of paper files!

My brother told me he found the slides and projector at his house a few days ago.

DH starts doing taxes in December, so all he has to do is wait for the January forms. When the new tax laws are still in flux, like this year, he gets very impatient!

We have spent this past year getting things in shape for our end of time. I feel like I want to get the ”family lore” in shape, physical items that might have a story behind them, etc , but of course I don’t know how much our kids will care about that.

I keep paper records and purge the current year's files from the file cabinet in December; I store most of them longer-term in file folders labeled by year in a storage box in the basement, in case I need them (and yes, I have needed them for various reasons in the past). I purge the long-term storage files, too -- when the current year goes in, the oldest file packet gets shredded.

I also clean out my desk calendar/planner yearly. I keep a bunch of misc notes of to-do's and things to follow up on, appts, etc that need to be transferred to the upcoming year's planner. I do this toward the end of December, too.

I'm pretty lax about purging the computer files, but they are very organized. I'm ruthless about purging the files at work, though (majority are electronic) -- and woe betide anyone who messes with my work files on the shared drive LOL!

ETA: I shred any purchase receipts as soon as I balance the monthly statements, I don't keep those unless I need it to back up a warranty claim, it's a home improvement receipt, or some similar situation.

Lonejack, I have my parents old slides dated from about 1958 to 1980. I also have my parents Bell and Howell projector and screen. My dad was a neat nut and had them all meticuously labelled and stored in trays. One evening, my three sisters and I got together and had a movie night. Snacks and drinks included. Hilarious!

One of my sisters had transferred some of the slides to computer images, so we do have them in that format. But, the movie night had great commentary and was a real hoot.

I’m pretty good at getting rid of stuff as I go along, but I don’t do it at a set time every year. Some stuff I keep because it means something to ME. What happens to it after I am gone, I don’t care.

Our ”paperwork and financial files” are current and organised.

It is easier to get rid of other people’s stuff than your own.

My daughter can keep what she wants. Or keep nothing. I don’t care.

Ugh. I'm not much good at this stuff. I'll have to go with "cursing the mess I've left".

i spend part of new year's day purging the previous year's receipts and utility bill stubs. i do keep medical statements of benefit for a few months just to be able to see what medical bills may come during those months. with medicare and my supplemental policy, i rarely get bills for things "you may be responsible for". 🤷🏻‍♀️

Interesting the mix of items we focus on to organize. Some of the things DH & I have done had a triggering event causing us to take action. For example, our retirement a few years back caused us to review & update our wills, POA, living wills etc. The situations for the family members - mostly nieces & nephews - had changed & we didn’t feel they needed our help for higher education funds any longer. We reallocted bequests for when we’re both gone & updated who’s responsible for making decisions for us if we can’t. Funeral / burial arrangements - when my mom was 91, declining cognitively & Covid was upon us, I realized that if she died, fulfilling my promise to return her to MT to be buried alongside my dad would likely not go as planned. Because I had full POA and authorized access to her money, I was able to prepay for cremation for her. As it happened, she died very unexpectedly and suddenly six months later - nothing to do with Covid but with a 92 year old heart that was tired. It was really a blessing that my sister & I, who were the only 2 of 5 siblings present, were able to tell the hospital who to call to take care of our mother’s remains. One year later we were able to take our mom back to be with my dad. This event caused my DH & I to sit down & talk about what we wanted. We then visited a local cemetary, made and paid for our final arrangements. Our gift to each other and to my sister who might be the one left with this final task for us.

Lonejack & roxsolid - your stories of the old slides made me laugh & remember my own experience with old family photos. Sometime around 2010 my mom advised me ’it was time to make a photo array for your dad”. My reply - say what? She explained that it was customary to have a video playing photos of the recently deceased at memorials & that we should have one for my dad. While I was puzzling over why I was the chosen child for this task of the 5 she raised, I being the obedient middle child, agreed to do this for her. I should note that my dad lived until 2014 & 91 years of age so he had a great time going through the photos with me. He’d been a camera buff & so there were many 35mm stills & 8mm films to go through. Turned out to be a great way to clean some of their files out! I had the movies converted to DVD & each family member has their own copy. I found a local person known to my parents who created a DVD ”for the life of…” using the many photos I’d arranged for various chapters of my dad’s personal and professional life. Of course I then went through the same process for my mom too. Each family member has their own copy of each. Truly keepsakes IMO.

For my closets and my files I have these rules: clothing - something new comes in; something old goes out. The challenge is getting DH to agree to that practice. 🤣 Paper files - anything that can be received electronically is what I opt for. All my banks & financial institutions maintain back copies so all I need to do is keep track of my passwords!

