Hello 2012

This is classic me. Over the weekend I took a stab at my, "I've gotta get more organized this year" routine. It is where I pull out all my paper clutter and pretend that I'm going to get it under control. Throw away what I do not need. File and organize what I do need. Vow to *never* let it get that out of control again. Pretend mind you. I start out gung-ho for the first 5 or six pieces of paper clutter. Then I get overwhelmed. Worry that I might need that scrap I tore out of a magazine with step-by-step instructions on how to fold a fitted sheet. I then pack it all back up and congratulate myself on a good start, and vow to pick up where I left off...tomorrow.

When I got to the bottom of my bucket-o-paper I had to laugh. I vaguely remember getting to the end of my taxes last year and being so frustrated that all of my receipts and papers were scattered throughout a year's worth of paper collection. I put a very simple system into place that I *swore* would work. I took a gallon zip-lock bag and put my finished 2010 tax returns in. I found it:




I also took another bag and wrote 2011 with the promise to myself to put every receipt and document in it as I got them. When 2011 tax time came around all I'd have to do is grab out the ziplock back and, Voila!, instant organization. I found the 2011 bag.




Sigh. Completely empty. I didn't put a single receipt or important document in it. Well....perhaps 2012 is the year where I both make a bag of tax documents and fill it.

Happy 2012 ya'll!