{"id":506,"date":"2011-01-14T20:10:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-14T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/going-paperless.html"},"modified":"2011-01-14T20:10:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-14T20:10:00","slug":"going-paperless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/going-paperless.html","title":{"rendered":"Going Paperless!"},"content":{"rendered":"

…at least that’s the plan here….<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Now that I have a handsome new office, I was hoping to work on bettering the family’s reliance on stacks of paperwork everywhere.  I want to scan in our old bills, bank statements, and receipts, and clear our office of some of the stacks of papers everywhere.  I’m even debating going digital on some of our medical paperwork, such as our Tricare<\/a> payout (or lack thereof) statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
This was taken right after I’d put the books in the bookcase in early December.  After 6 weeks, it doesn’t look this nice now.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I’ve been weighing in with my friend Paul about this issue.  He’s probably the only person with whom I could have a conversation about filing paperwork who wouldn’t run screaming in the other direction.  He’s also considering converting his existing files to digital, and then make a habit of scanning in bills every month.<\/p>\n

He and I have exchanged some ideas about “smart scanning”, which is easier than ever these days.  You can now scan directly into PDFs that allow you to search for keywords.  For example, if you scanned in some medical paperwork related to having a baby, you could do a Microsoft or Mac search on “maternity” and if the word “maternity” is in the PDF, it’s possible to find that document.<\/p>\n

It also came up in our conversations how much better scanners are than 10 years ago.  Now you can get multiple-sheet-feeder scanners, double sided scanners, and inexpensive all-in-one systems,<\/a> which include printing and copying.<\/p>\n

My current file plan isn’t very graceful.  I have two plastic tubs that hold hanging file folders (metal filing cabinets never move well).  I have a pretty basket in the office where I dump all bills, statements and receipts.  Every 2, 4, 25 weeks (depending on how busy I am), I’ll sit down with the pretty basket and file the paperwork into the two plastic tubs.  Every New Year’s Day (give or take a week), I shred the oldest paperwork using Consumer Reports’ guidance on how long to keep records.<\/a>  Shredded paper goes into the worm bin<\/a> (which I still have, by the way).<\/p>\n

I guess I can argue that at least I HAVE a plan, right?  But to go paperless would be AWESOME!  Especially for the major purchase receipts that I’ve been carrying around for years and years and years.  Just in case we need it.  I’ve had my Kirby vacuum cleaner for 11 years and it’d be nice to not have to worry about that little slip of paper getting lost.<\/p>\n

This will be a lifestyle change for me, but I think I can do it.  When it’s PCS (i.e. military move) time in a couple years, just having an external hard drive to protect instead of 2 tubs and 4 banker’s boxes full of paperwork would allow more room in the car for the boys to stretch their legs too. <\/p>\n

Which leads me to my next challenge, keeping up with data backups.  That’s for another post…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…at least that’s the plan here…. Now that I have a handsome new office, I was hoping to work on bettering the family’s reliance on stacks of paperwork everywhere.  I want to scan in our old bills, bank statements, and receipts, and clear our office of some of the stacks of papers everywhere.  I’m even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[],"tags":[33,616],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-8a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":507,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/i-want-an-oopma-loompa-now.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":0},"title":""I Want an Oopma Loompa NOW!"","date":"15 January 11","format":false,"excerpt":"As promised, Part II of my devious plan to conquer the world. I mean, my paperwork! I need to look into storage options for my photos, videos and these soon-to-be-scanned-in papers.If you thought my paperwork filing plan was sloppy, our computer's file plan is an incredible mess. I try to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"housework\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.midtnstorage.com\/sizes\/hr993555-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":450,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/08\/now-is-time-we-talk-about-our-feelings.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":1},"title":"Now is Time We Talk About Our Feelings….","date":"18 August 10","format":false,"excerpt":"Before I get going with my Colorado blog posts, I'm going to take a moment to discuss my feelings.\"Really? You RARELY talk about your feelings....you fill this blog with things you've seen, things you've done, things you would like to do....\"Yeah, I guess you're right, my dear imaginary blogosphere friend.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"housework\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/yoga.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":479,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/11\/the-vollmer-pcs-binder-tm.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":2},"title":"The Vollmer PCS Binder (TM)","date":"12 November 10","format":false,"excerpt":"T-10 Days and counting....I was thinking about new things to blog about regarding this particular move and it was a friend from North Carolina (Hi Faith T.!) who inspired me about my next post: The Vollmer PCS Binder (TM).So, I'm sure you're wondering, \"Major Mom, what, pray tell, IS The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"military life\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh3.ggpht.com\/_yz59FVsseJY\/TNy5bykfvDI\/AAAAAAABNjA\/im3EUtUNpAc\/s640\/IMG_3798.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":192,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/07\/auf-wiedersehen.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":3},"title":"Auf Wiedersehen","date":"23 July 08","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm packing up the contents of our hotel room in Cary, and the computer will be towards the end of the things to pack up, after all, it sits at the top of the pile of crap in our van, so we have to get the books, toys, house closing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"friends\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":480,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/11\/operation-do-not-pack.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":4},"title":"Operation DO NOT PACK","date":"14 November 10","format":false,"excerpt":"I actually blogged about this a little back in 2008.Moving preparations continue. We are at T-3 days until the packers come. T-9 days until we leave the area. We are starting to gather the items we don't want the movers to pack. Some of the items are for our personal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"military life\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_yz59FVsseJY\/TN9h8au12JI\/AAAAAAABNkY\/wopOfZwL9vY\/s640\/IMG_3784.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":264,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/11\/let-the-cookie-extravaganza-begin.html","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":5},"title":"Let the Cookie Extravaganza Begin!","date":"03 November 08","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time of year.\"Election Season?\"Well, yeah, but that's not what I'm talking about...\"Autumn? Leaves falling? Raking? I didn't know there were leaves to rake in Nebraska...\"Yes, that too...but keep with me here...It's COOKIE TIME!\"So soon?\"In the Vollmer house, yes. 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