Congratulations on your retirement @Toronto Veterinarian! At retirement I found that purging my closet was cathartic! I was able to clear out business office work clothing to make room for casual and comfy wear for digging in the dirt! Or, soil as known to gardeners! 👩🏻‍🌾

I don't do it as often as I should KW. I admire your discipline.

I'm able to manage my own things fairly well but there's a problem- the other person in the house has a clutter problem. She's a pack rat who accumulates lots of unnecessary stuff and disposes of nothing. She takes suggestions that a clean up of "her things" is due as a personal attack. Stalemate, unfortunately.

Funny Elmer! I refer you back to my note on my DH aka as a ’pack rat’. We may be proof of the saying ”opposites attract”.

My ex husband was a bordeline hoarder. One of the most satisfying times of my life was cleaning out his stuff , especially dumping a lot of it on him. I was good enough to go through things first and get rid of the trash. He managed to reaccumulate stuff and once he died the task of getting rid of hoard #2 was monumental. My son and my ex’s girlfriend got that job. My son said the gf actually started crying when faced with the mess.

As for my own files, I do an annual paper purge during tax season. I'm good

about cleaning closets and drawers, but the sentimental stuff is my stumbling block.

It may sound amusing to curse the mess that someone left, but when you’re the one dealing with it, its a nightmare.

For d.itgital photos, i search for all photos in one year then delete what I dont want.

update our wills, POA, living wills etc.

i'll just put this out here for anyone with pets. while a lot (probably most) people put clauses in their wills that provide for the care of their pets upon their deaths, it's better to have a separate document that is kept with someone you trust that indicates your wishes for where your pets end up.

oftentimes, especially since this is an emotional time for close friends/relatives, a will may go for several days or even longer before it is read. when it comes to pets, you want someone who is responsible to take on this aspect of your final wishes immediately.

i have specific instructions that i have left with my son with feeding instructions, vet contact information, and phone numbers for both breeders who will be responsible for their care. both of my breeders are aware of these instructions and know that my dogs will come back to them in the event of my death or if i become incapacitated to the point where i can no longer care for them. i have total faith that they will do what is best for my furry friends.

@Ninapearl - you are spot on about the need for this document. The fact I didn’t list mine for my dog is an oversight. We absolutely have and have always had a document to ensure any dog we might have will be cared for. At the risk of offending a parent of humans I will say that the animal care documentation for anyone who owns any kind of domestic & non human pet is equally as important as a document listing who would be the guardians of one’s children should the need arise.

the risk of offending a parent of humans

it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that i'd be the LAST person to be offended! lol

i would also include any registration papers folks might have or a bill of sale, if available, in lieu of formal paperwork. it's good to have some sort of proof of ownership and this is especially important if your pet is intact, the reason being that you don't want someone getting ahold of an intact pet with thoughts of using it as a breeding dog. if a person secured their pet from a rescue, that rescue should probably also be contacted as many of them would welcome any pet in that came from them.

Do you even know me? (LOL)

@Olychick 🤣

Yes, I do go through the accumulation of the past year’s paperwork and digital files. Digital files I try to clean out throughout the year. Mostly my files are receipts that can be trashed, and I empty and re-set for the next year. I keep folders separate for home improvement receipts, warranties, and a few other things, especially if we will need them at tax time. We also have a folder in a handy spot we both use for anything we receive (such as a donation receipt) that will be used for taxes and it gets shoved in there to be sorted later.

’..because my DH & I have different organizational styles’ describes us completely. I can generally find something in a couple of minutes. DH can find something b/c he swears he’s organized but it will take him a while. i was looking for something in a file of his one day a while back; he had 4 folders for the same thing. He forgets he already has a folder for example for our vehicle insurance and makes another.

One thing I do need to sort through once again…old photos. I made a pass through them after I retired but did not remove and throw away many of them that I should. Many are in albums (old pre-digital days) but many are not. I bshould start a new thread about digitizing old photos. I could use advice on a good, fast way to do this.

Outside - your comments about photos reminded me of what I did with our boxes of photos a few years ago. I already had them organized in boxes with dividers marked by categories like friends, europe trip, xxx family, etc, I sorted through all of them & mailed many back to the families in the pictures. I included notes explaining my cleaning & sorting project & that I thought they might enjoy looking at the old photos too. In some cases I thought the pictures might be given to the kids or the people in them for their own keepsakes. I also disposed of many of the pictures - the ones I looked at & wondered - who are these people?